The Legal 500 > United Kingdom - The Bar > Regional Bar > Personal injury

The 'well-established' 18 St John Street Chambers is home to a 'very broad' range of specialist practitioners, who are instructed on behalf of both claimants and defendants. Particular areas of expertise for the set include employer's liability, road traffic accidents and occupier's liability.

Members of 7 Harrington Street have mixed claimant and defendant practices and are instructed in a wide range of cases including employer's liability, public liability and road traffic accidents. The set is praised by clients for its 'good number of experienced counsel' and increasing presence in defendant work. Tim Grover recently represented a claimant who had suffered a severe shoulder injury resulting in elective amputation, in which the defendants disputed both liability and quantum, but for which a seven-figure sum was eventually agreed.

The personal injury team at 9 St John Street is particularly notable for its defendant work, especially regarding fraudulent insurance claims, although several members also have strong claimant practices. The set is praised by clients for its 'good strength in depth', particularly at the senior junior level. In a recent highlight, Matthew Snarr acted alone for a defendant employer in a traumatic brain injury case in which the balance of liability with a co-defendant was heavily disputed, and all other parties instructed a silk. Christopher Kennedy QC represented a defendant insurer in a paraplegia claim arising from an injury incurred in a gym, during which the claimant was using a programme not designed by gym staff.

Byrom Street Chambers is home to the largest range of senior personal injury counsel on the circuit, with many of its members primarily instructed on complex, high-value claims. In a recent case, Rhiannon Jones QC recently acted for one of five defendants in a tetraplegia claim in which all defendants denied liability.

The personal injury barristers at Cobden House Chambers are instructed in a wide range of personal injury matters, including group actions, catastrophic road traffic accidents, occupier's liability and industrial disease.

Deans Court Chambers is home to one of the region's largest personal injury teams, where solicitors 'can always rely upon any appointment being a properly experienced specialist'. Key niche areas for the set include historical abuse claims, where Nicholas Fewtrell is particularly prominent for the defence, as well as the defence of fraudulent claims.

Exchange Chambers houses a large number of specialist personal injury counsel, across both the senior and junior ranks. A notable niche at the firm is the defense of claims brought against  the military, an area in which William Waldron QC and Louis Browne QC have thriving practices. Christopher Barnes represented former heptathlete Serita Shone in a claim against British Bobsleigh concerning an injury suffered in her first training run as a bobsledder. David Knifton QC co-led the case for the claimant in the Supreme Court in Lewis v Tindale and MIB, which concerned the liability of the Motor Insurers' Bureau for incidents involving uninsured vehicles on private land; in this instance an elderly farmer ran over a man he believed to be scrap metal thief, causing the claimant to break his neck.

Yaqub Rahman is the key practitioner at Oriel Chambers as regards to personal injury law. He is particularly experienced with defendant work, as well as cases involving complex medical causation arguments.

St John's Buildings is well-regarded within the region as a personal injury set, with a wide range of practitioners who are instructed across all aspects of personal injury work.  Particular areas of specialism include industrial disease, multi-defendant claims and catastrophic injury. Of recent note, Richard Norton recently acted for the claimant in a four-defendant case, where all four denied liability, after the claimant fell through a grate into a waste drain at a chemical plant undergoing construction work, settling the case at mediation.