Guildhall Chambers

Personal injury; clinical negligence; professional discipline; inquests.

Sophie Holme is a leading junior with a strong reputation for representing Claimants and Defendants in clinical negligence and personal injury claims. Sophie acts in cases involving the full range of medical specialisms and a wide range of injuries.

In inquests, Sophie has experience of difficult cases involving a wide range of healthcare matters involving medical and psychiatric treatment including prison deaths and those within Hospital Trusts. Sophie appears on behalf of families, Trusts and represents the interests of doctors. Sophie is happy to consider acting pro bono in appropriate cases given the difficulty faced by many seeking to fund representation in the coronial setting.

Sophie has significant experience of Regulatory and Discipline law and has enjoyed considerable success acting for nurses before the NMC and as prosecuting for the GDC.

Sophie is tier 1 ranked in Legal 500 for clinical negligence which describes her as ‘a phenomenally capable counsel who combines intellectual rigour, impeccable judgement, attention to detail, and determination.’.

Called 2009, Gray’s Inn.

Sophie has a wide experience of personal injury cases including employers' liability, occupiers' liability, highways, road traffic accidents, animals' act, product liability, industrial disease, fatal accidents, MIB cases, CICA appeals and CRU appeals.

Sophie’s main area of expertise are claims concerning multiple or complex injuries. Sophie is sought after for her strong focus on client care and robust advice. SSHE is regularly instructed in claims involving serious spinal injuries and has particular expertise in this field.

Sophie is happy to work on a nil-uplift CFA basis in appropriate cases.

Sophie is tier 1 ranked for clinical negligence in Legal 500 with experience advising on cases in the full range of medical contexts. She has a keen eye for the forensic analysis required to successfully claim and defend in this field. By way of a limited example, she has advised on the following range of cases in recent years:

Cardiology and cardiac surgery: inappropriate treatment of acute coronary syndrome, delayed diagnosis of endocarditis, surgical delay cases and surgical negligence cases; Consent: failure to appropriately consent to treatment in a wide variety of contexts including gastric surgery, cardiology, orthopaedic cases, spinal surgery, obstetrics and gynaecology; Cancer diagnosis and treatment claims: bowel, bladder, skin, osteosarcoma and lung cases. General Practice: inappropriate advice, examination, delayed diagnosis and incorrect prescription cases. Hepato-biliary: surgical negligence leading to serious permanent injury; Microbiology: hospital acquired infections, inappropriate antibiotics or inappropriate dosages, failure to obtain microbiology advice when required; Neurology: delayed diagnosis of brain tumour leading to catastrophic injury, delayed diagnosis of subarachnoid haemorrhage, traumatic brain injury, stroke (failure to prevent and failure to treat) and spinal injuries; Nursing: full range of cases involving all aspects of nursing in which Sophie has a particular interest as a result of her experience defending nurses before the NMC. Obstetrics and Gynaecology: wrongful birth, post-partum haemorrhage, Erb’s Palsy, intrauterine growth restriction and stillbirth, intra-partum care; failed sterilisation, hysterectomy, gynaecological surgery resulting in injury to the gastro-intestinal tract, bladder, uterus and/or ureters; Otorhinolaryngology: recurrent laryngeal nerve injury; Psychology/Psychiatry: inappropriate treatment, medication, failure to prevent suicide, secondary victim claims and a wide range of other multiple psychiatric injury claims consequential upon physical injury; Radiology and neuroradiology; Rheumatology: chronic pain, fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue cases; Urology: iatrogenic ureteric injury, drug induced kidney failure, stress and urge incontinence cases, surgical negligence cases; Vascular/endocrinology: inappropriate prescription, failed management of thrombosis leading to amputation.

French

PIBA AVMA

BVC, UWE Bristol - Outstanding MSt, European Literature, University of Oxford BA, French & Linguistics, University of Oxford