Gerard McDermott KC

Barrister specialising in Employment; Clinical Negligence; Health and Safety; Personal Injury; Professional Negligence; Private International Law; EU Law.

Called 1978, Middle Temple (Bencher 2005); admitted as an attorney-at-law in New York 1990; took Silk 1999. Also practises from 9 St John Street Chambers, Manchester.

Gerard McDermott QC practises from England and is based in London and Manchester, with associated offices in Abu Dhabi and New York.

His main areas of practice are Personal Injury, Medical Malpractice and Employment Law at all levels, although he maintains a diverse practice across the Common Law and Commercial fields. Gerard acts for both Claimants and Defendants.

He represents clients with a vast range of injuries arising from negligence, including medical malpractice and road traffic accidents. The majority of his caseload involves catastrophic personal injury such as spinal cord injury and brain injury, and he has over thirty years’ experience of the same.

He was ranked as a Star Individual in Chambers and Partners 2021, described as a “pre-eminent silk who is one of the finest personal injury barristers on the circuit.”

He has a very busy trial practice across the United Kingdom, generally in the High Court, as well as reaching impressive out of court settlements through negotiation, and in mediations. An increasing number of his cases have a cross border element to them, with particular emphasis on US issues, but also with cases that have involved Europe and the Middle East.

He has a real understanding of the legal systems of a number of different countries, reflecting his interest and experience in numerous cross border cases. It also reflects his long-standing interest in and knowledge of comparative as well as private international and European law. In Legal 50 2022, he iss noted for his travel law expertise and described as “the go-to silk in serious travel claims.” Gerard was involved in one of the first cases relating to the implementation of Rome II (EC) No 864/2007 (Bacon v Nacional Suiza [2010] EWHC 2017 (QB)). He also has significant expertise on the implementation of the insurance directive in to domestic case law.

Gerard has significant experience in Inquests and Inquiries. Gerard was Lead Counsel for the Health Authority in the high profile Inquiry into the deaths of patients under the care of Dr Harold Shipman. He also represented an RAF Pilot during the Inquest of a Puma helicopter crash. He has experience of a number of aviation claims, both fixed-wing and helicopters.

Gerard sits as a Deputy High Court Judge in the Queen’s Bench Division. He is also a former President of the American Counsel Association and former Leader of the European Circuit of the Bar.

In addition, and in recognition of his long time involvement with the American Bar Association, Gerard was the first recipient of a Presidential Citation in 2015 and currently co-chairs the International Litigation Committee of the same.

He has an unrivalled network of legal contacts in states across America.

Gerard has frequently travelled overseas to provide talks and training including presentations on Civil Litigation Costs in the UK, Rome II, managing catastrophic personal injury cases and most recently on Brexit Negotiations.

University of Manchester (LLB Hons).