12 King's Bench Walk is one of the best known and respected civil sets of barristers' chambers in London. Over 75 barristers offer a wealth of expertise and skill in a wide range of legal fields.
12KBW is best known for the depth and breadth of its expertise in the areas of personal injury, clinical negligence, professional negligence, insurance, and employment law.
12KBW is proud of its modern, flexible, friendly approach and service. The development of strong and successful relations with its clients is at the core of its business and its aim is to provide the highest standard of service and the best value.
Chambers has a long-standing relationship with all major insurance companies and trade unions. It welcomes and receives instructions from all professionals as well as direct from accountants, in-house solicitors and other clients approved under the Licensed Access scheme.
Members of chambers regularly appear in courts throughout the country enabling 12KBW to provide a national service at all levels.
What's New
More Mediators
The ranks of our Mediation team have been swelled by 4 newly accreditated mediators.
Simon Levene, Nigel Lewers, William Audland and Catherine Peck have all recently undertaken bespoke mediation training with the ADR Group. They join the existing team of silks comprising Richard Methuen, Andrew Hogarth, Ronald Walker and Frank Burton.
For more information on our mediation service, please go to http://www.12kbw.co.uk/practice/id/10/
Harry Steinberg - Chambers & Partners Award 2011.
We are delighted to announce that Harry Steinberg has been awarded the title Junior Personal Injury/Clinical Negligence barrister of the year at this year's Bar Awards which were held on 27th October.
Joanna Vincent
We are very pleased to announce that Joanna Vincent has today been sworn in as a District Judge by Mrs Justice Pauffley in the Royal Courts of Justice. Jo will be sitting in the Oxford and Milton Keynes county courts from next week, having spent the last 12 years in Chambers. We wish her every success in her new career.
Fixed Term & Door Tenancies
We are inviting applications for Fixed Term and Door Tenancies to help us meet our clients’ needs.
For information on Door Tenancies click here. For information on Fixed Term Tenancies please go to the Pupillage & Recruitment section above.
Seminars
2012 Seminar & Conference Programme
Our seminar programme for 2012 is now available please see the seminars section of the website or click here
Case Commentaries
Charnock and Ors v Rowan and Ors - December 2011Facts
This was a personal injury claim brought by ten claimants arising out of a road traffic accident on 30 June 2007. They had been in a stationary bus which had been struck by the First Defendant. There were two limbs to the defence to the claim: firstly, that it was unlikely that all of the Claimants had suffered such similar injury from a very minor jolt and secondly that the Claimants’ accounts were so internally consistent that none were worthy of belief. HHJ Gore QC at first instance found that the expert opinion was such to allow the possibility that injury could occur at the speed in the index accident and that was not challenged on appeal. The point of the appeal was in respect of the second limb of the defence.
Much of the defence took the form at trial of cross examining the Claimants on what they had said to the examining doctor as compared to what they were telling the court. The medical reports containing those hearsay comments made at the time of examination were part of the agreed trial bundle. HHJ Gore QC in his judgment said that the defence been properly conducted, formal notice would have been given of the Defendants’ intention to rely on that hearsay. As such, those issues of inconsistency were only raised in cross examination and the Claimants had not had the opportunity to cross-examine the examining doctor. As such he said that he would take into account the fact that those issues had only been put in cross examination and were based on hearsay evidence that had been put in place without the proper formality. He said accordingly that the weight to be attached to those matters would be significantly undermined.
He then made a finding as to each and every Claimant, none of whose evidence he was persuaded was undermined by the inconsistency.
The Defendants appealed on the basis that there was no procedural defect in the presentation of their case and the judge was therefore wrong to attenuate the value of the evidence of inconsistency.
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Vasant Pattni v First Leicester Buses Limited & Darren Bent v Highways And Utilties Construction Limited & Allianz InsuranceIn these conjoined appeals the Court of Appeal was asked again to consider the law and clarify it in relation to the proper approach to Credit Hire Claims specifically interest on hire charges and the appropriate approach to determining the basic hire rate (BHR) formerly known as “spot rate”. LJ Aiken's gave the decision of the court in both.
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Fernquest v City and County of Swansea The Court of Appeal gave judgment on 2nd December 2011 in a case where at trial a local authority had been found to owe a duty to warn “park and ride” bus passengers that there was ice close to one of the bus stops. The decision was overturned, as the Court of Appeal considered that there was no justification for such a duty and it would add a considerable burden to those operating buses. Tim Petts from 12KBW represented Swansea Council on their successful appeal.
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