Chambers Review

Provided by Chambers

Clinical Negligence - London (Bar)

3
Band 3

What the Team is Known For

Deka Chambers houses a strong bench of clinical negligence barristers at both senior and junior level. Interviewees praise the set for having "excellent barristers at all levels." Members are routinely called upon to act for both claimants and defendants, and are experienced in the handling of complex cases arising from delayed diagnoses and failed cosmetic surgery. Additional areas of strength for the team include catastrophic brain and spinal injury, birth injury and wrongful birth claims, and the set is also noted for its expertise in dental negligence matters. Recent appearances for the set include in the Supreme Court, acting in Paul v Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust.

Clark Chessis is the senior clerk.

Strengths

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Notable Practitioners

Provided by Chambers

S
Edward Faulks KC
S
Senior Statespeople

Edward Faulks KC is an esteemed silk who has been handling the most complex clinical negligence cases for many years. His wider practice covers professional negligence, police and public law cases.

It is always a Rolls-Royce service from him.

He is amazing, he really is.

1
Edward Bishop
1
Band 1

Edward Bishop KC is a high-ranking silk with over 30 years' experience in the field of clinical negligence, who is admired for his depth of knowledge. He is regularly instructed by both claimants and defendants, and is also trusted with complex personal injury claims.

He is a very experienced silk.

Ed is a pleasure to work with and excellent at getting to the crux of a case.

He is very experienced, thoughtful, intelligent and diligent. He is capable of cutting through the most difficult legal issues with sanity and speed.

Ed Bishop is exactly who you would want as your silk on a complex birth injury claim. His experience is second to none and he is respected by claimant and defendant solicitors alike.

Simon Readhead
1
Simon Readhead
1
Band 1

Simon Readhead KC impresses both with his knowledge of complex medical negligence matters and his meticulous approach to his work. He has a very broad practice and is recognised for his work on claims involving catastrophic and neurological injuries. He works on behalf of both claimants and defendants.

He is a supreme KC, he is a joy to work with. He is a safe pair of hands and so knowledgeable.

Simon is an exceptionally gifted clinical negligence barrister. He has excellent client care skills on often highly sensitive and emotive cases.

Simon is a formidable force in clinical negligence matters. His attention to detail is a notable strength whilst remaining commercially astute. He is my go-to and trusted KC.

He is a supremely experienced silk.

He is extremely diligent with a fantastic memory and eye for detail.

2
Angus Piper
2
Band 2

Angus Piper acts exclusively for defendants in complex clinical negligence cases, and is regularly instructed by the MDU and DDU. He is experienced in the handling of claims arising from alleged negligent treatment and birth injuries.

He is a go-to clinical negligence barrister for sensible and robust advice.

He is very user-friendly and he is very good at responding to queries.

He is very personable and deals calmly with any issue.

Giles Mooney
2
Giles Mooney
2
Band 2

Giles Mooney KC dedicates his practice to dealing with clinical negligence and personal injury claims. He represents both claimants and defendants, and has knowledge pertaining to a wide variety of issues, including birth injuries, as well as surgical and diagnosis cases.

Giles Mooney is an excellent barrister. He is a great communicator and is spot on with the issues.

Giles is excellent; he is very experienced, has great judgement and is really kind.

He is robust, he goes the extra mile for clients, he is really good in meetings, and he is very humble and very approachable. He is incredibly kind and generous with his time.

Giles is a pleasure to work with, he is always well prepared and detailed and it feel like we are a team.

2
Laura Begley
2
Band 2

Laura Begley is an experienced senior junior who undertakes a growing caseload of complex cases spanning the full spectrum of medical law, including diagnostic and surgical errors. She impresses with her pragmatic approach when handling matters on behalf of both claimants and defendants.

Laura demonstrates amazing legal knowledge, commercial awareness and great client care whilst also being a pure joy to work with.

Laura has advised on a number of high value and complex cases for me and is very easy to work with. She has great empathy.

Stuart McKechnie
2
Stuart McKechnie
2
Band 2

Stuart McKechnie KC focuses on handling catastrophic claims involving complex matters of law. In addition to being an expert clinical negligence advocate, he upholds a robust personal injury practice.

He is an exceptional silk. He is very good with clients.

He's incredibly strong in every way.

His fierce intelligence, excellent judgement, meticulous preparation and constructive negotiating style, consistently produce strong and life-changing results for catastrophically injured claimants.

Christopher Stephenson
3
Christopher Stephenson
3
Band 3

Christopher Stephenson is a specialist clinical negligence barrister whose practice is exclusively claimant-based. His caseload includes cases concerning fatalities, failures in diagnoses and wrongful birth claims.

Chris is extremely personable and great with clients, he puts everyone at ease and is extremely responsive and practical.

He is approachable and will always help in a crisis, and he is able to assimilate huge quantities of information and pick out the key issues and nuances.

Chris is very knowledgeable and has considerable experience. He is vigorous in his advocacy whilst being personable and empathetic.

He is always a reliable pair of hands.

He is an excellent barrister, combining high quality advice with commercial acuity.

Jacob Levy
3
Jacob Levy
3
Band 3

Jacob Levy KC is a well-respected silk with over 30 years' experience. He devotes much of his practice to claimant-focused work, and is regularly instructed in all manner of cases, ranging from the relatively modest to those of the greatest complexity. He counts a number of large trade unions among his clients. He has impressive experience in claims regarding birth injuries as well as spinal damage.

He is easy to work with and provides a dedicated service to the client and solicitor. He is always ready to look at cases including novel and complex claims.

Jacob Levy KC excellent with clients. His paperwork is as comprehensive as it is insightful. He is the hardest working and most reliable barrister.

His expertise in the field of clinical negligence is second to none. To say he is hard-working is an understatement.

3
Laura Johnson
3
Band 3

Laura Johnson KC is applauded for the versatility of her practice, as she is experienced in an array of clinical negligence cases varying in complexity from fatal claims to neonatal brain injury matters. She acts for both claimants and defendant organisations.

Laura is an excellent advocate and really fights for our clients both in terms of liability and quantum issues. She is very strong in both areas.

She is a very clever and committed advocate.

Laura is steely in the courtroom but demonstrates warmth in client conferences. She has amazing legal knowledge and a collaborative approach with her solicitors.

She represents her clients robustly. She is brave in her submissions but has good common sense in terms of taking a point and shifting her position to get the best outcome.

Adam Dawson
4
Adam Dawson
4
Band 4

Adam Dawson is noted for his expert handling of a wide range of clinical negligence claims, and has experience appearing both led and unled in high-value and complex matters. His broad expertise encompasses amputation claims and cases arising from delays in diagnosis.

Adam Dawson is excellent. He is personable, quietly confident and a persuasive advocate. He is incredibly astute and he has an analytical mind.

Adam will always give clear and sensible advice. He is very approachable and has great empathy.

He is responsive, he is brilliant, he always sees the other side's point of view and in consequence we negotiate well in a JSM.

He is personable and empathetic which makes client's feel at ease. Adam is a dedicated advocate who is passionate and committed to his role.

Adam is clear and concise with his advice, and is very good with clients.

4
Helen Pooley
4
Band 4

Helen Pooley is a well-regarded junior who handles a range of clinical negligence claims including delayed diagnosis claims, surgical negligence and birth injury cases. She is adept at dealing with causation issues.

Helen has a pragmatic approach, excellent client care and strong advocacy skills achieving exceptional results for her clients.

Her kindness and clarity always shines through.

Helen's professionalism is impressive, which is well balanced with her sympathetic nature with clients, and determination when dealing with experts and difficult legal issues.

She is thorough and well-prepared in conference. She is empathetic and sensitive with clients.

Helen is meticulous to detail, empathetic and understanding to clients. Helen's advice is clear and she understands the issues.

Holly Tibbitts
4
Holly Tibbitts
4
Band 4

Holly Tibbitts is adept at handling a number of complex clinical negligence claims. She has notable experience in handling birth injury, secondary victim and spinal injury claims.

Holly is always really detailed and approachable. She always responds to emails with very detailed, helpful and also practical advice.

She is my go-to junior for clinical negligence work. She has an excellent forensic brain and she's very thorough.

She is an excellent junior.

4
Lisa Dobie
4
Band 4

Lisa Dobie is a well-regarded barrister who represents claimants and defendants across the full span of clinical negligence matters. She is regularly instructed in birth injuries, delay in diagnosis claims, fatalities and secondary victim claims.

Lisa has a natural ability to put clients at ease, offering reassurance while remaining firm and fair in her advice.

She is sensitive to difficult issues and pragmatic.

She is bright, thorough and she has a very good manner.

Lisa Dobie is brilliant and always at the top of my list when looking to instruct junior counsel in a new case

Robert Horner
4
Robert Horner
4
Band 4

Robert Horner is a well-regarded junior experienced in the handling of complex clinical negligence and personal injury claims. He is regularly instructed in cases arising from negligent treatment and failures in diagnoses, and acts for both claimants and defendants.

He went above and beyond and didn't leave a stone unturned.

Rob is very affable with clients, and has an excellent eye for detail and a structured approach to his work.

Robert Horner is meticulous when it comes to details.

Francesca O'Neill
5
Francesca O'Neill
5
Band 5

Francesca O'Neill is a junior barrister who frequently acts in cases of high value. She has experience in clinical negligence claims such as serious brain injury, medical consent and negligent treatment claims.

The depth of knowledge provided, and strategic approaches adopted by Francesca has consistently provided our clients with strong and well-reasoned advice, which is something we value highly.

Francesca has achieved some excellent results for us in some of the most frustrating of circumstances.

Francesca is highly intelligent, driven and hardworking. She has a gift for distilling complicated information into a powerful argument.

Francesca has been extremely responsive and practical on the cases we have handled together.

5
Hugh Rimmer
5
Band 5

Hugh Rimmer is noted for his clinical negligence expertise. He regularly acts of clients in cases spanning a wide range of medical issues, including misdiagnosis and delayed diagnosis, amongst many others.

Hugh is always very detailed and helpful. He is very good with clients and approachable.

Hugh has been excellent in every way throughout and his tenacity produced a fantastic result.

Ranked Barristers at
Deka Chambers

Provided by Chambers
Filter by
Band

Silks (KC)

London (Bar)

Clinical Negligence

S
Edward Faulks KC
S
Senior Statespeople
1
Edward Bishop KC
1
Band 1
Simon Readhead KC
1
Simon Readhead KC
1
Band 1
Giles Mooney KC
2
Giles Mooney KC
2
Band 2
Stuart McKechnie KC
2
Stuart McKechnie KC
2
Band 2
Jacob Levy KC
3
Jacob Levy KC
3
Band 3
3
Laura Johnson KC
3
Band 3

Juniors

London (Bar)

Clinical Negligence

2
Angus Piper
2
Band 2
2
Laura Begley
2
Band 2
Christopher Stephenson
3
Christopher Stephenson
3
Band 3
Adam Dawson
4
Adam Dawson
4
Band 4
4
Helen Pooley
4
Band 4
Holly Tibbitts
4
Holly Tibbitts
4
Band 4
4
Lisa Dobie
4
Band 4
Robert Horner
4
Robert Horner
4
Band 4
Francesca O'Neill
5
Francesca O'Neill
5
Band 5
5
Hugh Rimmer
5
Band 5