Browne Jacobson LLP
Lawyers
Angela is a director in the Technical Claims team based in the Exeter office, specialising in complex employer liability claims and acting extensively for insurers, particularly NHS Resolution, with a focus on large loss claims and those involving key technical points. Angela has the leading case of Feest v SWSHA & Bay Island Voyages (2015) (The Celtic Pioneer) to her name. This Court of Appeal case is the only UK authority on the applicability of Article 14 of the Athens Convention to claims for contribution against carriers at sea and the extent of Article 16. Angela has a particular interest in occupational stress claims and claims involving bullying and harassment. Notable success in defending these claims include a discontinuance of a high-value and technical stress at work claim (confidential) and the reported case of Bailey v DPT (2014) a High Court claim by a psychiatrist for occupational stress which was dismissed by the Recorder at Exeter District Registry. Angela is an experienced litigator in this area dealing with many high profile and sensitive claims. Angela has developed an expanding practice of defending breach of confidentiality and data protection claims. Advising NHS Trusts and NHS Resolution on this increasingly important area of law, she ahs several cases to her name where Claimants have discontinued. Angela is a trusted advisor in this area, regularly providing training and advice to her clients. She has externally published in PIBU, NLJ, Westlaw and Local Government Lawyer. She also publishes and edits a newsletter to the firm's major clients each month. Angela provides support to NHS Trusts on risk and health and safety including risk management recommendations arising from claims. In collaboration with the firm's education department, Angela advises schools and academies on defending personal injury claims to staff and pupils. Recent cases involve blindness to a pupil and a serious assault to a pupil on a residential school trip.
Bettina is the head of our higher education sector. Recognised as a leading expert on advising higher education institutions by Chambers and Partners for several consecutive years, Bettina advises on a variety of higher education matters, including employment, regulatory and student matters. Having been a member of the Council of the University of Exeter for nine years (where she was the dual assurance lay lead for HR and Equality, Diversity and Inclusion and worked closely with the teams involved in obtaining accreditation with Athena Swan and the HE equality charters), she has a deep understanding of the issues facing the higher education sector and the role of governance. She also works closely with sector associations to help their members to engage with topical legal issues. Bettina advises clients on operational and strategic issues relating to staff and students and regulatory matters concerning the Office for Students. She has developed a specialism in Equality Act issues. She has spent time on secondment to university in-house legal teams. Bettina is an ADR Group accredited mediator and has mediated a wide range of employment and education matters.
Bridge is one of the leading national specialists in healthcare employment law who, having led the employment team at Capsticks' Birmingham, moved to Browne Jacobson at the end of September 2019. She has a national role with particular interest in the South West and our Exeter office. Bridget specialises in all aspect of employment law/HR in the healthcare, police and not-for-profit sectors and has additional expertise as an independent investigator and trained workplace mediator. She has achieved considerable success in defending a large number of Employment Tribunal claims, a significant number of these claims related to complex whistleblowing and discrimination issues with public/media and regulatory interest. Bridge has in-depth knowledge and many years' experience managing complex cases involving doctors in difficulty (conduct, capability, health and breakdowns in team/colleague working relationships). She is trusted in handling complex and sensitive senior People Management issues which impact on the organisation's reputation or have a regulatory angle, including the Duty of Candour; Fit and Proper Person requirements and referrals to regulatory bodies to include the GMC and NMC. Bridge's work as an investigator has ensured she has additional insight when advising on challenging investigations into grievances at senior level, sensitive whistleblowing concerns and culture reviews involving CQC and/or NHSE/I. As a trained Workplace Mediator Bridget is aware of the benefits of deescalating disputes particularly when they involve complex group dynamics.
Claire specialises in the defence of claims brought against a variety of professionals. She has extensive experience in defending solicitor negligence claims and advising professional indemnity insurers in respect of policy coverage issues.
Dale is a partner specialising in regulatory crime, particularly health and safety, environmental and food safety breaches. He is a solicitor advocate, holding his Higher Rights qualification, and has been a criminal advocate for over 25 years, appearing before Magistrates’ and Crown Courts and other tribunals. Dale, as a recognised leader in health and safety, was for over 10 years a prosecutor advocate for the Health and Safety Executive, representing it in many of its largest cases and was their chosen advocate for quarry related investigations. He now devotes all of his time to assisting and representing multi-national businesses and SMEs in relation to regulatory investigations and prosecutions. He is regularly instructed in fatal accident matters assisting throughout the investigation and representing the organisation at the inquest and court hearings. He holds an MA in Environmental Law and is instructed regionally by manufacturing and farming businesses regarding environmental breaches and pollution incidents. His vast experience leads to him being invited to speak at national conferences where he speaks on various health and safety topics and the practical effects of a regulatory investigation and prosecution.
Gary has been a professional indemnity lawyer for more than 20 years dealing with claims against a wide variety of professionals. He has also dealt with significant coverage disputes on behalf of primary and excess layer insurers. Gary has been involved in some of the largest and highest profile claims against solicitors and has been ranked as a leader in his field for more than 10 years
Jacqui joined us as our national Head of Employment Healthcare in June 2018. She joined the firm having previously spent 10 years establishing and heading up the Capsticks employment team in Birmingham and wanted to move to a practice which would be ready to meet the changing demands of the NHS as it continues to transform itself into system working and integrated healthcare systems. Jacqui has over 20 years’ experience in advising Trust Boards and senior NHS managers on employment issues in the health and care sector. In the last year Jacqui has provided thought leadership on many key workforce issues arising out of Covid-19 and has helped to support healthcare clients to support them as the system transformed to become flexible and agile to meet the demands of Covid 19. This has included supporting CCGs and NHS Trusts in sharing the workforce across the NHS and from the private sector. From a very early stage Jacqui was instrumental in setting up a Covid-19 information hub for clients and delivering webinars nationally on key issues to support the sector with one of the most challenging periods in the history of the NHS. The expending employment healthcare practice now comprises a client base which ranges from CCGs, Provider organisations, care homes, dental and GP practices and independent healthcare hospitals. This enables us to provide employment expertise, policy advice and thought leadership which reflects our thorough understanding of the healthcare system as a whole. Jacqui has built up a strong reputation for her strategic advice, tactics and expertise in advising Trusts on a whole range of employment issues. She is known within the region as the go to lawyer for managing Doctors performance, conduct and capability issues.
Joanne is a Partner specialising in Defendant litigation and dispute resolution, and heads up the Technical Claims and Social Care Team in Exeter. Joanne has advised the NHS on claims under the Liabilities for Third Party Scheme since 2006 and has been Nominated Partner for our Exeter office since June 2016. Her responsibilities include supervising the team in the Exeter office, on the whole spectrum of complexity and value of civil litigation matters and providing delegated authority instructions where appropriate. She is the point of contact for NHS Resolution and NHS Trusts and drives forward a high quality professional service, providing good value and delivery on client objectives. Joanne's client base includes a range of insurers, local authorities and NHS trusts. Her practice covers the full breadth of complex and high value Civil Liability claims and she has particular expertise in local authority work and claims against public bodies having previously worked in-house for a unitary authority.
Mark is a partner specialising in health and social care based in our Exeter office. He is an experienced litigator with a background in defending clinical negligence claims on behalf of the NHS, with a particular expertise in dealing with cases against mental health providers. This has included dealing with high profile and sensitive cases and advising on Human Rights Act allegations. Mark represents NHS trusts at inquests and has appeared before numerous coroners. He regularly provides training on coronial law and has represented health and social care providers in court, undertaking his own advocacy including on Article 2 and Jury inquests. Acutely conscious of how much anxiety inquests can cause, Mark is committed to supporting clinicians through the process, at the same time as ensuring the client is able to demonstrate wider learning from an organisational perspective. In doing so, Mark recognises the role the Trust’s legal advisers can have in improving patient safety and regularly supports Trusts in wider learning and training which can arise from patient safety incidents. Mark advises health and social care providers and commissioners on the Mental Capacity Act and the Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards, including taking medical treatment and welfare cases to the Court of Protection. Notable cases include advising a CCG where significant safeguarding issues arose in a package of care for a service user, advising an NHS Trust in a case where a patient was refusing an amputation for an infected foot ulcer and withdrawal / withholding treatment from a patient with a prolonged neurological condition. Mark also advises on a wide range of other health law related issues, such as delayed transfers of care, duty of candour, confidentiality, safeguarding and consent to treatment. He is a regular first point of contact for many clients in the south west. Mark supports the health sector in diverse ways, having helped set up the MCA/DoLS forum, hosted in our Exeter office, as well as the MHA Forum, also run in our Exeter office. He presents at numerous seminars, networks and events on MCA / DoLS in the south west, as well as speaking at regional and national events. He also worked closely with an NHS Foundation Trust in the south west to set up and deliver a patient / family experience video to facilitate and widen learning and understanding of issues around the Mental Capacity Act.
Michael has 20 years’ experience of handling litigation, arbitration and Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR). He is a partner who supervises a team across both Birmingham and Exeter offices. He specialises in complex clinical negligence claims including birth, brain and spinal injury claims and complex multiparty claims.
Nigel is a partner working in the firm's Criminal, Compliance and Regulatory Team. Nigel has a criminal law background and has specialised in all types of contentious regulatory advocacy for many years. He has a particular emphasis upon health and safety and environmental cases. Nigel advises in all areas where fatal and non-fatal accidents result in criminal investigations. This can involve factory sites, farms, government and local authority properties, maritime incidents (both on and off shore), road traffice and all types of private and commercial premises. Nigel's experience allows him to advise in all such areas. He deals with public and private sector matters wherer therea re serious accidents and injuries. Defending companies/partnerships and individuals facing gross negligence/manslaughter/health and safety investigations involving commercial and agricultural accidents. These could result in investigations by all types of linked government bodies includign HSe, Environment Agency, Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy, DEFRA, HMRC to name but a few. Nigel deals with Transport and Logistics matters for national and local transport and infrastructure businesses. He deals with DVSA investigations together with referrals leading to public inquiries before the Office of the Traffic Commissioner. Nigel advises internaional, national and local businesses on health and safety risk reviews. This has been particularly relevant with the ever changing Covid risk regulations. Nigel's regulatory expertise means that he is also regularly called upon to advise schools, multi academy trusts, higher education establishments and universities upon education sector risk issues and regulatory reviews. He also acts for hospital trusts, ambulance services and fire authorities who require regulatory advice as a result of catastrophic incidents. These can include assisting such bodies with police, coronial enquiries and at inquests.
Rachel is an employment lawyer with a particular specialism in ‘employment for schools’. She undertakes both non-contentious and contentious work for maintained, academy and independent schools. She advises on a wide variety of employment issues affecting the sector including the TUPE aspects of the academy conversion process and in/outsourcing/retendering as it affects academies, redundancies and restructures, disciplinary and grievance, unfair dismissal, discrimination, capability, performance management, settlement agreements, contractual issues and employment policies. She also deals with employment related civil claims such as negligent misstatement and civil claims of discrimination. Rachel speaks regularly at events for schools and educational associations, and is also a school governor.
Richard is an Associate Solicitor in the Technical Claims Team in Exeter. Prior to joining Browne Jacobson, Richard was formerly a Partner heading an office for a major trade union solicitor in the South West before transferring to Insurance litigation work in 2009. He has a case load of mainly high value multi-track cases acting for both public and local authority clients. Richards particular specialism lies in industrial disease claims including asbestos related illnesses, Hand Arm Vibration Syndrome (HAVS), Occupational stress, deafness and Work Related Upper Limb Disorder (WRULD). Richard also speaks regularly on issues focusing on disease claims at the in-house Claims club.