The Legal 500

Work Department

Clinical law department.

Position

David is head of Capsticks’ public law department. He conducts high-profile healthcare advisory matters, specialising in consultation inquiries and investigations, governance and judicial reviews. David has worked with the Department of Health on the groundbreaking Memorandum of Understanding on Investigating Patient Safety Incidents which promotes effective liaison between the NHS, the Association of Chief Police Officers and the HSE. Notable cases David has worked on include representing all the NHS bodies and their staff involved in the Victoria Climbie and Clifford Ayling Inquiries; R v East Kent Hospitals NHS Trust ex p Smith (reconfiguration of acute services in East Kent); Re R (adult), medical treatment; Stone v South East Coast Strategic Health Authority (publication of inquiry report); advising London Strategic Health Authority, and 31 primary care trusts on `Healthcare for London’ consultation.

Career

Called to the Bar 1984; barrister 1985-88; joined Capsticks 1988, requalified as a solicitor and became a partner in 1990; defence solicitor representative on steering group of clinical negligence working party reporting to Lord Woolf; defence solicitor representative and executive committee member on the Clinical Disputes Forum 1996-2001; publications include: co-author ‘Pre-action protocol for resolution of clinical disputes’ and ‘Guidelines on experts’ discussions in the context of clinical disputes’; ‘Litigation – A risk management guide for midwives’, published by the Royal College of Midwives, and ‘Service Reconfiguration, Consultation and Judicial Review’ both co-authored with Peter Edwards; regular lecturer and writer on healthcare topics.

Member

Fellow of the Society for Advanced Legal Studies.

Education

Winchester College; Oriel College, Oxford (1977 BA Experimental Psychology; 1982 MA); City University (1983 DipL).

Leisure

Reading.

Practice Areas

Administrative and public law; Healthcare; Mental health