Profile
Work Department
Position
Partner
Career
Leena is a Partner specialising in medical negligence claims. This is an area she has specialised in exclusively since qualification. She was previously based at Irwin Mitchell's Manchester office (2006 – 2012) and now works in our London office.
Leena is an expert in child and adult brain injury cases; however, she also has a specialism in coronial law and inquests (having represented clients in many high profile inquests). Her clients have praised her for ‘her ability to combine fierce commitment with pragmatism and tact in getting the best outcome’.
In the past few years, highlights include:
- CXD v The Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust [2022] - £8.8m recovered for a 24 year old young man with cerebral palsy in a case where liability was challenged throughout.
- TXM v Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust [2021] - £30m recovered (capitalised) for a child born prematurely who suffered a significant brain injury leading to autism. The quantification of the claim was complex due to the need for a significant care package.
- AXS v West Suffolk Suffolk Hospital NHS Trust [2020] – secured £26m (capitalised) for a 9 year old boy who suffered brain damage due to negligent failure to treat his mother’s Rhesus (D) disease antenatally (the largest national settlement at Irwin Mitchell in 2020)
Leena is a Senior Litigator with APIL. She has delivered presentations to consultants and other health practitioners on a range of medico-legal topics and her cases are frequently cited in the press.
In March 2022 Leena was appointed as a Legally Qualified Chair for the Medical Practitioners’ Tribunal Service (a statutory committee of the General Medical Council) following open competition. In this role she chairs fitness to practice proceedings concerning doctors – this work is complementary to her clinical negligence litigation expertise.
Leena also sits on the firm’s D&I board and leads on initiatives to further our firm’s diversity agenda.
She was awarded Solicitor of the Year in the 2021 Inspirational Women in Law awards.
In October 2021 Leena was awarded ‘Inspirational Solicitor of the Year’ by First 100 years and in October 2022 Leena was featured in a Next 100 years video series celebrating women in the law: https://youtu.be/5bQWOhsA3Vk
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Testimonials
Collated independently by Legal 500 research team.
‘Irwin Mitchell have a big team which very competently handles a range of cases. My experience of the team is with catastrophic cases and the team does an exceptional job in achieving great results with these cases.’
‘Large, dedicated team who have a great track record in securing excellent results for their clients.'
‘Irwin Mitchell's clinical negligence team are exceptional. They are a large team team managing a very high volume of claims which gives them such great depth and breath of experience and expertise in this market.’
‘Auriana Griffiths is exceptional. A leader in this field who achieves great results for her clients. A great leader of a first class team who is collaborative and innovative.'
'Anne Kavanagh is a great lawyer who negotiates hard to get the best outcome for her clients.’‘Pre-eminent in the field, with the resources, strength in depth and knowledge to see off most if not all of their competitors, whilst also remaining a delight to work with.’
‘Lauren Hurney - a partner with enormous experience gained over the last 20 years.'
‘Richard Kayser, partner, is a star. He has excellent judgement and great powers of analysis. He leaves no stone unturned in the work up of his cases.’