Joanna Vincent

Barrister Profile

Joanna specialises in personal injury law. She has a broad range of experience acting for both Claimants and Defendants in employers’ liability, public liability, product liability, road traffic, occupiers’ liability, industrial disease (including asbestos), psychiatric injury, stress at work, travel law and Fatal Accident Act claims. In road traffic claims she is regularly instructed by the Cycle Touring Club (CTC), and regularly acts for the Motor Insurers’ Bureau. She has experience of appearing in front of the Criminal Injuries Compensation Appeals Panel and Social Security Appeals Tribunals.

Her practice also encompasses clinical and other professional negligence, including doctors, dentists, solicitors, architects and other construction professionals. She is also regularly instructed in relation to commercial disputes, particularly in matters involving construction and engineering and large-scale insurance claims for property damage.

In 2007, Joanna was appointed as a Deputy District Judge on the southeastern circuit. She is a CEDR accredited mediator.

She is involved in the continuing professional education of solicitors, regularly lecturing major commercial firms in advocacy, negotiation and litigation skills.

Appointments

Deputy District Judge - 2007

Qualifications

BA (Hons) (Cantab)
Dip Law (CPE College of Law)
Harmsworth Scholar (Middle Temple) Inns of Court Pegasus Scholar (Hong Kong)
CEDR accredited mediator

Professional Membership

Personal Injuries Bar Association
Professional Negligence Bar Association

Publications

Contributor: Butterworths Professional Negligence Service
Contributing Editor: Butterworths Medical Negligence Case Law (3rd Ed)

Interesting Cases

Personal Injury

- advised a musician with international reputation, who had held the position of first violinist with the Israeli Philharmonic Orchestra for 25 years, whose career was brought to an end by an accident in which he sustained a 3 parts fracture of the humerus.

- Acted for the Defendant in claim where the Claimants had been foster parents on behalf of the Defendant local authority. Following the end of the foster care, the Claimants alleged they were subjected to a prolonged course of harassment, threats and intimidation by the child they had fostered, causing them psychiatric injury. The Claimants alleged that the Defendant owed them a duty of care, and in failing to prevent that course of conduct, was in breach of its duty.

- Acted for Claimant, led by Frank Burton QC, in Fatal Accident Act claim where Claimant’s partner killed in accident while taking part in Cycling Time Trials. Regularly instructed to act on behalf of members of the CTC, the UK's largest and oldest cycling organisation,

- Acted for a Claimant cyclist who sustained severe physical and psychological injuries in a road traffic accident. The Claimant suffered severe internal injuries including loss of his spleen, he was in intensive care for 3 weeks. During that time he started to experience psychotic and delusional episodes. Issues in the case were the risk of infection/deterioration of mental condition in the future and the effect of the injuries on life expectancy, and the question of the Claimant’s capacity. There was a further issue in the case about the availability of provisional damages under the relevant MIB Untraced Drivers’ Agreement;

- Acted for Defendants in claims where it has been alleged that very minor accidents have caused fibromyalgia, leading to respective claims for past and future loss in excess of £750,000


Insurance/contracts

- advising Cypriot insurance company in respect of motor insurance policy issued to Defendant British soldier serving in Cyprus. The Claimant was the Defendant’s passenger and sustained very serious injuries in a road traffic accident. He sought to issue proceedings in the UK, but the insurers wished to rely upon the jurisdiction clause and defend the proceedings in Cyprus;

- extensive experience advising and acting for insurers where credit hire agreements are an issue;

- regularly instructed by the MIB and Article 75 insurers in cases concerning interpretation of MIB Agreements and other issues, for example, whether or not a policy of insurance is voidable on the ground of material mis-representation or non-disclosure pursuant to section 152(2) of the Road Traffic Act 1988;

- Acted for Medical Health insurer in case where policy holder had made fraudulent claims, having taken out 9 concurrent policies, and claimed from 5 of them in respect of the same medical treatment;

- Acted for a Claimant, who was a contractor on a joint venture project to create a sewage pumping system in Whitby, Yorkshire. During commissioning, the non-return valve in the dry well in which the pumping equipment was found failed, causing the well to be flooded, causing extensive loss to the Claimant, and other contractors involved with the project. The Claimant sought to recover losses from the supplier of the defective valve for breach of contract.


Professional Negligence

- solicitors' negligence (particularly personal injury and clinical negligence);

- clinical negligence, including cases of dental negligence. Medical accident cases include cerebral palsy, injury to the brachial plexus caused at birth, allegations of negligently induced miscarriage, unnecessary mastectomy and delayed diagnosis of cervical cancer.


Other interesting cases

- In 2006, in the Commercial Court, acted for the owner of land on the site of a former power station on the River Thames, including a 230-metre long deep-water jetty. A large ferry, owned by the Defendant, collided with the jetty, causing damage. The issue in the case was the correct approach to valuation of the Claimant’s loss - was the Claimant entitled to the cost of full reinstatement of its asset, or, as the Defendant argued, only the cost of limited repairs?