The ‘consistently professional and approachable’ Carson McDowell teams are well known for providing clients with a full range of matters. Roger McMillan and Jacqueline McAleese head the clinical negligence defence department. McMillan is a specialist in defending medical professionals in alleged misdiagnosis and delay in diagnosis claims in the High Court, while McAleese focuses on defending complex cervical and expedited cancer cases. Catherine Carton and Cathal O’Neill, who are both ’very approachable and very engaged’ lead the insurance personal injury team. Carton is active on both employer’s liability and public liability matters, while O’Neill is well versed in high-value asbestos claims.
Legal 500 Editorial commentary
Testimonials
Collated independently by Legal 500 research team.
- I consider Carson McDowell as one of the two top teams in Northern Ireland. All the members of the team are out of the top drawer both in terms of intellect and work ethic. They retain the best experts in the relevant fields with other preparatory work to include analysis being carried out to the very best standards.’
- The individuals with whom I have most contact are Roger McMillan, Jacqueline McAleese and Anna Haines- Smyth. All are clear leaders in the field.’
- ‘This is a large and well regarded team with great resources and considerable technical experience and skills which means they are in huge demand.'
- ‘I have dealt with Carson McDowell over ten years and have found their team to be consistently professional and approachable. They provide clear and pragmatic advice on complex issues and have achieved some very good results for insurer clients.’
- ‘Catherine Caton deals with our higher value and complex litigation and provides detailed advice on those cases. She is commercially aware but very robust where needed, which has led to excellent results.’
- ‘All cases in which I instruct Carson McDowell are handled by the exceptional Catherine Carton. Catherine's grasp of my principal clients' requirements is very strong. She provides good, commercially aware advice with the focus on protecting the client's interests. Communications are timely and refreshingly free from 'legalese' while procedural matters are dealt with efficiently and accurately.’
- ‘Carson McDowell are leaders in Clinical Negligence. They are my go-to for any Northern Ireland clinical negligence claims. They stand apart in the way they invest a lot of time getting to know the client and understanding their expectations.’
- ‘Catherine Carton and Cathal O’Neill are very approachable and very engaged. Open to discussions and training advice along with providing good results and feedback on defended cases. Rarely do we have to chase for updates as we are continually updated throughout the claim.
Key clients
- The Medical Protection Society
- Medical and Dental Defence Union of Scotland
- Dental Protection Limited
- National Pharmaceutical Association
- Association of Optometrists
- Beazley Group
- WRB Underwriting
- Personal Injury – Defendant
- AIA Australia
- Belfast Harbour Commissioners
- Kelly Adjusters
- Travelers Insurance
- Axis Capital
- Enstar
- Sedgwick
- Faraday Insurance
- Riverstone Insurance
- Davies Casualty/Garwyn
- TT Club/Thomas Miller Claims Management
- Crawford Loss Adjustors/Broadspire
- Northern Ireland Electricity Networks Ltd
- Beale & Co
- McLarens
- Stena Line
- QBE
Lawyers
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Practice head
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Roger McMillan, Jacqueline McAleese, Catherine Carton, Cathal O’Neill