Nicholas Heathcote Williams QC

Barrister Profile

Nick was called to the Bar in 1976, served as an Infantry Officer in the Royal Green Jackets from 1977-1980, and has been in practice at 12 King's Bench Walk since 1980. He took Silk in 2006.

His main areas of expertise are:-

Personal Injury
Catastrophic injury cases, such as severe brain injuries, tetraplegia & paraplegia
Cases of serious psychiatric injury
Cases involving syndromes of disputed nature & causation, e.g. chronic fatigue syndrome & fibromyalgia.

Liability of Public Authorities
Including the Police, Social Services and Education Authorities, for all forms of injury damage and loss, whether in misfeasance in public office, negligence or under the Human Rights Act.

Professional & Clinical Negligence
Particularly legal professional and medical negligence.

Insurance
Including a speciality in road traffic insurance & non-insurance (the not always clear, compehensive or mutually consistent systems for compensating the victims of uninsured drivers under the Road Traffic Act and uninsured and untraced drivers under the Motor Insurers' Bureau Uninsured and Untraced Drivers Schemes, and the compliance or non compliance of these systems with the European Directives on Motor Insurance and the Human Rights Act).

He also undertakes work in other fields where there is overlap with his main areas of practice, e.g. criminal cases of causing death by dangerous driving and environmental and health and safety offences.

Both Chambers and Partners and the Legal 500 list Nick as a leading Silk in Personal Injury. Chambers & Partners 2012 praises Nick as "wonderfully direct and extremely pragmatic”, "always fully prepared for whatever meeting you have with him” and having "tremendous accessibility."

Previously the directories have reported that he "impresses sources with his handling of brain injury cases where he demonstrates an ability to 'sort the wheat from the chaff'".

He is a member of the Management Committee of Chambers, an advocacy trainer for the Inner Temple and a Vice Chairman of the Complaints Committee of the Bar Standards Board.
He was appointed Assistant Recorder in 1999, has been a Recorder since 2000 and holds civil, criminal and mental health (restricted patients) tickets.

Nick's interests include most sports, particularly cricket (member of MCC) and skiing, and art, cinema and reading, particularly literature and current affairs.

Qualifications

Briggs' Open Scholar, MA (Law) St Catherine's College, Cambridge

Professional Membership

Personal Injuries Bar Association
London Common Law and Commercial Bar Association

Publications

Chapter on Compensation for Victims of Uninsured and Untraced Drivers in the Personal Injury Bar Association Handbook

Interesting Cases

Best v Smyth Tugendhat J [2010] EWHC 1541 (QB) – interim payment of £650,000 for paraplegic, after deduction for contributory fault , under second limb of Eeles v Cobham

Williams v Williams & Groupama Insurance Dobbs J (QBD) [2008] EWHC 299 – trial of preliminary issue of reasonable accommodation need of a seriously brain injured child

Aer Lingus plc v Gildacroft Ltd & Sentinal Lifts Ltd Court of Appeal [2006] 1 WLR 1173 - when cause of action under Civil Liability (Contribution) Act 1978 accrues for purpose of limitation.

Thacker v Steeples & MIB Master Lush (Court of Protection) and Cox J (QBD) 16 May 2005 - whether MIB a reasonably secure provider under the new periodical payments regime. Form of reverse indemnity in respect of statutory funded care.

Price v Price Court of Appeal, 2004 PIQR P6 - whether refusal of extension of time for service of Particulars of Claim in context of personal injury action contrary to Claimant's Article 6 rights under Human Rights Act.