Personal Injury
Chris has been committed to working on behalf of seriously injured people and bereaved families for nearly two decades. He has an established track record of achieving excellent results for claimants in high-value personal injury claims.
Chris represents claimants who have suffered catastrophic injuries in road traffic accidents or accidents at work and those with claims arising under occupiers’ liability legislation. His practice encompasses claims arising from traumatic brain injuries, spinal cord injuries and injuries resulting in amputations.
Chris has a reputation for being “very knowledgeable” and having “a fantastic understanding of difficult claims”. He is always happy to be involved in the earliest stages of a claim to discuss tactics, expert evidence and a claimant’s rehabilitation needs.
He has a wealth of experience as an advocate in the King’s Bench Division. He has represented claimants at trials of breach and causation as preliminary issues as well as for assessment of damages. He is adept at cross-examination of medical experts and collision reconstruction experts. He is recognised the legal directories as a “brilliant” and “extremely tough” advocate.
Chris has a special interest in the engagement of vulnerable claimants in their claims for compensation. He successfully represented the claimant in the first reported case on the ‘vulnerability’ provisions in CPR PD1A: AXX v. Zajac [2022] EWHC 2463.
Chris is also renowned for his skill in producing high value schedules of loss. He negotiates settlements worth millions of pounds every year for seriously injured claimants (including at joint settlement meetings and mediations).
Chris’ focus is always on achieving the best possible outcome for his lay clients, both during and at the conclusion of their claims. Securing adequate interim funding to put in place effective rehabilitation is his first priority when taking on any new instruction. His goal in every case is to ensure that his badly injured clients finalise their claims with a sufficient pot of compensation to make positive changes to their lives in the short and long term.
Beyond his practice, Chris has a passion for improving equality and diversity at the bar. His special interest is the prevention of bullying, harassment and discrimination at the bar – a topic on which he has published articles and lectured extensively. He is an officer of the Northern Circuit’s Equality, Diversity and Social Mobility Committee.
Chris is also chair of Exchange Chambers’ pupillage committee and an organiser of the Personal Injury Bar Association’s Northern Circuit Conference.
Personal Injury Cases
Case study 1 (2023)
The claimant was a cyclist (not wearing a helmet) who was hit by a bus and sustained a severe traumatic brain injury. Chris was instructed to advise the claimant and his family prior to commencement of proceedings. He assisted with marshalling expert evidence from a number of disciplines in support of a significant claim. In this case, the claimant’s failure to wear a helmet was a key issue. Chris advised in conference with engineering and neurological experts and presented an argument that the claimant’s rotational brain injury would not have been prevented by use of a helmet. Chris settled the pleadings, including the schedule of loss and represented the claimant at a joint settlement meeting where compromised was reached at a seven figure sum.
Case study 2 (2024)
The claimant was a driver involved in a head-on collision. She sustained polytrauma injuries including fractures to both tibias and both knees as well as a traumatic brain injury. Chris was instructed to advise on case planning and settled pleadings. As the matter progressed towards settlement, Chris advised in conference with medical experts to refine the presentation of the claim. The claimant had a pre-existing back injury which would have impacted her ability to work in any event, but her need for paid support and adapted accommodation was successfully argued to be a direct result of the accident. The matter settled for a seven figure sum.
Case study 3 (2024)
The claimant sustained multi-fragmentary intra-articular fractures to both femurs in a road-traffic accident. She was left significantly disabled: she was unable to walk for any distance and struggled with stairs. Her pre-injury home was a rented first floor apartment up a steep flight of stairs. Attempts to find a more suitable apartment to rent failed because of steps in common areas. As such, Chris advised on the preparation and presentation of a claim for the cost of purchasing/adapting a bungalow to meet the claimant’s needs. Chris advised in conference with experts, drafted the schedule of loss and represented the claimant at a joint settlement meeting, where a compromise was struck at a seven figure settlement.
Case study 4 (2024)
The claimant sustained a serious knee injury in a road-traffic accident. He was unable to continue his pre-injury work as a machine engineer in a factory and obtained employment as a school estates manager. Chris advised in conference with the claimant and the orthopaedic expert witness regarding whether the claimant was ‘disabled’ for the purpose of an Ogden loss of earning calculation. The defendant denied that the claimant was disabled and argued he had suffered no loss of earnings by finding a similarly well-paid job. The matter went to trial on that issue. Chris cross-examined the defendant’s expert and successfully argued that the claimant met the criteria for ‘disability’. Judgment was awarded at just shy of half a million pounds.
Case study 5 (2024)
The claimant was a pedestrian hit by a bus on a pedestrian crossing. She sustained a severe traumatic brain injury. Prior to the accident, she had lived in supported accommodation because of developmental disabilities and learning difficulties caused by undiagnosed hypothyroidism at birth. There was no dispute she now needed significant support, the issue was whether she would have ever lived without support but for her injury. That dispute required careful marshalling of expert and lay witness evidence as well as careful analysis of pre and post-injury records. Chris advised in consultation as junior to William Waldron KC, drafted the schedule and represented the claimant at the JSM where he and Mr. Waldron secured a multi-million pound settlement.
