Areas of expertise

Clinical Negligence

12KBW is known for its impressive clinical negligence team ranked in the Chambers & Partners Bar Guide. Our team consists of more than 50 leading silks and juniors. Members of the group have been involved in leading cases including high profile, group/multi-party litigation. Our breadth and depth of experience ensures we can provide a well-suited barrister (or team of barristers) no matter the complexity or scale of the litigation.

The team has vast experience of all aspects of clinical negligence cases. Members of our clinical negligence team act on behalf of both claimants (privately and publicly funded), as well as defendants, including NHS Trusts, medical defence organisations, privately insured practitioners and private hospitals. As well as having unrivalled experience in, and of, the courts (County Court to Supreme Court) our team is regularly instructed to appear at inquests (often high profile), to represent families, NHS Trusts, private healthcare organisations when clinical negligence / neglect / gross negligence manslaughter is suspected. The team has also represented numerous celebrities in cosmetic surgery cases.

We are committed to providing training to the wider legal and medical communities, and the team provides a programme of lectures and seminars dedicated to topical subjects and developments in clinical negligence law. The 12KBW clinical negligence law blog provides an invaluable resource for those who wish to keep up to date with developments in clinical negligence law. For more information on the latest event see here.

To name but a few, some recent examples of high-profile litigation which our members have been involved in include:

  • Davies v Frimley Health NHS Foundation Trust (delayed diagnosis: meningitis)
  • The Contaminated Blood Products Group litigation and the Infect Blood Inquiry
  • The Hepatitis litigation
  • RE v Calderdale & Huddersfield NHS Foundation Trust (catastrophic birth injury; secondary victims)
  • Diamond v Exeter (Informed consent)
  • X v University College London Hospitals NHS Trust (catastrophic spinal cord injury)
  • RF v Davies (short life expectancy accommodation claims)
  • Y v Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust (total blindness)
  • AB (a protected party, CD) v Abertawe Bro Morgannwg UHB (catastrophic brain injury)
  • AB v East Lancashire NHS Trust (standard of care – midwifery)
  • White v Chadwick (informed consent: failure to disclose on learning curve)

Clinical negligence law is perhaps too complex, and our members’ experience too extensive to provide a comprehensive list of all areas of expertise, but the following provides an overview of the basic areas of expertise: Catastrophic injury; Birth injuries; Spinal injury; Sepsis and meningitis; Cauda equina; Delayed diagnosis/ failure to diagnose; informed consent; Misdiagnosis; Negligent surgery / treatment; Delayed treatment; Cosmetic surgery; Cancer; Failure to provide suitable care and/or treatment to the mentally ill; Dental malpractice; Group litigation; Product liability.

View Barristers specialising in this area