Services for Individuals -

Personal Injury & Clinical Negligence

“Conditional Fee Funding can make it feasible to claim for an injury which is not your fault”

Introduction

Our personal injury and clinical negligence department represents people who have been injured in accidents where someone else is to blame, or as a result of negligent treatment from health professionals. It handles a wide range of cases, some resulting in relatively minor injuries, others involving devastating, permanent disability.

The team is very highly rated by the leading legal directories for both clinical negligence and personal injury work. The UK Legal 500 (2006) says:

“[Russell-Cooke] is rapidly becoming one of the leading players in the field…. The ‘practical and hardworking’ Janice Gardner has garnered respect for ‘chasing hard to obtain a favourable outcome.”

Deborah Blythe is regarded as one of the leading clinical negligence solicitors in London by the 2007 edition of Chambers Guide to the Legal Profession who say:

“Russell-Cooke continues to impress market sources with its clinical negligence work…Commentators praise Deborah Blythe for her ‘tactically astute’ demeanor.”

Several of the department’s solicitors are members of the Law Society’s accreditation panels which includes only those lawyers who have demonstrated their special competence in a particular area of law. Deborah Blythe and Terry Lee are on both the Clinical Negligence and Personal Injury Panels and Dominic Fairclough and Janice Gardner sit on the Clinical Negligence and Personal Injury panel respectively.

In addition, Dominic Fairclough and Terry Lee are members of the Action Against Medical Accidents’ (AvMA) Specialist Clinical Negligence Panel and Russell-Cooke is an Association of Personal Injury Lawyers (APIL) accredited firm. All solicitors in the team are members of APIL and subscribe to the association’s Consumer Charter.

The department was formed following the 2005 merger with Evill & Coleman. 25 solicitors and support staff from the highly regarded niche firm joined Russell-Cooke’s existing Personal Injury department to create a 30 strong team.

If you think you may have a claim, we are happy to talk things through on the phone or invite you in for a face-to-face consultation, free of charge, to hear what happened and assess the chances of your claim succeeding. See our contact details below. Alternatively you can email us by clicking here for our new enquiry form.

People

Please contact any of the solicitors below with and initial query or click here to fill in an enquiry form.

The team works closely with other departments including:

Private Client

Receivership issues - Katrina Vollentine
Probate - Anne Walter
Special Needs Trusts - Chris Young

Employment

Anthony Sakrouge

Click on a name on the left to bring up a biography.

Bringing Claims

For background information on what to expect should you decide to pursue a Personal Injury or Clinical Negligence claim please select one of the following options.

» Personal Injury Overview

» Clinical Negligence Overview

» CICA Overview

» Inquests Overview

If you have suffered injuries (either physical or psychological) as a result of violent crime you may be entitled to persue a Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority (CICA) Claim.

Funding

There are many ways to fund a claim:

Public Funding / Legal Services Commission
This was abolished for most injury claims in April 2000. However, it is still available for clinical claims and as we have a contract with the Legal Services Commission we can apply for you.

"No Win, No Fee"/Conditional Fee Agreements
These are agreements between you and a firm of solicitors. If you win, the other side pays your costs and if you lose your solicitor does not get paid.

Losing could mean that you have to pay the other side's costs, however, you can protect yourself by taking out an insurance policy which will pay the other side's costs if you lose.

Legal Expenses Insurance
We recommend that you check all insurance policies (including any belonging to other family members) as you might be covered for solicitors fees for accident claims and you will still be able to nominate us to act for you.

Your own money
You can pay your own costs and we will ask you to pay for the work as the case progresses. Costs can be expensive and if you lose you could end up paying the other side's fees as well.

We can give independent advice as to which cost option would be best for you and on a wide range of policies and what they cost.

The Personal Injury department at Russell-Cooke is pleased to offer potential clients a FREE NO OBLIGATION HALF-HOUR INTERVIEW or an INITIAL ASSESSMENT OVER THE TELEPHONE to discuss the likelihood of pursuing a claim and discuss the various funding options available to you.

News, Articles & Updates

Almos Toth deceased – Death of baby following instrumental delivery

An inquest was held at St Pancras Coroner’s Court to investigate the tragic circumstances surrounding the death of Baby Toth shortly after his birth. Dominic Fairclough represented the baby’s parents at the inquest. The case was reported in the Camden New Journal. Full article

Mrs Carole Langton -v- Dr Daniel P Goldberg - Negligent Cosmetic Eye Surgery

Mrs Langton was admitted to the Hurlingham Clinic and Spa for cosmetic eye surgery carried
out by Dr Goldberg.

» Full article

Stephan Coetser v Alun Davies - Negligent Removal of Wrong Rib

This claim arose from the negligent performance of operations to remove some of Mr Coetser’s ribs to relieve thoracic outlet syndrome.

» Full article