Niall Maclean

Niall is recognised as a leading junior in the current edition of Chambers & Partners where he is described as “a highly regarded personal injury junior” with “experience handling catastrophic and fatal injury claims on behalf of both defendants and claimants”, and in the current edition of the Legal 500 which notes that he has “a real eye for detail”. He is also ranked as a leading junior in Industrial Disease in the current editions of both directories.

Niall specialises in high value and complex personal injury, industrial disease and clinical negligence work, acting for claimants and defendants. He generally acts in cases valued in excess of £1 million, usually unled, and frequently against silks. He has a large and loyal client base, and receives instructions from leading solicitors, major insurers, the MIB, central government and local authorities.

His practice focuses on:

catastrophic injuries and fatalities; serious spinal damage, including tetraplegia; brain injuries, including those characterised as subtle in nature; functional neurological disorders; all forms of pain syndromes, including chronic pain, complex regional pain syndrome, fibromyalgia and somatoform disorders (SSD); complex orthopaedic cases, including all forms of amputation; serious psychiatric conditions; and intentional torts including historic abuse.

Niall has an excellent track record at trials, joint settlement meetings and mediations.

He also has considerable appellate experience. He appeared in the Supreme Court (led) for the successful appellant in Knauer v Ministry of Justice [2016] UKSC 9, an important case on the quantification of future losses in fatal claims. He appeared in the Court of Appeal (unled) for the successful respondent in Scott v Gavigan [2016] All ER (D) 35 (Jun), a case concerning issues of foreseeability and legal causation in road traffic accidents.

Niall was one of the Attorney General’s Junior Counsel to the

Crown from 2015 to 2020.

Niall usually acts unled, but he is also comfortable acting as part of a litigation team and is frequently led by prominent silks. While adopting a thorough and rigorous approach to cases, Niall prides himself on being practical and approachable.

B.Phil. and D.Phil., University of Oxford; MA (first class honours), University of Glasgow