Andrew Brammer joined Weightmans in April 2019, to become the Lead lawyer in the Midlands Regulatory Team. Since qualifying in 1996, he has developed an enviable reputation as a specialist Regulatory lawyer.Working for national and international organisations across multiple sectors, Andrew’s practice focuses on protecting businesses and key decision makers during criminal investigations and prosecutions. He has defended hundreds of clients against regulatory bodies like the Health and Safety Executive, Environment Agency and Local Authority Trading Standards teams. His polished but practical style enables him to advise at all levels and he has been described as "highly experienced and impressively robust" and is known for his "tactical astuteness" and "excellent attention to detail".Drawing on his knowledge and experience, clients regularly call upon Andrew to offer in-house training and compliance management support.Andrew’s expertise in contentious health and safety and environmental law has been recognised by legal directories for over a decade and he is cited as being a "Leading Individual" by the Legal 500 for his health and safety work.
Weightmans LLP
Lawyers
Andrew is a Fellow of the CIPD and has a masters’ degree in Human resource management and industrial relations. His experience covers both the public and private sectors and includes: Tribunal advocacy, consulting and negotiating with trade unions, training, mediation, seminar presentations and advising on employment law. Andrew joined Weightmans in October 2010 from EEF (now Make UK) where he was the HR and legal leader for the Midlands.
As Business Change & Knowledge Director, Andy is responsible for the overall delivery of business change at Weightmans, together with our knowledge management. He leads two teams. One consisting of project managers and business analysts engaged on a variety of projects throughout the firm. And the other consisting of professional support lawyers focussed on embedding a knowledge sharing culture that contributes to the success of our clients, our business and our people. Andy and his department are continually and actively looking for ways to enhance the client experience - always seeking to add value and deliver tangible benefits. Andy is a certified Lean Six Sigma Black Belt and Lean Six Sigma methodology is just one of the approaches used by the team when seeking to review and re-engineer processes. Looking at everything we do, how we do it and how it can be improved. Andy oversees consistent and effective project management nationally and is a certified AgilePM practitioner. He also forms part of the operations board responsible for portfolio management of projects and priorities.As a qualified solicitor, Andy has, in the past, acted for a number of local authorities specialising in the defence of public and employers' liability claims. He also has experience of operations management and team management during his time at Weightmans which is used to good effect in his current role. Andy joined the firm as a trainee in 2001, qualified in 2003 and became a partner in 2009. Andy splits his time between our Liverpool and Birmingham offices.
Bruce specialises in the arenas of sports liability, regulatory & governance, advising insurers, sports governing bodies and sports companies/organisations, and has done for the past 20 years. He is a member of BASL & an affiliate of the ICSA. Bruce recently acquired a postgraduate qualification from Birkbeck in the Governance & Regulation of Sport. He has previously gained accreditation as a mediator from CEDR and an early postgrad in sports law from KCL.
Catherine joined Weightmans in 1999 and qualified as a solicitor in September 2001. She has a litigation background, having previously undertaken EL/PL in the insurance/retail sectors and professional indemnity claims for Bar Mutual. She became Associate Solicitor in 2006 and has been undertaking healthcare work for the last 11 years, handling EL/PL and clinical negligence claims. She is experienced in EL/PL claims including manual handling, occupational stress, asthma, deafness and disease. She handles a range of clinical negligence claims for the NHS Resolution and NHS trusts, and is experienced in claims involving birth injury, psychiatric treatment, oncology, misdiagnosis/delayed diagnosis, surgical negligence and spinal and brain injury cases. Catherine has handled a range of complex/high value clinical claims since 2006 onwards including claims involving spinal injury/paralysis and brain injury with values of up to £5 million. She also regularly handles multi party actions involving the MPS/MDU. Catherine also has experience of handling dental claims within the NHS sphere, most notably dental claims arising out of oncology treatment.
Partner specialising in defending Social Care and Safeguarding. Defending claims, in particular against local authorities, education providers, sports clubs and sports governing bodies. Often these claims are high profile, and of great sensitivity to all parties involved. Particular expertise in issues relating to duty of care, vicarious liability, human rights, mental health, data protection, defamation and judicial review. Particular sectoral expertise in the legacy insurance market. Also provide advice on Safeguarding governance and regulation, and in relation to public inquiries, with extensive involvement in IICSA (Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse). Clients include Zurich Insurance, Municipal Mutual Insurance, AIG, Travelers, Gallagher Bassett, QBE, Barnardo’s, and many local authorities and local authority consortia. Notable cases: North Wales Children’s Homes Group Action; South Wales Children’s Homes Group Action; Staffordshire Children’s Homes Group Action; NA v Nottinghamshire County Council; JB v Leicestershire County Council.
Claire is the regional office head of our Glasgow office and a partner in Weightmans’ corporate team, leading our corporate offering in Scotland. Qualified in Scotland and England & Wales, Claire has over 20 years' experience of acting for companies and organisations ranging from owner-managed businesses to PLCs. She is sector lead for Owner Managed Business in Scotland. Claire advises on all aspects of corporate law, including mergers and acquisitions, management buyouts/buy-ins, joint ventures, investments and all types of commercial contracts. She adopts a commercial and pragmatic approach to assist clients navigate the complexities of corporate transactions. Claire advises clients in a wide range of sectors but has particular expertise in the dental, pharmacy and audiology sectors. A keen runner she also advises clients on sports law, having acted for a number of sports governing bodies, clubs, and athletes.
Admitted in 1980, Crispin has been a partner since 1986 and joined Weightmans in April 2011 where he leads the London office of a nationwide health and safety team which works exclusively in this field. Crispin's roots are in insurance litigation where he was a specialist for over 30 years in employers', public, product and motor liability claims. His caseload now exclusively involves advising clients under regulatory investigations and prosecutions by HSE/Environmental Health Officers and Police, as well as inquests, for individuals and the full range of commercial business activity including construction, waste management, leisure, transport, education, care sector, manufacturing, local authorities and fire safety. Crispin is frequently instructed by other specialist firms where conflicts of interest arise. He is a regular speaker at Health & Safety seminars for clients and the firm. As to notable cases he acted for Veolia Environmental Services in the leading 2011 case on interpretation of health and safety law (R v Tangerine Confectionary & Veolia ES(UK) Ltd and for an interested party in the Administrative Court decision November 2013 Chief Constable of Devon & Cornwall v HM Coroner for Plymouth Torbay and South Devon dealing with questions for coroner's juries.
David is the head of service delivery for disease claims at Weightmans and has specialised in the defence of all types of occupationally induced disease claims for over 20 years. He specialises in occupational cancer and lung disease claims, especially all asbestos related conditions as well as asthma and work related upper limb disorders. David is instructed regularly by insurers, large corporates and public bodies as well as clients who have no insurance cover and advises clients on Transfer of Undertakings Regulations, corporate liability, associated risk management and policy issues. David has extensive experience in dealing with the transfer of liabilities arising from Local Government reorganisation and in the Further Education sector. He is regularly involved in seminars on these, as well as other aspects of disease litigation both internally and externally.
Deborah qualified as a solicitor in 1999 and has worked in healthcare litigation for nearly 18 years - six years as a claimant lawyer and the last 12 years as a defendant lawyer. She became a partner in 2009 and is a nominated partner for both clinical and non-clinical claims. She advises and trains organisations in respect of all aspects of healthcare and related areas of law and practice including governance and risk management. She is the deputy client relationship partner for a number of our key public sector clients. Deborah has managed all types of clinical negligence claims in the last 18 years covering the majority of medical specialisms: including cerebral palsy and other birth injuries, neurological damage, fatal claims, surgical error, misdiagnoses and delayed diagnosis. These claims have ranged from those that are relatively straight forward to those of maximum severity, complexity and value. In the last 12 or so years, the focus has been on the high end claims but she has responsibility for the day to day training and supervision of the junior members of the team who focus on the work of more limited complexity and value. Deborah manages group actions on behalf of clients to include all aspects of strategy, regulatory implication, risk management, organisational improvement and co-ordination with external agencies such as CQC and media. She is currently involved in a maxillofacial group action involving 138 claimants which requires a tailored approach in order to save time and costs. A claims handling agreement has been agreed with the claimant’s various representatives. The claims are handled in a very specific way to ensure knowledge sharing between all those working on the claims and to ensure that the approach is perfectly consistent on each matter. Deborah is trusted by the NHS Resolution to provide sensible opinion and a pragmatic approach to novel situations. She has worked with the NHS Resolution Chair and Director of Claims on a historical complaint arising out of alleged clinical negligence that occurred 11 years ago. The litigation was resolved some years ago but the family have continued to be persistent in their desire for what they see to be justice. Their complaints involve multi agencies and involved previous panel solicitors. Deborah has conducted a case review and advised the Chair and Director of Claims upon a strategy for resolution and has worked with the Director of Claims to deliver the strategy. Deborah has wide experience of working in house in NHS Foundation Trusts, working closely with Chairs, Chief Executives, Chief Finance Officers and wider boards. Specific responsibilities have included:- Re drafting core constitutions to ensure legal and statutory compliance following the Health and Social Care Act 2012 and to ensure suitability to take the organisation forward in light of significant pipeline projects, advising governors and board in respect of significant transactions, redrafting and implementing new Board Assurance Framework, liaising with and submitting returns to CQC and Monitor, co-ordinating the production of the Quality Report and preparation of the Annual Report, commissioning / liaising with external consultants to undertake reviews in respect of compliance, co-ordinating complex internal enquiries involving the instruction of external experts and overseeing unannounced regulatory inspections. She also has experience of working in house in respect of complaints and claims. Deborah has been the Business Centre Manager for the Birmingham Healthcare team since 2006 responsible for all aspects of the day to day running and supervision of the team, ensuring consistent high performance and adherence to client service level agreements. From 1 May 2017, she is responsible for service delivery across all our healthcare litigation offering. Deborah is ranked in Chambers and the Legal 500.
Felicity is a Principal Associate and Team Manager based in the Birmingham Healthcare Team. Since 2009 she has handled employers’ and public liability risk pooling cases for NHS Resolution and various NHS trusts throughout the country. She handles fast and multi track personal injury cases and has a specialist interest in fraud, third party assaults and bullying and occupational stress claims. She has dealt with a number of Covid-19 cases for NHS Resolution, as well as claims for damages brought under the Equality Act. She is the Fraud Lead for Healthcare and is also the Team Manager for a team of assisting paralegals.
Fiona is recognised in legal directories Legal 500 and Chambers and partners as a leader in her field described as "clear concise and very sympathetic" and "pragmatic and sensible-someone who fights hard and fairly for her client". Legal 500 2013 confirms that she "goes that extra mile". Fiona has a reputation for being an astute negotiator who concentrates on cutting to the core of the issues in a relationship breakdown resulting in prompt resolution whether by settlement or court decision with proportionate expenditure by way of legal costs for her clients. She has more than 25 years' experience acting for professionals across the economic sector and a significant proportion of her work is referred to her by barristers, judges and other members of the legal professional based upon her reputation across the Midlands. Fiona is an active member of Resolution (formerly the Solicitors Family Law Association).
Henry is a public sector specialist with over 20 years' experience in advising public sector bodies. He specialises in social care claims, highways, human rights, occupiers' liability, employers' liability, stress, public rights of way and 'power and duty' cases. His work includes recovery of indemnities under outsource contracts and contributions from abusers. With particular experience in CSE (Child sexual exploitation), he is used to 'press cases' and is media trained. Chambers & Partners describes Henry as "an experienced personal injury solicitor with comprehensive knowledge of litigation concerning public sector bodies", while The Legal 500 notes that he is known for "his expertise in social care work involving historic abuse and deprivation of liberty". He was President of the Forum of Insurance Lawyers (FOIL) in 2008. He is an active contributor to ALARM, speaks and writes regularly on public sector issues. Notable cases: CGH v K (a school) 2005, Claims arising from CSE Operations (2008-2015), The Employers' Liability Trigger Litigation (2012 UKSC-14), The Midlands Section. 20 Litigation.
James has specialised in regulatory law since 2012, covering all aspects of: Health and safety Corporate manslaughter/gross negligence manslaughter Inquests Fire safety Careless/dangerous driving Food hygiene/safety Environmental law. He has a national practice and represents clients throughout England and Wales. James provides advice and representation for companies and individuals throughout the entire duration of regulatory investigations, often being instructed in the immediate aftermath of serious and fatal accidents, and carrying matters through to their conclusion. He has extensive experience of court litigation and trial preparation, and has particular skill in dealing with complex areas of expert evidence. James is passionate about getting to know his clients’ businesses in detail, ensuring that his advice always takes into account the wider impact the matter might have on the business as a whole. He works for all manner of businesses, ranging from multi-nationals to sole traders and individuals, with particular experience in manufacturing, construction, health and social care, leisure, agriculture, food and hospitality, local government, education, fire services, haulage, waste and recycling, and mining. At the outset of his career, James gained significant experience in the prosecution of health and safety and fire safety cases. Having experience of how such cases are prosecuted gives James a significant tactical edge when defending. James regularly advises clients in relation to fire safety matters and issues arising from the new regulatory regime under the Building Safety Act. James wrote an article on the Building Safety Act that was published by the Law Society’s quarterly Property in Practice magazine. James also carries out non-contentious advisory work for his clients, including advising on health and safety and fire safety requirements, providing training, and carrying out due diligence in relation to the firm’s corporate deals. He recently advised private equity investors in relation to the health and safety (and fire safety) implications of its acquisition of a group of 171 health and social care companies. James is currently instructed in relation to numerous complex health and safety cases, including: manufacturing fatalities in Nottinghamshire and Shropshire; Crown Court trials in Birmingham, Southwark and Chelmsford; and HSE investigations into construction accidents causing life-changing in Northumberland and Berkshire. He recently represented a company director in the West Midlands who was acquitted of gross negligence manslaughter in relation to a fatal accident at a recycling facility.
Jasmine is manager of the Birmingham Healthcare team. Since 2001, Jasmine has provided specialist advice managing clinical negligence claims for NHS Resolution. Her practice spans general healthcare advice dealing with inquests, best interests assessments for children and adults; CQC interventions; deprivation of liberty issues; data security and information governance issues for NHS Trusts and other healthcare providers. Her good understanding of the clinical and resource pressures ensures her advice is pragmatic and robust. She trains colleagues and clients, educating healthcare staff upon aspects of healthcare law including claims, inquests and the implications this has upon safety and learning drawing on her wealth of experience of clinical claims. She leads on changing culture by using innovative dispute resolution techniques to resolve claims as early as possible.
Jawaid is a Partner in the employment team at Weightmans and Regional Office Head in Birmingham. He also heads the firm’s flagship HR Rely retainer product. His areas of specialism include equal pay, advising on the legal implications of implementing new pay structures, industrial relations issues and large scale restructures. He also has considerable experienced defending cases against Embassies. He services many of our clients’ international needs through our Legalink framework. His clients include household names in the Hospitality sector alongside many others such as London Business School and the Kuwait Embassy.
Juliet joined Weightmans in 2005 as a paralegal. After completion of her training contract she qualified into the Large Loss and Technical Claims team and is now an Associate in the Motor team. Juliet primarily deals with technical issues arising out of non-indemnity claims and the Road Traffic Act 1988 and its interpretation, but also technical credit hire claims and fast- or multi-track personal injury claims.
Katie is a Partner (employed Barrister) who manages the disease teams in Birmingham and London. Previously a tenant at a criminal set of chambers, she has a wide range of experience in multiple areas of law but now handles all types of occupational disease claims including dermatitis, noise induced hearing loss, work related upper limb disorders including hand/arm vibration syndrome, occupational cancers, all asbestos related illnesses and stress related issues. Katie also provides training both internally and externally. Katie takes great pride in her work which ensures she goes the extra mile to deliver a tailored and client focused approach. As Team Manager, Katie is responsible for all aspects of team management and performance across both sites reporting directly to the Head of Service Delivery and Director of Claims to ensure quality and consistency of product.
Kirsten qualified as a solicitor in 2016, and joined Weightmans in January 2019. Kirsten is also an accredited Civil and Commercial mediator, and is about to start working towards her Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners qualification. Since joining the firm, Kirsten has assisted senior members of the team with complex estate planning matters involving issues of domicile, residency, planning for overseas individuals and planning for individual business owners. As well as assisting senior members of the team, Kirsten undertakes her own estate planning matters for High Net Worth clients and is confident protecting wealth from creditors, divorce and other third parties. She often works with individuals to mitigate inheritance tax, ensure the succession of their estates and advises on care home fee planning. Kirsten has experience working with individual business owners and is able to advise on the use of cross-option agreements and trusts to achieve their aims. Where appropriate, she will liaise with members of the corporate and property team to ensure full and comprehensive advice is provided. Having personal connections to the farming community, Kirsten has a particular interest in landed estates and succession of agricultural property. As such, she is undertaking specific training in this particular area of estate planning to hone her skills.Kirsten also enjoys working with individuals and corporate entities to consider methods of charitable giving. Kirsten has experience advising on the best vehicle for making charitable donations, whether through gifts in a Will, or through the creation and administration Charitable Trusts. Kirsten has experience making Cy- Pres applications to the Charity Commission and is confident negotiating with the Charity Commission around these applications. Kirsten is also experienced in administering charitable legacies and ensuring all compliance is undertaken when administering an estate with charitable beneficiaries.Kirsten also advises on the administration of estates and has experience with post-death planning. Kirsten works alongside financial advisors, and is able to advise Trustees on the mitigation of capital gains tax, inheritance tax and charges to income tax to ensure that estate and trust funds are maximised.
Lisa has over 20 years’ experience in handling all aspects of disease litigation. More recently her experience has focused on stress (bullying and harassment), respiratory disability and cancer cases to include asbestos-related conditions, occupational asthma and a range of cancer cases. Lisa has experience in dealing with TUPE issues that arise as a result of complicated insurance histories involving long tail disease claims for HAVS and deafness and has a strong relationship with her clients providing training, seminars and claim review meetings for her clients.
Mark has over 30 years' private practice experience of advising and representing companies, institutions and individuals in domestic and international commercial litigation, fraud and insolvency cases across multiple sectors. His practice encompasses commercial misconduct, corporate investigations, freezing and search orders, asset tracing, and other remedies arising out of suspected fraud, cyber-fraud, and civil and criminal wrongdoing. He also has a strong and active commercial litigation practice in specialist tribunals and all divisions of the High Court, including the appellate jurisdictions. Mark has deep expertise in and knowledge of the workings of computer forensics, digital evidence, data protection and cross-border e-Discovery, and uses leading-edge technology to assist in fact-finding. He specialises in designing pragmatic solutions to novel and complicated problems.
Maryam has 20 years of experience in clinical negligence claims. She qualified in 2004 and worked in claimant clinical negligence until 2006. She joined Weightmans in 2010, became an Associate in May 2013, Principal Associate in May 2019 and Legal Director in May 2022. Her caseload is wide ranging, defending and resolving all types of clinical negligence cases, including claims of the utmost severity (including birth and adult brain injury claims, spinal claims and other catastrophic high value injuries) involving complex causation issues. As well as dealing with the highest value cases, Maryam also deals with cases which involve novel or sensitive issues using mediation where appropriate. Her advice is pragmatic, robust and commercial and aimed at achieving early evaluation and resolution. Maryam has a particular interest in patient safety and is Weightmans’ national Safety and Learning Lead. The role involves liaising with NHS Resolution on a regular basis to gather and analyse evidence on risk and trends, to develop and disseminate learning with a view to preventing future patient harm and improving services. She facilitates national learning events for NHS Resolution, members and clinicians to inform safer practices and spearhead a culture of learning. She also provides bespoke training to individual trusts on risks identified both in person and through podcasts. Maryam is also client relationship manager for one of our largest clients: University Hospitals of North Midlands NHS trust and she has worked with them to review their claims history and implement safety and learning strategies informed by the data analytics we provide to include in bespoke reports for the Board and Governance Directorates.
Matthew Lake, Principal Associate (17 Years PQE) Matthew has 17 years’ experience specialising in property litigation dealing with all aspects of contentious commercial property and residential property issues. He also has a broad range of experience covering all aspects of housing management disputes on behalf of Housing Associations. Matthew has acted for a diverse range of clients including some well-known retail and service industry businesses. Matthew’s experience includes debt recovery, possession and demotion claims, injunctive action in matters involving anti-social behaviour (ASB), unlawful eviction and securing access for inspections and repairs, and extends to more complex matters such as mutual exchange, abandoned properties, unauthorised occupation, succession, and challenges to allocation schemes. Matthew has appeared regularly in the County Court on matters of anti-social behaviour and he has successfully defeated challenges brought on the grounds of proportionality. Matthew has developed a particular specialism in defending disrepair claims and prides himself on offering as robust a defence as possible in every case. Matthew believes his reputation with the claimant firms in this area assists him in defeating a significant proportion of claims and minimising damages in all other cases. Having previously represented tenants at his former firm in all manner of disputes against landlords, and having been that firm’s Housing Legal Aid Supervisor, this provides him with a tactical advantage when defending claims as he can anticipate the arguments which will be raised by a tenant’s solicitor and the manner in which they may be susceptible to challenge, at the outset of a case. Matthew has been involved in a number of claims involving the Equality Act and Proportionality defences. He has experience as an advocate in injunctive proceedings and committal proceedings, including successfully defending matters where Counsel has been instructed on the other side. He has vast experience of disrepair claims and successfully defended litigated claims. Matthew has also obtained costs orders against claimants in these claims. Matthew regularly provides training to clients on disrepair. Matthew also advises land owners in relation to matters regarding the Electronic Communications Code, including Code Operators’ rights to inspect land and site telecommunications equipment on that land, and the land owners’ ability to challenge those Operators’ demands. Some examples of his housing work include: Resisting a housing disrepair claim in which proceedings had been issued and an offer in settlement of £13,750 made, settling for £350 and small claims costs. Successfully defending a claim brought by a long leaseholder in respect of alleged failure to provide the services for which the landlord charged, and securing a recovery of wasted costs from the leaseholder. Resisting a telecommunications provider’s attempts to secure blanket rights under the Electronic Communications Code in respect of premises leased to the Housing Association (published case Cornerstone Telecommunications Limited and (1) Central St Giles General Partner Limited (2) Clarion Housing Association Limited [2019] UKUT 183). Matthew also represents landlords and tenants in all manner of commercial property disputes including lease renewal proceedings (both opposed and unopposed), dilapidations claims including use of the PLA Dilapidations Protocol, the impact of s.18 Landlord & Tenant Act 1927 and the effect of sub-tenants, rent/service charge disputes, advising on the effects of conditions attached to break options, serving break notices and advising landlords where a break notice may not be effective, advising on methods of obtaining vacant possession of sites and removal of equipment by telecommunications providers and advising on any discrete issues which arise during the term of a lease e.g. boundary disputes and encroachment. Some examples of his commercial work include: Successfully challenging the validity of a landlord’s break notice, saving the client £1m in relocation costs. Advising a landowner in relation to a £13m disposal affected by telecommunications equipment, including strategic and tactical options for seeking the removal of the equipment without the need for proceedings. Advising a tenant in relation to reinstatement provisions which could have resulted in expenditure in the region of £80m.
Melanie qualified as a solicitor in 1994, previously having worked a hospital doctor. She joined Weightmans in 2001 and was made partner in 2006. Since 1995, Melanie has specialised in defendant clinical negligence claims. Melanie’s specialisms include cases of catastrophic injury, claims arising out of non-delegable duty of care, and other matters of high profile and sensitive claims, sometimes with media involvement. Melanie has experience in handling claims with mentally ill unrepresented claimants and provides training and to support to colleagues and NHS Trusts in connection with this specialist work. Melanie also represents clients at mediation and other forms of alternative dispute resolution, provides training to clients on learning from claims and works with NHS Trusts on DNACPR issues.
Mike is experienced in acting for major corporates, private companies, and investors on their M&A, joint venture, due diligence and re-organisation activity across a variety of sectors including media and advertising, defence, food, catering, health and care. Mike has particular experience in providing corporate and commercial legal services to private, public and 'third' sector organisations in the healthcare and care industries. Mike leads our Private Health and Care Practice, providing market-leading legal services to owners, operators, and investors in businesses operating in the health and care sectors. Mike also leads the firm’s work with national and international law firms and equity houses on investments in or including UK health and care businesses. Our care team acts for, among others, public and private providers of acute care, specialist diagnostics, community care as well as General Practitioners, Dentists, Pharmacists and other providers of Primary Care services. In addition, it acts for providers of care such as including UK based health and care businesses and assets. Notable projects include: Leading for Top 5 Private Acute Hospital Group in relation to a number of corporate acquisitions and joint ventures including a novel shares acquisition and related establishment of a strategic joint venture oncology services business; Leading teams advising various private equity purchasers of healthcare businesses including Plasma Resources UK Limited, Independent Clinical Services Group Limited, Cygnet Healthcare and Oasis Dental. Acting for US based care business on its £32m earnout acquisition of leading UK care services publisher and related digital services provider Advising NHS Trusts/FTs in connection with various projects including: a joint venture with Alliance Medical re new PET/CT and MRI Services and construction of dedicated facilities; long term commercial joint venture for the provision of diagnostic services to a private provider and related provision of premises; establishment with a private provider of an outpatient diagnostics facility and co-located minor surgery facilities.
Penelope is a partner in the local government team in Birmingham and an expert in local authority litigation with particular emphasis on highways, education and social services and high value complex claims. Penelope has advised clients on policy matters as well as claims and has taken part in numerous training events and spoken at local and national conferences. Noted in Chambers & Partners as an excellent lawyer in the defendant personal injury field, Penelope has been commended for her exceptional client-focused approach.
Peter is an associate solicitor working in the dedicated disease unit and is based in Leicester. He qualified in October 2009 and has been practising in the area of personal injury since 2007. Peter acts for insurers handling industrial disease claims and assists with the supervision of other fee earners. He participates in the setting of the strategy for disease claims. He has formed good client relationships and is trusted by them to advise on claim strategies, claimant firm behaviours and legacy risks.
Rebecca completed a training contract at Weightmans and qualified into the Birmingham Healthcare team in 2016. She handles a mixed caseload of clinical negligence claims, including some fixed fee work and high value claims, which vary in the types of dispute and value. She has been involved in work covering all aspects of clinical negligence, including; group claims, associated claims to inquests, litigants in person, claims with media interest and claims with multiple defendants. Rebecca also assists partners with high value, catastrophic injury matters, including brain injury claims. Rebecca has gained invaluable experience and understanding as to the needs of the client, as she has worked in-house at a number of NHS Trusts on secondment.
Richard has worked for NHS clients for over 15 years. He advises healthcare clients in connection with their clinical negligence claims. He is experienced at resolving claims efficiently and fairly, and in helping our clients learn from them. His caseload ranges across all medical disciplines and includes the most complex and severe claims.
Richard is a principal associate in construction. He joined Weightmans from Squire Patton Boggs, where he worked for 6 years, and prior to that he spent 8 years at DLA Piper. Richard is extremely experienced in contentious and non-contentious construction law, and regularly advises universities, local authorities, emergency services and government in relation to their major projects. Examples of recent relevant experience include: Acting for Birmingham City Council in relation to their joint venture, with Hermes and Argent in relation to the development of the £500m scheme to create Grade A office accommodation, retail and public realm. Acting for the Police and Crime Commissioner in Merseyside in relation to the development if Merseyside Police Fleet Headquarters in Liverpool. Acting for Walsall City Council in relation to their agreement with Highways England in respect of the design and engineering of the bridge and associated works at Junction 10 of the M6. Acting for Birmingham City Council in respect of the £300m redevelopment of New Street Station. Advising Queen Mary University of London in relation to their creation of a new medical school in Malta Advising in respect of the works associated with the electrification of the Midlands Mainline railway network between London and Corby, worth an estimate £260m.
Sarah is a Partner and Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Legal Executives with over 17 years’ experience in dealing with healthcare matters, which include advising on and defending clinical negligence cases, as well as catastrophic and sensitive personal injury cases, for NHS Resolution and other private insurers. Sarah is the Team Manager for the Birmingham Healthcare team. Sarah handles a wide variety of clinical claims, ranging from injuries of maximum severity right through to those which are more relatively straightforward. She also has a particular interest in group litigation, being involved in a group action of over 138 claimants for maxillofacial injuries. This also includes supporting the clients on a range of legal and regulatory issues as well as media, reputational management, patient safety and learning, disclosure duties and the duty of candour Sarah is also the lead partner for Remedy, our market-leading outsourced healthcare complaints handling service. Sarah’s breadth of knowledge and experience in respect of both clinical negligence and personal injury has proved invaluable to healthcare clients and she is known for her robust approach, whilst also demonstrating an understanding of the sensitivities of dealing with seriously injured claimants.
Sarah is a Principal Associate in the Birmingham office. Sarah joined Weightmans in 2016 and having qualified as a solicitor in 2001, she has over 22 years post qualification experience in clinical negligence and insurance litigation to include cases involving claims validation issues. She specialises in defendant clinical negligence litigation for NHS Trusts and NHS Resolution, advising clients on high value and complex claims within the healthcare sector. She has substantial advocacy experience having been called to the Bar in 1998 and regularly attends Court on behalf of clients. Sarah handles a wide range of cases of utmost severity to include birth injury and brain injury cases, psychiatric damage, neurosurgery cases such as cauda equina syndrome and vascular matters resulting in amputation/stroke cases with values often exceeding £10 million. She is experienced in dealing with cases involving the vast majority of medical specialisms to include paediatric matters and cases of particular sensitivity. In addition to utilising various forms of ADR to facilitate pragmatic resolution, Sarah also has extensive trial experience to include reported High Court cases. Sarah has successfully defended a number of cases at trial resulting in significant savings for the defendant. Sarah’s advocacy experience means that she is able to work sensitively with NHS Trust factual witnesses to develop their confidence and to prepare them for trial. Sarah has a particular interest in legal knowledge and practice development and regularly delivers training to clients and fee earners on a variety of practice and healthcare related topics.
Sarah Jane Knight is a Solicitor Advocate who leads on healthcare regulatory law in the Birmingham office and has a wealth of experience representing NHS Trusts and private (including not for profit) providers. Sarah has conducted hundreds of inquests for NHS Trusts (including mental health trusts), individuals and care providers. Her experience includes complex medical inquests, restraint cases, prison inquests, representation of the ambulance and 111 services and has experience as an advocate in military inquests. Sarah represented a not for profit organisation in the first prosecution of its type brought by CQC and advises on enforcement action brought by CQC (and other regulators) including representations against warning notices, notices of proposal as well as appeals to the First Tier Tribunal. Sarah has an in-depth knowledge of the particular challenges experienced by care providers including residential and domiciliary care settings and she also has considerable experience in Court of Protection proceedings including serious medical treatment cases and best interests decision making around residency. Sarah has also worked in house as an advocate for a professional regulator and has undertaken both prosecution and defence work in the professional regulatory sector.
Sarah manages the National Private Wealth team at Weightmans. Sarah is a Private Client specialist, who is experienced in all areas of lifetime and post-death tax planning to achieve a positive end result for the client by offering a holistic approach which puts a client’s objectives and needs first. Over her 25 years in law, Sarah has amassed a wealth of experience including: Complex estate planning advice in order to mitigate tax and ensure structured succession of clients’ wealth including their business and agricultural interests; Cross-border matters including EU inheritance and succession planning and Wills and estate planning advice to give effect to Sharia Law; Estate administration including complex multi-jurisdictional taxable estates and those comprising of business and agricultural property; Advising on, creating and administering vulnerable beneficiary trusts for clients who require assistance in management of their compensation payments or inheritance; Advising clients on how to give effect to their philanthropic aims through use of charitable trusts and CIO structures; Advising Charity trustees in respect of all governance and compliance maters relating to the running of their charities including ‘corrective’ work; Working closely with the Charity Commission on behalf of her clients on complex applications including merging of charities and amendment of charitable objects. Sarah’s particular interest is in complex trust matters and she has acquired a strong reputation for administering and acting as a trustee on trusts which have had historical issues either in respect of family relationships or compliance. She regularly is appointed by clients as a professional executor and trustee who see her as their trusted family adviser. Sarah is a full member of the Society and Trust and Estate Practitioners and the Law Society Private Client Section. Sarah has been recognised in the Acquisition International Influential Businesswomen awards for both 2023 and 2024 as a top lawyer for Private Wealth.
Sarbjit is Weightmans Data Protection Officer and works in the Risk and Compliance Team. He joined Weightmans in 2011 having qualified as a Solicitor in 2004 and is a Principal Associate. Sarbjit formerly worked in the claims department acting on behalf of insurers defending industrial disease claims. He is an experienced civil litigator and has managed multiple teams. Sarbjit advises and delivers training internally on a variety of operational, regulatory, business risk and compliance issues in particular data protection.
Saul is a Principal Associate in our Sports Team. With a background in defendant litigation including personal injury, human rights and data protection, Saul specialises in high value and complex sports claims with a focus on catastrophic injuries arising out of motorsport incidents; neurological damage from concussive injury; player-on-player assaults and injuries suffered during competitive games; horse-riding accidents and disciplinary & regulatory disputes. Saul acts for national and domestic governing bodies, schools and colleges, professional and amateur sports clubs, and private companies in a wide range of sports including football, rugby, numerous motorsport disciplines, horse riding, athletics and mountain biking. In addition to sport, Saul maintains a busy practice dealing with claims arising from data breaches, with particular interest in those that include claims for unusual psychiatric injury.
Shaheen qualified as a Solicitor in 2007 and became an Associate in 2015. He is originally from the North East, joining Weightmans in May 2007. His work predominantly covers high value personal injury claims from most areas of the public sector and some from the private sector as well. Shaheen has a particular expertise in relation to: Novel highways claims including subsidence and property damage claims All aspects of housing disrepair claims Assault claims involving service users with special needs in the education and care settings Bullying at school Stress at work Potential fraud Failure to educate Shaheen also regularly provides training to clients in respect of pre and post issue processes as well as liability and quantum. He has been involved in delivering seminars and training to clients in Wales and the Midlands over the years.
Tania is a principal associate in the family team based in Birmingham. She has over 15 years' experience in all areas of family law, providing clients with a tailored, robust and effective approach to resolution whilst never losing sight of the client's priorities and objectives. Tania's areas of practice include divorce, pre and post-nuptial agreements and arrangements for children with particular specialism in financial consequences arising as a result of a relationship breakdown. Considerable experience in cases involving family businesses, property in the UK and overseas together with pensions. Cases of note include a client attracted away from a magic circle firm with assets over £125million, case involving complex trust issues, disputes regarding post separation accrued wealth, overseas property and a private law children matter with serious allegations of radicalisation. Tania is a member of Resolution and a trained collaborative lawyer. Book your consultation We offer a free consultation on any family law matters. Book now
Tim is head of Weightmans' London office and leads the firm's relationship with its large corporate clients. He specialises in employment and professional regulatory work with a particular interest in whistleblowing, DPA, FOIA and discrimination claims as well as all aspects of healthcare and local authority employment work. Tim has acted for the General Medical Council and was the first solicitor to act as lead advocate before their professional conduct committees; he has also acted on behalf of the Health and Safety Executive and the General Teaching Council. Tim's employment clients include The Royal Mail Goup, Whitbread Group plc, Pizza Hut UK Limited, Guoman Thistle, Pizza Express, WRB and Tragus as well as Nuffield Health, and a number of local authorities. Tim's professional regulatory clients include the Professional Standards Authority, who is charged with scrutinizing and overseeing the work of the nine healthcare regulatory bodies. Tim is a member of Association Regulatory and Disciplinary Lawyers, Health & Safety Lawyers Association, Disciplinary Lawyers Association, a committee member of the Institute of Directors (West Midlands) and former world-ranked tennis player.
Tom specialises in health and safety law and regulatory compliance. Having previously prosecuted on behalf of HSE and various Local Authorities he joined Weightmans’ Regulatory team in the Birmingham office in 2016. Tom is a determined litigator with a proven track record in regulatory matters including Health and Safety and Road Traffic offences. Tom tenaciously defends clients who find themselves under investigation. Since joining Weightmans Tom has developed a growing reputation for successfully defending individuals and organisations (both public and private sector) in relation to a full range of health and safety and regulatory offences. Testimonials (Legal 500 - 2023) “Tom Boulton has a calm and level-headed approach towards his cases which provides his clients with reassurance in challenging circumstances.” “Tom Boulton has always been very focussed on helping his clients get the best advice they could so that they understand the challenges facing them and can act from a position of informed choice. I was impressed that Tom went beyond providing the traditional provision of high-quality legal advice following incidents. He also identified areas where clients could improve their practice and manage risks better to avoid future incidents or to mitigate their impact. In doing so, he sought input from relevant engineering risk management experts so that his client got the best possible combination of engineering and legal advice.”
Tony is a partner and heads the NHS Resolution (formerly NHSLA) clinical negligence team. He has extensive experience in acting for the NHS, having specialised in this area since 1986 and having spent six years in-house as one of a team of regional legal advisers. He has managed multi-party group litigation, including the HIV haemophiliac litigation and has advised the NHS on a number of high-profile claims and inquiries. Tony now specialises in managing high-value and complex clinical negligence claims, whilst providing advice on complex healthcare issues such as treatment decisions and risk management.
Victoria is both a solicitor and Fellow of CIPD and advises on all aspects of employment law across a range of sectors. This includes advising on redundancy and reorganisations, TUPE, changing terms and conditions, discrimination, disciplinary matters and contractual issues. Victoria has experience of representing clients at Employment Tribunal. Victoria regularly creates and presents employment training courses on a wide variety of employment law topics. She is responsible for developing and maintaining the employment law website for the firm’s HR Rely clients. In addition, Victoria is Policy Advisor on the Birmingham Branch of CIPD Committee. She also sits on Birmingham Law Society’s Employment Law Committee.
Wendy Perry has extensive experience in all types of EL and PL claims in particular disease and counter fraud claims. Noted for having a keen eye for detail her focus is to provide expert technical advice and strategic thinking whilst providing common sense advice to provide both clients and insurers with the best outcome.
Yvonne is a Principal Associate in the Casualty team and is based in our Birmingham office. On joining Weightmans in 2009, Yvonne brought extensive experience of acting on behalf of local authorities and public sector clients. Yvonne’s practice is broad and covers speciality claims such as historic child abuse claims, providing safeguarding advice as well as general public sector issues such as GDPR breaches, Human Rights type claims, flooding as well as complex injury work. Yvonne regularly provides training for clients on a variety of topics and often lectures at national conferences. Yvonne is a member of FOIL (Forum of Insurance Lawyers). Admitted as a solicitor in 2006 and a Fellow of CILEX in 2000. Significant reported cases: -Alexis v LB Newham (2009) -Yetkin v LB Newham (2010) Yvonne also advised a local authority on a case involving an assault against a teacher. The case featured on ITV's Tonight programme.