Ben Handy > Chambers of Matthew White > Bristol, England > Barrister Profile

Ben Handy

0117 923 4681 [email protected] View profile View profile

Work Department

Personal Injury, Clinical Negligence, Inquests, Mediation

Career

Called 2008; tenant 7 Harrington Street until 2013.

Ben is Deputy Head of Chambers’ Personal Injury Department, a mediator and part-time Crown Court judge. He is widely recognised for his “resourceful and highly adaptable” trial advocacy and “excellent advice on strategy” in relation to catastrophic injury claims.

He is ranked as a leading junior in the major legal directories on the strength of his clients’ endorsements. They say that Ben is “user friendly and approachable”, “provides a high standard of technical advice” and “combines great client care skills with tactical nous”.

Chambers Guide to the Bar praises his “knowledge” and skill in “finding a way through the minefield of liability issues”. The Legal 500 praises his reliability and ”reassuring presence”, explaining complex legal issues to clients in a sensitive, down to earth and respectful way.

Ben likes to work very closely with his instructing solicitors, managing cases together as a team and working collaboratively with opposing parties as far as possible.

Ben’s specialisms include:

• Orthopaedic polytrauma
• Traumatic brain injury
• Fatal accidents and life-shortening injuries
• Vulnerable road users
• Complex issues of causation or quantum

Ben’s knowledge and experience enables him to act as a Mediator in catastrophic personal injury cases. Ben spends some of his time sitting as a Recorder, having been appointed to the office by the King in May 2023. These two roles provide him with additional insight into what makes a case successful and support his personal injury practice.

In 2024, Ben spoke with Christopher Sharp KC at The Brain Injury Group’s annual Child Brain Injury Seminar to an audience including claimant and defendant catastrophic injury lawyers, Court of Protection lawyers, insurers, experts, charity workers, case managers and other health and social care professionals.

Ben has had several articles published in industry-leading publications including APIL’s ‘PI Focus’ and the Bar Counsel’s ‘Counsel’ Magazine. He is also a regular contributor to St. John’s Chambers’ Personal Injury Podcast, speaking on topics including provisional damages, employers’ liability, and lost years claims.

Memberships

• Personal Injury Bar Association (PIBA)
• Action Against Medical Accidents (AvMA)
• Association of Personal Injury Lawyers (APIL)

Education

• LLB Law (First Class Hons), University of Manchester (2007), Bar Vocational Course MMU (2008)
• University of Manchester R.G. Lawson prizes in Law, Medicine & Ethics; Constitutional Reform and Mental Health Law (2007)

Leisure

Running, football, tennis, music.