England - West Midlands • Insurance

Browne Jacobson LLP

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The ‘practical, proactive and sensible’ team at Browne Jacobson LLP is praised for its ’collaborative approach‘. It has one of the largest national defendant clinical defendant practices in the UK as well as an excellent social care practice. It fields many first-rate practitioners such as Jonathan Fuggle  who is recognised for his expertise in spinal surgery claims. Sarah Manning specialises in defending substantial clinical negligence claims. Sian Brown leads the specialist obstetric division, while Sarah White deftly handles a variety of catastrophic injury claims. Among the other key names to note are ’master tactician‘ William Reynolds who acts on behalf of NHS Resolution, NHS Trusts, and other private insurers and commercial organisations, Emma Rees  (legal director); Hannah Wallace and Louise Jeffers  (who are both senior associates).

Legal 500 Editorial commentary

Testimonials

Collated independently by Legal 500 research team.

  • 'Louise Jeffers is approachable and easy to work with. She made some very commercially sensible proposals which meant that we were able to resolve our matter swiftly and cost effectively, benefiting both of our clients.'
  • 'Lorna Hardman has a wealth of experience and can always be relied upon.'
  • 'Jonathan Fuggle and Hannah Wallace have worked extensively for NHS clients on groundbreaking cases; this demonstrates the quality of work they are conducting in this field and the trust their clients place in them.'
  • 'Sarah White is a towering figure in clinical negligence work, respected by peers and opponents alike. Sian Brown is a charming and capable lawyer whose amiable manner does not prevent her being steely when the case requires it. She achieves excellent results in often intractable cases for her clients by her determination and ingenuity.'
  • 'Jonathan Fuggle is always very pragmatic in his approach, very sensible.'
  • 'Lorna Hardman is pragmatic and sensible, taking a common-sense approach to resolving disputes.'
  • 'Will Reynolds is a master tactician.'
  • 'Jonathan Fuggle  is very intelligent, but also has a strong practical commercial edge. Hannah Wallace is very user friendly, hard working and had very good judgement.'

Key clients

  • Medical Protection Society (National)
  • NHS Resolution (National)
  • Dental Protection Limited (National)
  • Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust (Midlands)
  • Walsall Healthcare NHS Trust
  • CNA Hardy
  • Blackpool Teaching Hospitals (North West)
  • University Hospitals of Derby and Burton NHS Foundation Trust
  • Essex Partnership University NHS Trust
  • University Hospital of Dorset NHS Foundation Trust (South West)

Lawyers

Hall of Fame

The lawyers at the very top of the profession, widely known and respected by peers and clients for their longstanding involvement in market-leading work.

Sarah White

Hall of fameBrowne Jacobson LLP

Sarah White is a very experienced NHS Resolution Nominated Partner with a wealth of expertise in handling high value clinical negligence claims, specialising in multimillion pound catastrophic injury cases. She is based in our Birmingham office. She has a tremendous track record of swift resolution of claims, analysing and rapidly settling indefensible cases, and fighting and winning high profile and high value defensible claims at trial. She is responsible for supervising our trial portfolio across the teams, and sits on the Browne Jacobson Board

Rising stars

Louise Jeffers

Louise Jeffers

Browne Jacobson LLP

Louise Jeffers is a Senior Associate in the Health and Advisory Litigation Team. She is Team Leader of the Adult Neurological injuries team. She previously worked for 6 years in Claimant clinical negligence and in 2016 joined Browne Jacobson's Defendant clinical negligence team. She specialises in defending high value adult neurological injury claims for NHS Resolution. Louise is known for the high quality of her work and tenacious approach, winning the confidence of her clients who have described her as a 'strong litigator' and remarked on her 'excellent witness engagement'. She builds admirable relationships with the opposing party and has been praised by Claimant's solicitors for her 'empathetic approach' and the 'pleasant and professional' way in which she conducts claims on behalf of Defendants. Louise has represents the Defendant in notable claims including Lesley Elder v George Eliot Hospital NHS Trust, a fundamental dishonesty claim where the Claimant was successfully prosecuted for contempt of Court, and in Bayley v George Eliot Hospital NHS Trust, an important informed consent claim. Louise has secured numerous Trial wins on behalf of the NHS. Louise has been instrumental in the development of Resolution Days, carried out on behalf of NHS Resolution with Claimant law firms, negotiatingdozens of settlements in one day.She has recently undertaken a large-scale analysis of key trends and themes emerging from claims in order to identify learning opportunities and additional support required by specific Trusts. Louise continues to ensure the development of others through supervision and the creation and delivery of training modules, including CRU and Fatal Accidents Act claims.

Emma Rees

Browne Jacobson LLP

Emma is a Defendant Clinical Negligence Specialist with over 25 years' experience of acting for NHS Resolution and NHS Trusts in the defence of NHS hospitals and staff. She specialises in high value catastrophic injury claims particularly those relating to complex birth injury; complex neurological injury and acquired brain and spinal injury in both children and adults. She is experienced in the resolution of liability and quantum issues both in the course of litigation and by mediation and ADR. This year notable cases she has managed include: a. A complex cauda equina case where breach of duty was admitted but causation was denied. There were factual disputes as to symptoms present at the time of the presentation and as to the likely treatment timelines even with the management contended for. The parties agreed to adjourn a CCMC and to proceed to early mediation where the case was resolved and where the Claimant was provided with an opportunity to raise queries as to the care received. b. An adult neurological injury claim relating to an alleged delay in diagnosis and treatment of a collapse of thoracic vertebrae which was alleged to have caused spinal cord compression. Causation was complex due to pre-existing comorbidities. The case was resolved by ADR. c. A child neurological disability claim relating to the management of their mother during labour and delivery. Full pre-action admissions were made. A collaborative approach was adopted between the parties with judgment entered and a stay agreed in order to await a more definitive prognosis.

Practice head

The lawyer(s) leading their teams.

Lorna Hardman, Jonathan Fuggle, Sarah Manning, Sian Brown, Sarah White

Other key lawyers

Emma Rees, Hannah Wallace, Louise Jeffers, William Reynolds