Areas of Expertise

• Personal Injury

  Chris acts for both claimants and defendants in a wide range of personal injury cases. He is currently instructed in cases in the High Court and County Court involving serious injury valued at more than £1M, necessitating expert evidence in multiple disciplines.

  He is noted for his ability to marshal large volumes of evidence and to communicate on an informed level with expert witnesses in highly specialised areas. He has an impressive track record in Court.  He is also an exceptionally effective negotiator. He is regularly instructed for Joint Settlement Meetings in high value cases, to include when a silk is instructed by the other side.

  Chris’ experience covers both trials and interim hearings, including substantial experience of costs budgeting.  His current case load includes claims involving serious road traffic accidents, accidents at work, fatal accident, highways and public liability claims, sexual abuse, stress at work and industrial diseases.  He is instructed in cases involving head injuries, traumatic amputations, psychiatric injury, somatoform disorders, fibromyalgia, chronic pain syndromes and complex regional pain syndromes. He is frequently instructed to draft high-value detailed schedules and counter schedules of loss.

• Counter Fraud

  Chris’ cross-examination skills, developed at the Criminal Bar, are invaluable to his clients when allegations of fraud, fundamental dishonesty or suspicions of malingering are raised.

  He is an excellent trial advocate and a tenacious cross-examiner with a calm, incisive and forensic approach, which is likely to disarm even the most evasive of witnesses.

• Clinical Negligence

  Chris has a wide range of experience in this area.  He has represented families at inquests in circumstances where clinical negligence proceedings are likely to follow. He also has experience of advising both claimants and defendants where complex issues of breach of duty and causation are raised.

  Chris has worked on cases involving brain injuries, surgical error, cosmetic surgery, emergency events, and diagnostic failures. He advises on issues of capacity and consent, as well as marshalling complex calculations on assessment of damages involving extensive care and therapy regimes, and associated educational, vocational and accommodation issues.  He is noted for his ability to grasp the detail of expert evidence in highly specialist fields and to deploy that knowledge to the advantage of his clients.

• Criminal Regulatory

  Chris has prosecuted, defended and mitigated on behalf of those charged with breach of waste disposal licenses, health and safety (including fatal injury cases), duty evasion and environmental offences.

  He has prosecuted and defended at all levels (Court of Appeal, Crown Court and Magistrates’ Court) those charged with offences prosecuted by various Local Authorities and Trading Standards Departments pursuant to their statutory enforcement duties, including benefit fraud and consumer protection offences and in particular offences contrary to the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008.  He also has considerable experience of conducting ‘confiscation’ proceedings pursuant to the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002, which frequently arise after at the conclusion of such cases.

• Disease

  Cases of industrial disease form a significant part of Chris’ practice.  He is frequently instructed in claims for asbestosis and mesothelioma, noise-induced hearing loss, dermatitis, silicosis and hand-arm vibration syndrome.

  He advises regularly on evidential and causation difficulties which often arise in such cases, including issues of life expectancy, limitation and assessing breach of duty based on the prevailing state of scientific knowledge.  His knowledge and interest in radio communications is of particular benefit in cases involving alleged exposure to electro-magnetic radiation.

About

• Memberships

  • Personal Injuries Bar Association
  • Criminal Bar Association

• Education

  • LLB (Hons), Nottingham
  • BVC, Nottingham Law School