Chambers Review
Provided by Chambers
Personal Injury - North Eastern (Bar)
What the Team is Known For
Parklane Plowden is the leading chambers on the North Eastern Circuit for personal injury matters, with instructing solicitors noting their "practical approach to claims as well as exceptional technical knowledge and advocacy." The areas of expertise for the team include high-value catastrophic brain and spinal injury as well as amputation claims, acting for both claimant and defendant clients. One recent example of such work involved the representation of a claimant in regards to serious burn and psychological injuries resulting from a workplace explosion. The set's barristers are frequently involved in high-profile and leading cases, and have experience appearing before both the Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court.
Paul Clarke is the senior practice director of civil and employment law.
Strengths
The clerks are friendly, professional, are always willing to assist and, importantly, they deliver.
The personal injury clerks are really strong. They get back right away. You always get a response very quickly.
Paul Clarke has been a great addition to the clerking team.
Parklane Plowden clerks are very good. They are on top of the paperwork. They are on the ball. We rely heavily on Laura Storr, she is very prompt.
Parklane Plowden clerking is good. They are responsive and commercial.
Notable practitioners
Andrew Axon combines his outstanding personal injury practice with his work in clinical negligence. He is instructed by both the defence and the prosecution in serious, high-value cases, and excels in those relating to brain and spinal injury as well as amputations. He regularly appears in cases before the High Court and the Court of Appeal.
He is popular with clients.
His attention to detail is unmatched. He is very well prepared; he is very able in that respect.
James Murphy is a well-respected senior junior. He handles both industrial disease and catastrophic injury claims, and also has a specialist focus on employers' liability. He represents claimants and defendants, both at first instance and on appeal.
James is hugely experienced and an extremely able advocate. He is brilliant on his feet, very quick to turn papers around and extremely good with clients and witnesses.
He has got a very nice approach and style which is commendable.
Richard Copnall is known for his commanding presence at trial and in negotiations, making him a powerful representative for clients. He principally acts in high-value catastrophic injury cases, though he also represents clients facing psychological injuries. He is able to draw on his scientific background when advising on cases with complex technical elements.
Richard Copnall is a very able and highly experienced advocate.
Stephen Friday offers a broad practice representing defendants and claimants alike. He is particularly experienced in cases concerning chronic pain and fatal and back injury as well as others arising in a clinical setting. He also takes on claims relating to road traffic accidents.
He knows what clients want and he is not afraid to take on cases. He is so valuable because he will take on the more risky work.
Stephen is a strong negotiator and excellent in joint settlement meetings.
Steve is very knowledgeable with medical terminology.
Corin Furness is well versed in employment and public liability, and is also noted for his loss expertise. He also regularly handles claims concerning matters related to capacity to work and spinal injury. He acts for both claimants and defendants, and is particularly adept at handling multi-track claims.
Corin is a superb advocate and has exceptional attention to the smallest of details.
He is always a very polite and a well prepared opponent.
Corin offers first-class service, quality work, great results and impressive client attentiveness.
Elizabeth Hodgson represents defendants in personal injury cases relating to employers' liability as well as public liability claims. She also acts for claimants in claims arising from psychological abuse. Her clients include insurers, local authorities and NHS Resolution.
She is an incredible and friendly barrister, knows the space well and has great business acumen.
She possesses excellent manner both in and outside the court, and is pragmatic and understanding of the issues. She is a favourite of clients.
Elizabeth is an excellent advocate who fights her corner with seemingly effortless professionalism and skill.
Howard Elgot is a senior junior known for his superb grasp of claims involving serious spinal and brain injuries. He often acts in complex, high-value paralysis cases, representing both claimants and defendants. He is a frequent speaker at national conferences on personal injury law. He is experienced appearing before the House of Lords, the Supreme Court and the Court of Appeal.
Howard Elgot is really smart and does good work.
Hylton Armstrong is highly regarded for his proficient handling of personal injury claims arising out of serious road traffic accidents and complex employers' liability claims. He acts for both claimants and defendants and has notable experience handling cases involving allegations of fraud.
Hylton always puts clients at ease. He is very calm.
Hylton Armstrong is very ambitious and very strategic.
He is very approachable and great with clients. His written advices are really strong. He is a clear and concise advocate, he gets to the point and cross-examines well.
Justin Crossley is a well-regarded barrister who represents both claimants and defendants in a wide range of personal injury claims. He is particularly experienced in the handling of complex fatal accident cases.
He makes time to meet clients face to face and he has a really good manner.
Justin is excellent to work with, very approachable, knowledgeable and quick to turn instructions around. He is contactable at all times and will go out of his way to help, whatever the issue.
Justin is a well experienced and fantastic barrister, he has a great approach and is very well liked by clients. He has a very balanced approach to advices, and has great written advisory skills.
Stuart Jamieson is a junior barrister who continues to represent both claimants and defendants in complex personal injury cases. He regularly acts for clients with life-altering injuries arising from accidents at work as well as soft tissue injury. He is noted for his exceptional ability when it comes to costs issues and claims under the Animals Act. He is also adept at handling complex industrial disease claims involving crush injury.
He is popular with firms and clients; he works very hard.
Stuart turns papers around promptly, always with attention to detail and is excellent on his feet, in conferences and at joint settlement meetings.
Stuart is very bright and has good attention to detail.
Tom Nossiter receives high praise for his exceptional client care skills, which lend strength to his claimant-focused practice. He acts in high-value occupiers' and public liability claims as well as complex employment liability cases. He is also experienced in the handling of industrial disease claims.
Tom is excellent. He is extremely prompt at responding to correspondence and papers, and has a great depth of knowledge in personal injury matters.
He provides exceptional technical knowledge, together with a great manner with clients. He will go over and above instructions to assist with the practical application of advice given.
Tom is great with clients in conferences and at trial. He is a tenacious advocate, excellent in pleadings and offers a very fast turnaround.
Abigail Telford is a well-regarded junior barrister who is noted for her handling of complex personal injury matters, such as psychological injury and serious injury arising from RTAs. She regularly acts for both claimants and defendants.
She is very knowledgeable on matters in this space. She is really strong on her feet.
Abigail is very bright and personable counsel. She gives clear advice.
Abigail provides an excellent all round service to my clients and is very approachable for informal advice.
Catherine Souter represents claimants and defendants in multi-track as well as fast-track cases. She has a broad range of experience but is particularly knowledgeable about personal injury arising out of health and safety breaches, and is well versed in employment, occupiers' and public liability cases. She also handles claims involving fatal accidents, psychiatric injury and chronic pain conditions. Her clients include local authorities, NHS trusts, manufacturers and insurers.
Jim Hester is a well-regarded barrister who is regularly called upon to represent the Ministry of Defence in complex personal injury cases. He has considerable experience handling military deafness claims.
Jim is a good performer. He is really good on occupational disease and deafness work.
He is very good and technical on car and motor issues.
Jim is well liked by clients who often insist on his repeat instruction.
Roger Quickfall has expertise in handling matters regarding brain injuries and injuries sustained from RTAs. He is equally comfortable handling disputes over causation and quantum, and has additional experience in appellate matters.
Roger offers clear and concise advice.
Megan Crowther is a junior barrister at Parklane Plowden and has a strong practice with a wide offering of personal injury expertise. She has experience handling claims involving complex injuries including traumatic brain injuries and psychological damage claims.
Megan provides excellent and advice and is very good with clients in her down to earth manner.
Clients really like and trust her. She has a really good demeanor.