Mr Christopher Allen > Exchange Chambers > Liverpool, England > Barrister Profile

Mr Christopher Allen

0151 236 7747 allen@exchangechambers.co.uk View profile

Work Department

Personal Injury

Position

Chris practices exclusively in catastrophic / serious injury. His practice encompasses all means of drafting, advisory work and court appearances, and he has particularly adept at drafting large schedules of loss in cases involving spinal injuries, brain injuries, amputees, fatal accidents and otherwise catastrophic injuries including schedules exceeding £10 million. He drafts schedules in Word, Excel and via PI Calculator according to his instructing solicitor’s preference.

He is instructed as sole counsel in cases pleaded up to £2 million and frequently as led junior in cases worth in excess of £2 million. He has been involved in finalising multiple multi-million-pound settlements in the last year including a £19.5 million and £17.5 million settlement (see attached list of cases for examples). He appears frequently against Kings Counsel and has considerable experience in obtaining substantial interim payments after contested applications.

Significant areas of expertise are:

• Catastrophic injuries – brain / spinal / amputees
• Cases involving Fatal Accidents Act 1976 and Law Reform (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1934
• Military Claims including psychiatric injuries, NFCI and other very serious injuries
• Interim payments
• Costs inc. MOJ
• Appeals

Chris is also regarded as a costs specialist who regularly achieves very favourable budgets at CCMC’s. He is regularly instructed in technical costs arguments. In addition, Chris is considered by many to be a specialist in dealing with technical arguments and preliminary issues such as abuse of process, limitation and insurance indemnity.

He has an extensive practice in military claims acting only for Claimant. He fully understands the nuances of the military structure, of establishing career projections and pension loss calculation. He is regularly instructed to represent service personnel for have suffered NCFI’s at joint settlement meetings and has extensive experience of dealing with other very serious injuries involving military personnel.

Chris also regularly undertakes professional negligence actions for and against firms of solicitors who have been involved in alleged negligence arising out of personal-injury matters.

Chris is friendly and approachable. He encourages solicitors to contact him directly by telephone or email at all stages of litigation even before formal instructions have been sent. He maintains a comprehensive and updated database of experts and welcomes the opportunity to recommend suitable experts at an early stage.

Career

 Solicitor 2006; Called to the Bar 2012

Memberships

• Northern Circuit
• Personal Injury Bar Association

Education

• LLB (Hons) Law, Hatfield College, University of Durham (Class 2(i) – June 2003)
• Legal Practice Course, College of Law, Chester (June 2005)
• Admitted as a Solicitor of England and Wales – March 2006
• Higher Rights of Audience (All Proceedings) – April 2009
• Called to the Bar by Lincoln’s Inn – March 2012