Personal Injury

Listed for many years as a leading set in personal injury work by Chambers & Partners and the Legal 500, we are described in the personal injury section of the current edition of Chambers & Partners as undertaking "severe brain injury cases arising from road accidents in the UK and abroad, and has involvement in high-profile sexual abuse claims against local authority defendants and private children's homes. The set may be smaller in numbers than others but it does get a foothold in some high-profile cases, with the St William's litigation being one example. Commentators say that its members are "down to earth and reliable, and treat you as both a client and a friend." 

Members of  Chambers' Personal Injury Group undertake all forms of work in this field including claims involving:

• Child abuse: claims against care homes, local authorities, educational establishments, religious orders and the Home Office for physical and sexual abuse; members of Chambers are currently acting in a number of test cases and group actions.
• Criminal injuries: applications to the CICA and appeals to the CICAP.
• Employers’ liability: the “6-pack”, all other statutory duties and unsafe systems as well as vicarious liability for the acts of employees.
• Industrial disease: asbestos-induced and all other occupational respiratory diseases, noise induced deafness, toxic and hazardous substances, dysphonia, dermatitis, repetitive strain injuries and hand-arm vibration syndrome.
• Inquests: at all levels, from the fully argued, jury and Coroner hearings to Coroner-only hearings
• Occupiers’ liability: slipping and tripping cases on public and private property and unsafe premises litigation generally
• Product liability: food poisoning, defective goods, consumer protection.
• Public authority: claims against local authority exercising statutory functions as highways authorities, education authorities, social services departments etc.
• Public liability: nuisance or other forms of environmental claims
• Road traffic: from multiple motorway crash litigation and brain injury cases to “simple” whiplash claims, so-called “low velocity claims” and Motor Insurers Bureau claims.
• Sports and leisure accidents.

We handle complex multi-party litigation and regularly appear in groundbreaking cases. Work is undertaken on behalf of claimants and defendants in the UK and overseas. Clinical Negligence (see Clinical Negligence), Health & Safety (see Public and Regulatory), Police claims (see Public and Regulatory) and Travel claims (see Travel) are closely linked to our personal injury work and, where appropriate, we bring to those other areas a thorough understanding of personal injury work.

We have several writers of (and contributors to) leading personal injury publications and textbooks, including Kemp and Kemp on The Quantum of Damages. Members regularly lecture on personal injury topics, both in Chambers and elsewhere. We also edit the PI blog www.piblawg.co.uk (a joint endeavour with piCalculator) to which members of our Personal Injury and Clinical Negligence Groups contribute on at least a weekly basis.

Members of Chambers have appeared in various precedent-setting personal injury cases in recent years in the following areas:-

Abuse: Various Claimants v Anglemoss Ltd (ongoing), JGE v Portsmouth Diocese [2012] EWCA Civ 938, Various Claimants v Catholic Welfare Society and the Institute of Christian Brothers [2010] EWCA Civ 1106, Young v Catholic Care [2008] UKHL, KR –V- Royal and Sun Alliance [2007] Bus LR 139, Various Claimants v Bryn Alyn Community (holdings) Ltd, [2003] 3 WLR 107

Catastrophic Injuries: quantification aspects of catastrophic injuries claims: Peters v East Midlands SHA [2009] EWCA Civ 145, A v Archbishop of Birmingham [2005] EWHC 1361 and Eagle v Chambers [2004] 1 WLR 3081

Employers’ liability: Stress claims: Dermott v London Borough of Harrow [2011] EWHC 51, Connor v Surrey County Council [2010] EWCA Civ 286, Clark v Chief Constable of Essex [2006] EWHC 2290 and Pratley v Surrey County Council [2003] EWCA Civ 1067 [2004] ICR 159

Occupiers' liability: Chester-le-Street District Council v Brouhaha International Ltd [2011] EWHC 1226

Limitation: TCD v Harrow [2008] EWHC 3048, Young v Catholic Care [2008] UKHL, Kew v Bettamix and Others [2006] EWCA Civ 1535,  Adams v Bracknell Forest BC [2004] UKHL 29 [2005] 1 AC 76, McDonnell v Christian Brothers [2004] 1 AC 1101 and Various Claimants v Bryn Alyn Community (Holdings) Ltd [2003] 3 WLR 107

Public Authority Liability: Connor v Surrey County Council [2010] EWCA Civ 286, X & Y v Hounslow LBC [2009] EWCA Civ 286, Lawrence v Pembroke CC [2007] PIQR P1, D v East Berkshire Community NHS Trust [2005] 2 AC 373, DN v Greenwich LB [2004] EWCA Civ 1659 [2005] BLGR 597, A and B v Essex County Council (2004) 1 WLR 1881, Phelps v Hillingdon LBC [2001] 2 AC 619 andX v Bedfordshire County Council [1995] 2 AC 633

Road Traffic: Liability under the Highways Act 1980: Dept. for Transport, Environment & The Regions –v- Mott MacDonald Ltd and Amey Mouchel Ltd and Cornwall County Council [2006] 1 WLR 3356, Shine v Tower Hamlets LBC [2006] EWCA Civ 852, Sandhar v Department of Transport [2005] 1 WLR 1632 and Goodes v East Sussex County Council [2000] 1 WLR 1356

Sports & Leisure: Clough –v- First Choice Holidays ad Flights Ltd [2006] PIQR P22, Healy v Cosmos Air & Vilar de Lapa Lda [2005] EWHC 1657, Richard Vowles –v- David Evans and The Welsh Rugby Union Ltd [2003] and Chittock v Woodbridge School [2002] ELR 735

Product Liability: Manufacturers liability and duty to warn of known defects: Palmer v Palmer and PZ Products [2008] EWCA Civ 46, Carroll & Others v Dunlop Ltd [1998] PIQR P416

Our personal injury group produces quarterly briefings on recent cases of interest, hot topics and developments in the field.  Copies can be obtained from the briefings section of this website.   

Group Members: John Ross QC, Lord Faulks QC, Simon Readhead QC, Edward Bishop QC, Andrew Warnock QC, Keith Walmsley, John Bryant, Nicholas Yell, John Norman, Alastair Hammerton, Julian Waters, Marc Rivalland, Geoffrey Weddell, Angus Piper, Paul Stagg, David Thomson, Matthew Chapman, Ivor Collett, Sophie Mortimer, Sarah Prager, Kiril Waite, Ian Miller, Simon Trigger, Simon Murray, Ben Hicks, Saleem Khalid, Laura Johnson, Carla Revere, Andrew Spencer, Jack Harding, Ian Clarke, Lisa Dobie, Roderick Abbott, Rebecca Grant, Frances McClenaghan, Thomas Crocket, Tom Collins and Rhiannon Lewis.

Please email us at pi@1chancerylane.com or phone the clerks room if you require any further information about our work in this area or if you would like to be added to our personal injury mailing list.

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