Ahmed Al-Nahhas

Practice Areas

Ahmed is Head of the Military Claims Team and a Partner and Solicitor-Advocate, representing armed forces personnel.

Ahmed manages high value personal injury and clinical negligence claims, often involving serious accidents suffered by service personnel during training or through failures to treat and rehabilitate. He ensures that all his clients are seen at an early stage by the right medical experts, so that their injuries can be fully investigated, an assessment made of their future needs and a strategy agreed for the successful progression of their claims.

As an experienced Solicitor-Advocate, Ahmed often appears in the High Court to represent his clients. He has led our work defending the rights of service personnel in the workplace against poor conditions, bullying, discrimination and harassment. He has an in depth understanding of service complaint procedures and will advise clients all the way through to appeal stages and beyond. He is passionate about protecting the rights of women and minorities in the armed forces.

A keen negotiator, Ahmed achieves the best possible outcome for his clients, whether that means a valuable pre-action settlement or a fight for compensation at court. He has provided training to experts and solicitors about the nature of military claims, case management, strategy and negotiation.

Ahmed has led ground-breaking litigation in his field, including:

- Having conduct of the first ever settlement in England and Wales relating to injuries caused by the wrongful prescription of Lariam (mefloquine), the anti-malarial drug.

- Billett v MoD– a case involving Non-Freezing Cold Injury (NFCI), which explored the principles of how to assess damages for disabled Claimants and which continues to be a leading case.

- Broni, Woof and Barbour v MoD – a case which successfully argued that service personnel should not be treated in law as ‘employees’ for the purposes of assessing legal costs.

In addition to acting for service personnel and employees of the Ministry of Defence, Ahmed represents consultants in the close protection, maritime security and other off-shore industries who have suffered accidents at work as a result of faulty equipment or poor training. He works closely with a number of specialist medical, aviation, maritime and employment experts in these fields. He knows that this expertise is essential in assessing the financial and personal losses that can result from injuries to these highly trained personnel.

Ahmed is an active member of Forces Law, a national network of lawyers who specialise in advising service personnel, veterans and their families about their legal rights.

He has authored “A Practical Guide to Military Claims”, the first legal guide for practitioners which deals exclusively with claims brought on behalf of service personnel, veterans and their families.

As a legal and subject matter expert, Ahmed has been invited to give evidence before Parliament and provides regular contributions to stories in the national press on the welfare of service personnel. He supports a number of military charities to help raise awareness about these issues.

In March 2021, Ahmed gave evidence to the Defence Select Committee which looked at the experiences faced by women in the military and female veterans. He was preceded by Emma Norton, Director and Solicitor, Centre for Military Justice; and Nicola Williams, former Service Complaints Ombudsman for the Armed Forces.

Career

Trained in a general practice in the City of London; qualified on 15 May 2007; appointed as Partner at Bolt Burdon Kemp in September 2016.

Professional Memberships

Association of Personal Injury Lawyers (APIL); Employment Lawyers Association (ELA); Forces Law (Vice Chair 2016/17, Chair 2017/18); Appointed to Advisory Board for the Centre for Military Justice.