Women in Personal Injury – what is the future?

Nina Ross

Nina is ranked as a leading junior in personal injury in the current editions of Legal 500 and Chambers and Partners, which note that Nina is “crystal-clear in her thinking and analysis” (Legal 500) and has “a commanding presence when on her feet” (Chambers and Partners).

Nina specialises in claims arising out of sexual and physical assaults; harassment claims; military claims; international and group litigation; and human rights aspects of personal injury law. She has been instructed in high-profile litigation in these fields, including in:

• Ella Janneh v Michael Lousada [2024] EWHC 1464 (KB): claim for sexual assault brought against therapist.
• Sayn-Wittgenstein v Juan Carlos 1 [2023] EWHC 2478 (KB) (led by Jonathan Caplan KC and Andrew Green KC): claim for harassment brought against the former King of Spain.
• X v Kuoni [2021] UKSC 34 (led by William Audland KC): a claim brought under the 1992 Package Travel Regulations for sexual assaults committed by a hotel employee in Sri Lanka, which was referred by the Supreme Court to the CJEU for a preliminary ruling on a point of European law.
• Alseran & Others v Ministry of Defence [2017] EWHC 3289 (QB) [2018] 3 W.L.R. 95 (led by Richard Hermer KC and Harry Steinberg KC): claims against the MoD brought by Iraqi civilians who allege that they were assaulted and unlawfully detained by UK military personnel during the invasion of Iraq in 2003.

Given her areas of specialism, Nina has particular experience of claims for psychiatric injury and the complex issues of causation that arise.

She is an authority on limitation periods and is co-author of Personal Injury Limitation Law, Bloomsbury (2020) which has received excellent reviews: https://www.bloomsburyprofessional.com/uk/personal-injury-limitation-law-9781526508607/

Before coming to the Bar, Nina worked on torture and abuse cases in the international and group claims department of Leigh Day & Co Solicitors; at the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia in the Netherlands; as well as at JUSTICE; Liberty; and the Legal Resources Centre in Durban, South Africa.

Jill Greenfield

I am a leading serious injury lawyer and head of the catastrophic injury team, representing clients in the UK and internationally.

I am one of a handful of UK lawyers recognised by Chambers as a ‘Star Individual’ and in 2021 I was honoured with the title of Lifetime Achievement in Law UK’s Women, Influence & Power Awards. In 2020, I was named Catastrophic Injury Lawyer of the Year at the Personal Injury Awards, and I was included in in The Lawyer Hot 100 in 2019. In 2018, I was shortlisted as Woman Lawyer of the Year at the Law Society Excellence Awards. My team won the Solicitors Journal Personal Injury team of the Year in 2017.

Rehana Azib

Rehana specialises in personal injury and employment law, especially occupational stress, harassment, and discrimination claims. She is the Head of Chambers’ Employment Team and a Master of the Bench of the Inner Temple.

“A very skilful advocate who is formidably intelligent and very hard-working” (Chambers and Partners), Rehana is recommended as a leading Junior in both employment and personal injury in Chambers and Partners and the Legal 500. She is Head of Chambers’ Employment Team, and was elected a Master of the Bench of the Inner Temple in July 2019. Rehana co-authored “Litigating Psychiatric Injury Claims” (Bloomsbury Professional, 2012 and due for re-publication in 2021), a Practitioners’ Guide, combining her expertise in both personal injury and employment law. She has particular expertise in dealing with crossover stress, harassment and discrimination claims in personal injury and employment law, including dealing with discrimination in sports. She is on the Independent Panel investigating the allegations of race discrimination complaints by Cricketer Azeem Rafiq against Yorkshire County Cricket Club, as documented in the press.