Neil Clayton

Practice Areas

https://www.limesolicitors.co.uk/people/neil-clayton/

Neil currently runs the Clinical Negligence team in Lime’s London office, working closely with Robert Rose to help run the service as a whole.

After graduating from the University of Liverpool with a law degree, and from the College of Law at Chester with a Distinction he joined the firm in September 1999 as a Trainee Solicitor. Neil has specialised in Medical Negligence claims for over 15 years, and is a member of the Law Society’s Clinical Negligence Accreditation Scheme and is currently ranked as Tier 3 for Clinical Negligence (London) in Chambers 2021. Chambers says “he cuts to the chase and gives clients advice in a way they can understand.” “He is very pragmatic and good with clients”. Neil is also a Senior Litigator with APIL (the Association of Personal Injury Lawyers).

Neil’s clientele and specialist areas of practice

Neil acts for claimants who have suffered negligent medical treatment or care from both the NHS and from private providers. He passionately believes in fighting for justice for injured Claimants and sees his role as vital in policing the NHS. He believes that without experienced clinical negligence lawyers, a lot of the dreadful mistakes would go unnoticed and unreported.

Cancer treatment claims

He has acted for a large number of Claimants in relation to the misdiagnosis of and failure to treat cancer. These include the case of a young mother where there was a failure to properly remove a mole on her leg. It turned out years later that the mole was a melanoma which caused her death when her young son was only a year old. He also acted for a father of three whose GP failed to diagnose a mass in his rectum. Sadly the delay made the cancer untreatable and lead to his premature death.

Surgical error claims

Neil deals with lots of complicated cases involving surgical errors. He has recovered large amounts of compensation where people have suffered injuries to their bile ducts whilst having their gallbladders removed. He also recovered substantial damages for a man who underwent bowel surgery without giving informed consent, which caused him to need to be fed through total parenteral nutrition (TPN).

Birth injury claims

Neil deals with cases relating to birth injuries including wrongful birth and stillbirth claims. He has dealt with many claims involving gynaecological injuries sustained by women including during childbirth. He believes that the large number of gynaecological cases he sees relates partly to a lack of empathy between a lot of male gynaecologists and their patients.

Dental negligence claims

Neil is a specialist in dental claims having parents who are both qualified dentists. He is skilled at considering the dental records and x-rays / radiographs and advising clients whether they have potential claims. Neil has seen plenty of cases of incorrect extractions of teeth, failures to diagnose and treat gum disease, failure to treat decay and poor fillings and bridges.

Neil has expressed the desire to see reform in the way that dentists are insured, so that Defence Unions cannot avoid indemnifying dentists when they have absconded or left the county. He has become very frustrated in previous cases where some claimants had not received their just compensation when the negligent dentist could not be traced, and the Defence Unions refused to indemnify them.