William Audland

Barrister Profile

William has a strong specialist Personal Injury and Clinical Negligence practice. He is particularly experienced in dealing with matters concerning local authority, employers’ and public liability, as well as being regularly instructed in cases involving catastrophic injuries. He acts for both claimants and defendants and regularly advises and appears on behalf of the MIB. 

He is recognised as a “Leading Junior” in both Chambers and Partners 2008 (Personal Injury), where he is described as “intellectually outstanding” and “a tough nut in the courtroom”; and the Legal 500 (2006), where he is noted to be “very thorough with an eye for the detail”. 

William’s Travel Law expertise is also well recognised. He acts for both travel companies and claimants in respect of personal injury, contractual, and insurance claims in this context, and his expertise in this field also attracts recommendations in Chambers and Partners 2007 (Travel Law) as a “Leading Junior” in the field with “an incisive understanding of insurers’ priorities”.

William Audland goes from strength to strength at the heart of chambers. He is regarded as ‘one to watch’ and is highly respected for his analytical skills and attention to detail. William leads a wealth of talent among the middle juniors. He has an established general civil practice, with particular expertise in personal injury (local authority liability, employers’ liability, public liability, and RTA/MIB work) and clinical negligence work.

Qualifications

Queen’s College, Oxford (BA Modern Languages); City University (DipLaw)

Professional Membership

Personal Injuries Bar Association
Professional Negligence Bar Association

Interesting Cases

Smale v (1) Ball (2) Motor Insurers Bureau Lawtel 6.6.07. A decision of Nigel Baker Q.C. sitting as a Deputy High Court Judge (QBD), in which he confined an award of damages for loss of earnings/earning capacity in a case involving a boy aged 12 when he sustained brain injuries, and 22 at trial, to two modest lump sum awards (i) pursuant to Blamire v South Cumbria HA (1993) PIQR Q1, and (ii) an award of Smith v Manchester damages; and rejected a much larger claim advanced on a multiplier/multiplicand basis.

Caerphilly County Borough Council v (1) Matthew Hughes (2) Jamie Verity (3) Christian Rowlands Lawtel 17.03.06. A decision of Silber J QBD (Cardiff District Registry sitting in Swansea on 6.12.05). A landmark decision concerning successful committal proceedings brought by a local authority pursuant to CPR 32.14(2)(b) against (i) a claimant who had attempted to bring a fraudulent claim for damages for personal injury and (ii) his two witnesses, for signing deliberately false statements with a statement of truth.

Keeley v (1) Pashen (2) Wren Motor Syndicate 1202 at Lloyds [2004] EWCA (Civ) 1491: An important case considering the extent to which a motor insurer can evade its liability under section 151 of the Road Traffic Act 1988 by reference to the limitations as to use under the policy. A driver who set down his last fares of the night and then drove his car at them to frighten them, thereby killing one of them, was held not to be driving his car “for hire and reward” (an excluded use under the policy) but to be driving it for “social, domestic or pleasure” (an included use under the policy).

Dixon v Were [2004] EWHC 2273 (QB): A high value claim for catastrophic (brain and psychiatric) injuries, involving (i) the application of the principles set out in Master-Lister v Brutton & Co [2002] EWCA Civ 1889 to the issue of the claimant’s disputed patient status; (ii) the resolution of claims for losses of earnings and remuneration package benefits, and the loss of a chance of very high earnings; and (iii) the resolution of a high value claim for care and case management.

Ling v (1) Test Valley Borough Council (2) Salisbury Healthcare NHS Trust [2003] EWHC 490 (QB) - Clinical negligence case involving catastrophic injuries.

A v X & B (Non party) [2004] EWHC 447 (QB): Application by the Defendant for an order for non-party disclosure of medical records belonging to the Claimant's brother on grounds that the Claimant's psychiatric illness was genetic and not traumatic in origin.

Beaton v Devon CC [2002] EWCA (Civ) 1675 - Occupiers Liability in relation to a public cycle path.