Christopher Deacon

Practice Areas

Chris is one of the UK’s leading international injury and travel lawyers, ranked Band 1 in Chambers. Chris acts exclusively for the victims of accidents abroad and in disputes with tour operators, hotels, travel providers and insurers. He is described as “the leading lawyer of his generation in this area of law” and “a superb travel lawyer; he is knowledgeable, tenacious, compassionate and intellectually astute.”

Chris represents clients following serious international accidents, usually UK residents injured overseas but also foreign nationals who sustain life-changing injuries in the UK. He often acts in high profile and challenging cases and in claims arising from a wide range of catastrophic and fatal incidents, from road traffic accidents to sporting and leisure activities.

Chris has a specialist interest and expertise in motorsports accidents, having represented the family of F1 driver Jules Bianchi following his fatal accident at the 2014 Japanese Grand Prix and F2 driver Juan Manuel Correa following the serious accident at the 2019 Belgian Grand Prix.

Fluent in French, his background in international law means he is well placed to advise in relation to claims arising from incidents across the globe. Chris’ experience notably extends to the USA where he has pursued claims in a number of US states.

He has written, presented and advised on the implications of Brexit for international injury claims. Chris is involved in lobbying for the rights of serious injury victims in an international context, regularly engaging with government and public consultations on law reform.

Chris is currently representing a number of seriously injured clients and their families following accidents overseas, including a German national in a UK tour operator package holiday claim following a river excursion boat capsizing incident in Cambodia and the family of a British citizen who was killed in a hotel fire in Marrakech, Morocco. He represents Tony Holliday in his claim against TUI following a quad biking excursion incident in Cape Verde.

Career

Chris studied European and French law at the University of Warwick and Lille II, France. He trained at Blake Lapthorn, qualifying into travel litigation before moving to Stewarts in 2013.

Professional Memberships

Chris is an APIL accredited accidents abroad specialist and assessor. He is a member of the Travel and Tourism Lawyers Association, APIL and PEOPIL, and secretary to the APIL International Special Interest Group.

Publications

Chris regularly comments on international injury and travel law issues as well as developments in private international law and the impact of Brexit. He has appeared on the BBC and written for the New Law Journal, the Law Society Gazette, International Travel Insurance Journal and City AM.

Personal

Chris’ interests include theatre and travel. He has sat on the board of a national street theatre company in a voluntary capacity and is usually planning his next adventure abroad. He enjoys spending time with Rupert, his Cavalier King Charles Spaniel.