Sophie Holme > Chambers of Anna Vigars KC > Bristol, England > Barrister Profile
Guildhall Chambers Offices
Guildhall Chambers
23 BROAD STREET
BRISTOL
BS1 2HG
England
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Sophie Holme
Work Department
Personal injury; clinical negligence; professional discipline; inquests.
Position
Sophie Holme is a leading junior with a strong reputation for representing Claimants and Defendants in clinical negligence and personal injury claims. Sophie acts in cases involving the full range of medical specialisms and a wide range of injuries.
In inquests, Sophie has experience of difficult cases involving a wide range of healthcare matters involving medical and psychiatric treatment including prison deaths and those within Hospital Trusts. Sophie appears on behalf of families, Trusts and represents the interests of doctors. Sophie is happy to consider acting pro bono in appropriate cases given the difficulty faced by many seeking to fund representation in the coronial setting.
Sophie has significant experience of Regulatory and Discipline law and has enjoyed considerable success acting for nurses before the NMC and as prosecuting for the GDC.
Sophie is tier 1 ranked in Legal 500 for clinical negligence which describes her as ‘a phenomenally capable counsel who combines intellectual rigour, impeccable judgement, attention to detail, and determination.’.
Career
Called 2009, Gray’s Inn.
Sophie has a wide experience of personal injury cases including employers’ liability, occupiers’ liability, highways, road traffic accidents, animals’ act, product liability, industrial disease, fatal accidents, MIB cases, CICA appeals and CRU appeals.
Sophie’s main area of expertise are claims concerning multiple or complex injuries. Sophie is sought after for her strong focus on client care and robust advice. SSHE is regularly instructed in claims involving serious spinal injuries and has particular expertise in this field.
Sophie is happy to work on a nil-uplift CFA basis in appropriate cases.
Sophie is tier 1 ranked for clinical negligence in Legal 500 with experience advising on cases in the full range of medical contexts. She has a keen eye for the forensic analysis required to successfully claim and defend in this field. By way of a limited example, she has advised on the following range of cases in recent years:
- Cardiology and cardiac surgery: inappropriate treatment of acute coronary syndrome, delayed diagnosis of endocarditis, surgical delay cases and surgical negligence cases;
- Consent: failure to appropriately consent to treatment in a wide variety of contexts including gastric surgery, cardiology, orthopaedic cases, spinal surgery, obstetrics and gynaecology;
- Cancer diagnosis and treatment claims: bowel, bladder, skin, osteosarcoma and lung cases.
- General Practice: inappropriate advice, examination, delayed diagnosis and incorrect prescription cases.
- Hepato-biliary: surgical negligence leading to serious permanent injury;
- Microbiology: hospital acquired infections, inappropriate antibiotics or inappropriate dosages, failure to obtain microbiology advice when required;
- Neurology: delayed diagnosis of brain tumour leading to catastrophic injury, delayed diagnosis of subarachnoid haemorrhage, traumatic brain injury, stroke (failure to prevent and failure to treat) and spinal injuries;
- Nursing: full range of cases involving all aspects of nursing in which Sophie has a particular interest as a result of her experience defending nurses before the NMC.
- Obstetrics and Gynaecology: wrongful birth, post-partum haemorrhage, Erb’s Palsy, intrauterine growth restriction and stillbirth, intra-partum care; failed sterilisation, hysterectomy, gynaecological surgery resulting in injury to the gastro-intestinal tract, bladder, uterus and/or ureters;
- Otorhinolaryngology: recurrent laryngeal nerve injury;
- Psychology/Psychiatry: inappropriate treatment, medication, failure to prevent suicide, secondary victim claims and a wide range of other multiple psychiatric injury claims consequential upon physical injury;
- Radiology and neuroradiology;
- Rheumatology: chronic pain, fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue cases;
- Urology: iatrogenic ureteric injury, drug induced kidney failure, stress and urge incontinence cases, surgical negligence cases;
- Vascular/endocrinology: inappropriate prescription, failed management of thrombosis leading to amputation.
Languages
French
Memberships
- PIBA
- AVMA
Education
- BVC, UWE Bristol – Outstanding
- MSt, European Literature, University of Oxford
- BA, French & Linguistics, University of Oxford
Lawyer Rankings
Regional Bar > Western Circuit > Clinical negligence
(Leading Juniors)Ranked: Tier 1Sophie Holme – Guildhall Chambers ‘Sophie’s written work is phenomenally detailed and her analyses are always both commercially astute and highly forensic. Her formidable advocacy combines force with a highly reasoned and reasonable approach and client care is impeccable, especially with more vulnerable individuals.’
Guildhall Chambers is a ‘standout‘ set for clinical negligence work on the Western circuit. Selena Plowden KC is ‘well suited to handling the most complex of cases‘ and heads the team. She specialises in cases involving mental health and human rights issues, and recently led the representation of the claimant in the high-profile case of Lewis-Ranwell v G4S Services Uk Ltd & Others – a claim brought by a man who was acquitted of murder on the grounds of insanity and detained under a hospital order against those who treated him prior to those events – the case addresses the question of if the claim is considered ex turpi causa. Sophie Holme has recently acted in several significant cases, including spinal surgical negligence, delayed cancer diagnosis claims, cauda equina, birth-related bowel injuries, and fatal and psychiatric negligence claims, among others. Martin Lanchester and Kriti Upadhyay both handle a broad range of clinical disputes work, while Philip Hughes is increasingly sought after for his medical expertise, which he has brought to bear in several instructions to aid in the determination of causation and quantum.