Robert Akers > Chambers of Richard Pratt KC > Liverpool, England > Barrister Profile

Robert Akers

Work Department

Civil 
Family Finance 

Position

Barrister

Career

Call: 2003

 

Personal Injury:

Robert’s personal injury practice includes:

 

• Tripping and slipping claims
• Industrial disease and workplace injuries
• Occupiers’ Liability and Highways Act claims
• Product Liability
• Road Traffic accidents (including low velocity impact accidents and suspected fraudulent accident) and credit hire.

 

Robert has developed a broad personal injury practice and regularly appears in fast track and multi-track trials and interlocutory hearing for both Claimants and Defendants.

 

Roberts has a keen interest in travel law and has been instructed in cases for both Claimants and Defendants in matters concerning:

• The Package Travel Regulations – particularly involving cases of food poisoning
• Claims against tour operators and hoteliers
• Road Traffic accidents abroad
• Accidents on board aircraft, cruise ships and ferries
• The International Transport Conventions
• The 4th European Jurisdiction Regulation 44/2001
• Accidents arising out of leisure activities abroad.

 

Roberts has a busy paperwork practice and, with all paperwork instructions, endeavors to complete with within three days of receipt.

 

He is happy to consider accepting claims on a CFA basis in appropriate cases.

 

Cases

Batty v First Group Plc. (Unreported – York County Court, 2014)

Represented the Defendant at a costs and cases management hearing in which a number of arguments had to be made about the completeness of the party’s Precedent H forms. Robert was successful in substantially reducing the Claimant’s estimated costs.

 

C v Liverpool Victoria Insurance Company Ltd (Unreported – Warrington County Court, 2014)

Represented the Claimant and was successful in having the Defendant’s case struck out on the day of the trail following a number of failures on the part of the Defence to comply with previous directions of the Court. In successfully opposing the Defendant’s application for relief from sanctions and the subsequent application to the court for the Defence to be struck out it was necessary for Roberts to make detailed arguments citing the cases of Mitchell v News Group Newspapers Ltd, Durant v CC of Avon and Somerset Constabulary and also Denton v TH White Ltd.

 

Ghader v EUI & Advantage Insurance & Johnson (Unreported – Crewe County Court, 2014)

Represented the Claimant and was successful in opposing the second Defendant’s application for the disclosure of various extracts from the Claimant’s medical records.

 

Re: A (Unreported – Manchester County Court, 2014)

Represented the Claimant at a show cause hearing in which the Defendant insurance company was ordered to pay substantial wasted costs following the alleged forging of the Claimant’s signature on a document purportedly created by the Claimant answering requests for further information pursuant to CPR 18.

 

Re: P (Unreported – Liverpool County Court, 2014)

Successfully represented the Defendant at a hearing in which the Claimant sought to resile from an admission of contributory negligence.

Family Finance:

Robert appreciates the difficult emotional aspects of family law and pays particular attention to client care, displaying particular empathy and compassion alongside his legal and advocacy skills.

 

Given his specialist expertise in Personal Injury law and procedure, Robert has a particular interest in Matrimonial Finance cases involving arguments in respect of compensatory damages forming part of the matrimonial assets available for division between the parties.

 

Robert accepts instructions in all matrimonial finance cases as well as those involving the breakdown of non-matrimonial relationships (TOLATA) and is experienced in dealing with cases, with issues such as: maintenance pending suit, pension sharing and attachment order, business accounts, trust arrangements and bankruptcy and insolvency issues.

 

Robert is well used to appearing against litigants in person and in addition to the experience that he has gained through hearing cases in semi-judicial capacity, is able to approach such matters firmly but fairly.

 

Cases

C v C (2019): Robert represented the husband in this complex, multiple day final hearing.

 

The case involved several properties which the husband had always argued were non-matrimonial in nature and Robert was successful in keeping the same out of the computation of the assets available for division.

 

This case was significant not just for the volume of assets but also because or arguments that “conduct”, alleged to be in the form of domestic violence, should be a relevant MCA Section 25 factor. Consequently, the papers for this case also included numerous medical reports which Robert was able to assess and respond to in details due to the expertise that he has developed in his dual practice which includes Personal Injury law.

 

J v I (2018): Successfully negotiated settlement in a complex case which involved principles of Islamic divorce procedure and allegations that his client had made dispositions of a number of properties.

 

F v F (2017): Successfully represented the respondent husband in opposing the applicant’s wife’s attempts to force financial disclosure of what were alleged to be concealed assets.

 

A v L (2017): Represented the applicant wife against the respondent husband, who was acting as a litigant in person, and was successful in negotiating a substantial pension sharing order in favour of his client.

 

B v R-B (2018): Successfully represented the respondent husband in defeating a claim for the transfer of the former matrimonial home to the applicant wife.

Memberships

• Northern Circuit
• Family Law Bar Association

Education

Appointments

• Deputy District Judge – Northern Circuit
• Chairman to the Manchester Independent Appeals Panel
• Accredited for Direct Public Access instructions