Timothy Petts

Barrister Profile

Tim has a well-established Personal Injury practice, which includes a substantial amount of work involving serious injury and fatal accident claims. He also has considerable experience in claims against local authorities as highway authority, landlord or occupier of premises (includng accidents to children or teachers at schools). He has experience of conducting a defence where fraud is alleged or suspected. Other strong areas of expertise include employers’ civil and criminal liabilities (including stress at work claims, inquests and HSE prosecutions). Tim is also experienced in conducting CRU appeals for insurers and advising in credit hire claims.

Tim also specialises in Clinical Negligence and acts on behalf of both claimants and hospitals. His practice has included claims in a wide range of fields, including obstetrics and mental health.

He has particular experience in Professional Negligence claims against solicitors and insurance brokers and is regularly instructed by solicitors’ professional insurers attempting to rescue claims before they are struck-out. 

Within chambers, Tim co-ordinates the in-house pupil advocacy training programme; he also gives continuing education talks to solicitors.

Tim is a Recorder on the Wales Circuit (appointed 2008) and is endeavouring to master Welsh, his wife's first language.

Qualifications

M Jur, European and Comparative Law (Jesus College, Oxford) (First class, British Academy Scholarship)
MA, Jurisprudence (Jesus College, Oxford) (First class, Open Exhibition)

Professional Membership

Elected member of Inner Temple Bar Liaison and Estates Committees
Personal Injuries Bar Association
Professional Negligence Bar Association

Publications

Contributing Editor to Kemp & Kemp: Personal Injury Law, Practice and Procedure - a companion volume to the main Kemp Quantum work, concentrating on procedural law and tactical considerations for both sides in personal injury and clinical negligence claims. Former contributor to Butterworths Professional Negligence Service. He is also a frequent contributor to the Personal Injury Law Journal, commenting on recent developments in substantive and procedural law".

Interesting Cases

Re F [2008] - acted for a severely brain-injured child in a claim against a GP.
Kanu v King's College Hospital [2006] EWHC 820 (QBD) - acted for a severely brain-injured teenager in a substantial clinical negligence claim, leading to a major decision on periodical payments.
Morris v Staffordshire CC (Lawtel, April 2006) - acted for local authority in a stress at work claim.
Swinton v Annabel's (Berkeley Square) Ltd (Current Law 2004) – whether a cyclist was partly to blame for his injuries by not wearing a cycle helmet.
Eagle v Chambers [2004] RTR 115 (Court of Appeal) – contributory negligence of pedestrian hit by a car.
Evans v Devon CC (Current Law 2004) – appeal on whether a Highway Authority has a duty to remove algae from the pavement.
Gardner v Wharton (Current Law 2004) – farmer’s liability for cow escaping from field onto the road causing a collision.

Examples of Tim's recent experience include :-

- Advising in a hand injury case with experts from different disciplines disagreeing about the
  nature of the injury, its causation and prognosis.
- Defending a local authority against a claim brought by a child injured during after-school 
  gym club activities.
- Defending a school against a claim by a teacher injured by a disruptive pupil. 
- A seven-day trial for a fire authority against a PI claim from a fireman who claimed that he
  had injured himself when attending a fire. 
- Representing insurers in a CRU appeal where the claimant's psychiatric injuries had been
  caused by a mixture of tortious and non-tortious events.  
- Representing a highway authority in a claim by an electricity company for damage said to have
  been caused by the authority's contractors to underground cables during street works. 
- Stress at work claims brought by a university lecturer and a shop worker