Weightmans LLP

Samuel Harland

Sam joined Weightmans in 2013 and has over 13 years of experience in healthcare law and the resolution of disputes. Sam advises NHS Trusts, NHS Resolution, the Department of Health, and private practitioners on a wide range of health related legal services with a particular emphasis on resolving disputes. Sam has handled cases with values exceeding £10 million and with attached periodical payments. He is recognised as a practical lawyer and has a reputation for dealing with disputes pragmatically and sensibly. He is an advocate of alternative methods of dispute resolution and manages the Global Resolution Scheme on behalf of NHS Resolution.   Sam has a niche specialism in claims arising from disease infection following blood transfusion and organ transplant. He advises organisations on consumer protection law and has represented the NHS and Department of Health in group actions. Alongside his healthcare case load, Sam deals with public and administrative law and is instructed by a significant core participant in the Infected Blood Inquiry. Sam regularly presents to NHS organisations on safety and learning issues.

Lisa Spencer

   Lisa qualified as a solicitor in January 2004 joining Weightmans as an assistant solicitor in February 2004. She was promoted to associate in 2013. Her workload is predominantly clinical negligence, dealing with often complex claims. She also has experience of dealing with claims involving care homes, deprivation of liberty, claims involving the Human Rights Act and the Mental Health Act including psychiatric claims i.e. patient suicide and patient assaults on other patients/members of the public.  Her clinical negligence work is predominantly multi-track litigated and non-litigated claims. These include failure to diagnose, misdiagnosis, negligence during surgery, failure to provide informed consent, failure to treat and wrong treatment. She has experience is a vast number of medical conditions and expert specialisms with claims including colorectal, obstetric and gynaecology, orthopaedic, paediatric, cardiology, vascular, oncology and diabetes etc. and significant experience in fatal claims and claims involving protected parties.  Lisa has experience in managing highly complex and high-value claims including birth injury claims, brain injury in adults, complex injuries involving internal organs (i.e. perforation of bowel, ureter and aorta), failure and/or delay in diagnosing cancer and also complex ophthalmic claims; in regards to the latter she has recent experience in dealing with a highly complex ophthalmic claim which involved a rare (and as yet unknown) genetic complication and arguments involving Bailey v Ministry of Defence which is currently with the Court of Appeal. She regularly deals with claims worth in excess of £1,000,000 and has experience in claims involving provisional damages and periodical payments.

Richard Jolly

   Richard is the national head of our health sector practice and has overall responsibility for leading on the delivery of legal services to existing and new health sector clients. This entails enhancing the quality of the legal services we provide, the development of new products and new markets.  Richard sits on the NHS Resolution steering group. This group is tasked with improving KPIs, and identifying how we might best support NHS Resolution in meeting its strategic aims.  Richard has been an NHS Resolution Nominated Partner for nearly 20 years for both clinical and non-clinical claims. He leads internally on our non-clinical offering, working closely with NHS Resolution management teams to help them meet the challenges presented by this ever-changing sector.  Richard is the client partner for a number of NHS Trusts, focussing on patient safety and helping them identify the learning from incidents, inquests, complaints and claims and how to embed improvements.  Richard has become a trusted adviser to a number of healthcare organisations, such as NWAS, Wrightington, Wigan and Leigh NHS FT and Tameside & Glossop Integrated Care NHS FT, with the result that Weightmans are now instructed by these Trusts on inquests, and investigations but often on employment, commercial law and property transactions.

Victoria Morris

Vicky joined Weightmans in 1986 as an articled clerk. She specialises in clinical negligence. She deals mostly with high value cases or those with unusual or novel issues including pre-issue resolution of a potential claim by mediation in which it was sought to expand the duty of care owed by the NHS and advising on management of a major patient safety incident relating to over 1,000 patients. She acted for one of the interested parties at the Mid Staffordshire Public Inquiry and has been involved in a number of group actions. For the last five years she has been acting for the blood service and predecessor bodies, core participants in relation the Infected Blood Inquiry and on related claims. Her particular interests are patient safety, mediation and the strategic management of claims. She has advised on aspects of law change and policy development but is most interested in working with the NHS on initiatives to reduce avoidable harm.

Ian Critchley

Ian is a partner with over 19 years' experience in dealing with healthcare matters, specialising in clinical negligence litigation. He has advised NHS Trusts and NHS Resolution throughout that time and is the client partner for several NHS Trust clients in the North West. Ian manages a wide caseload of high-value, complicated and sensitive claims on behalf of NHS Resolution including maximum severity birth injury claims and has settled numerous cases by way of periodical payment orders (PPOs). He also has particular expertise in surgical claims and cases involving spinal injuries, brain damage, amputation, the delayed diagnosis of cancer and orthopaedic injuries. Many of Ian’s cases involve complex medical and quantum issues. Ian has also dealt with highly sensitive cases on behalf of NHS Resolution involving significant publicity, including the Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust group action claims. He adopts a sensible and pragmatic approach to managing claims in order to achieve a fair and reasonable resolution for all parties. He has substantial experience of various alternatives to litigation, including mediation. Ian has also lectured to NHS Trusts on a variety of issues including risk management, consent, duty of candour and the clinical negligence litigation process. He has assisted with patient safety projects and is responsible for managing all day-to-day aspects of the large healthcare teams in Liverpool and Manchester, including various NHS Trust secondments.