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St John's Chambers

Chambers of Richard Stead

101 VICTORIA STREET, BRISTOL, BS1 6PU, ENGLAND
Tel:
Work 0117 923 4700
Fax:
Fax 0117 929 4821
DX:
743350 BRISTOL 36
Web:
www.stjohnschambers.co.uk
Email:

Christopher Sharp QC

Tel:
Work +44 117 923 4700
Email:
St John's Chambers (Chambers of Richard Stead)

Position

A personal injury and family law specialist with many years experience who is acknowledged as one of the leading family and personal injury silks on the circuit and is head of the family practice group at St John's Chambers. He has wide experience of the appellate courts, both Court of Appeal and the House of Lords. He is widely known for his expertise in high-value ancillary relief cases in which he is equally at home negotiating multimillion-pound settlements or fighting them in court. He is instructed by local authorities, parents, guardians and the official solicitor in cases involving the serious injury or death of a child, cases that always involve complex medical evidence. Because of his expertise in the field of personal injury, he is instructed in divorces involving catastrophic injury to one partner where the subsequent ancillary relief proceedings involve financial complexities surrounding the damages awarded. In his personal injury practice, he has particularly strong expertise in catastrophic injuries (brain damage and spinal injuries), complex medical causation issues and appellate matters. Dealing with multimillion-pound claims for both claimant and defendant clients, he is well known for his ability to swiftly identify the key issues in a case, for the depth of his knowledge and for his understanding of highly technical medical points on which a case may stand or fall. His work is almost exactly 50/50 claimant and defendant.

Career

Called 1975; QC 1999; Recorder 2004; deputy High Court judge (Family) 2011; visiting fellow University of the West of England, regularly contributes articles to the professional press and lectures on subjects related to his areas of practice. Examples of his work include the following reported and unreported cases: personal injury: TR v Devon CC (2012) £11m Highways Act, RTA - successful contribution claim for insurers; AC v TR, QBD 2010: (claimant one: complete tetraplegia and amputation, possible brain damage, £11m claimed; claimant 2: multiple injuries, possible brain damage) negotiated settlement acting for insurers: judicial decisions on form of periodical payments order, anonymity and overcapitalisation on interim payments; 'A' v Hoare, HoL [2008] UKHL 6 (civil procedure, limitation, claim for sexual assault, 'lottery rapist' case); SG v C settled at mediation acting for claimant: accident at work resulting in complete tetraplegia. Liability and quantum at issue. Issues re state funding, indemnity and periodic payments; AL v W acting for insurers. RTA brain injury resulting in hemaplegia and loss of competence. Court approved settlement. Issues of state funding and structure of periodic payments; Edmunds v John Lewis Partnership acting for claimant. Liability resolved at trial, quantum resolved by negotiated settlement subject to court approval. Brain damage following accident at work. Loss of competence. Issues including prognosis, remoteness of damage (attributability of diabetes, epilepsy etc), support in community and structure of settlement; Children: re D (Fam Div) contact, implacable hostility, CA suspended residence order (2009), CA change of residence (2010); BANES v H (Fam Div) conduct of social worker, anonymity (2009); Glos CC v T (fam div) publicity injunction; SG v T (Fam Div) public law; child killed, medical causation and timing, allegations of sexual abuse, issues of publicity and reporting ancillary relief: M v M (2012) Big money: international pension issues; conduct, compensation and contributions; resolved at private FDR; L v L (2011) big money, origin of assets, corporate structure; B v B (2011) ancillary relief; farm case, property portfolios, extra-marital origin of assets; valuations; K v F extra-marital origin of assets; valuation; conduct/residence/contact sub issues; M v M ToLaTA claim, inheritance invested in farm.

Member

Family Law Bar Association (founder and former chair of the Bristol branch); Personal Injury Bar Association; Professional Negligence Bar Association.

Education

University of Oxford (MA).

Leisure

Real tennis, skiing, sailing and theatre.

Practice Areas

Family - children; Family - matrimonial; Personal injury - either side

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