One Crown Office Row
| Address | 1 Crown Office Row Temple London EC4Y 7HH |
| Contact name | Matthew Phipps - Senior Clerk |
| Phone | 020 7797 7500 |
| Fax | 020 7797 7550 |
Description
A leading civil set (with a large annexe in Brighton) providing advisory, advocacy and mediation services with a pre-eminent reputation for its clinical negligence and healthcare practice, its professional disciplinary work and its expertise in public law and human rights.
The set: Established over 60 years ago, its reputation for quality is reflected in the fact that it counts among its members and former members the former Lord Chief Justice, Lord Woolf, four Lords Justices of Appeal, eleven High Court judges and three former chairmen of the Bar. It holds the Legal Services Commission’s Quality Mark for the Bar award.
Chambers operates the unique Human Rights Update website at www.humanrights.org.uk now containing over 900 commentaries and analyses of human rights cases, updated weekly, in a fully searchable format – all free of charge. The site has over 13,000 registered users.
Types of work undertaken: Members have been recognised as leading practitioners in a range of areas including - clinical and other professional negligence and disciplinary work; personal injury; public and administrative law; healthcare; environmental law; costs and VAT. Some also have successful practices in the following areas - coroners and inquests; public inquiries; employment and equality; immigration and asylum; multi-party actions; technology and construction; commercial law and sports law. Chambers has an expanding mediation service described at www.1cor.com comprising 13 accredited mediators, 11 of whom are silks.
In clinical negligence, Chambers acts for both claimants and defendants representing individuals and groups and numerous health authorities, NHS Trusts, GPs and consultants nationwide. Landmark cases include Gregg v Scott; Crouch v King’s Healthcare NHS Trust; Bolitho v City & Hackney Health Authority; Wells v Wells; Wilsher v Essex AHA as well as the group actions arising out of radiotherapy treatment for breast cancer, benzodiazepine administration, femodene use, organ retention and MMR.
Chambers is regularly involved in disciplinary work involving all types of medically qualified and related staff and internal enquiries into the competence and conduct of clinicians. Recent cases include Ghosh v Secretary of State for Health and Ruscillo v Council for Regulation of Healthcare Professionals. Some members practise in medically-related and other specialist crime.
Chambers also handles personal injury litigation for either party and regularly represents insurers, local authorities, trade unions, health authorities, the police and individuals. Recent cases include A v Hoare, Sowden v Lodge, Crookdale v Drury and Heil v Rankin.
Recent healthcare work has included: the right to treatment abroad on the NHS (Watts v Secretary of State for Health); whether guidance on the withdrawal of artificial nutrition is compatible with human rights; the rights of parents to be notified of their daughter’s seeking of an abortion (Axon v Secretary of State for Health); whether a PCT is obliged to provide patients with a new breast cancer drug, Herceptin (Rogers v Swindon PCT).
The human rights practice is founded on the expertise gained in running the human rights website: several members also co-authored “An Introduction to the Human Rights Act and the Common Law”. Significant cases include Pretty v DPP as well as the healthcare cases mentioned above.
Chambers has long experience of public inquiries, including the Victoria Climbie, Alder Hey, and Bristol Royal Infirmary inquiries and the Southall and Ladbroke Grove inquiries.
The environmental practice includes test cases on the applicability of new pollution regulations; measures to mitigate the problem of dolphin bycatch in fishing nets; flooding; claims for water and methane escape from mines; waste (Castle Cement & United Utilities v The Environment Agency) and land fill (Parkman) issues; asbestos and groundwater pollution (Cambridge Water v Eastern Counties Leather); aircraft noise; dust pollution and interference with TV reception (Hunter v Canary Wharf); and judicial review of abatement notices (Falmouth).
The professional negligence practice covers solicitors, doctors, architects and engineers, surveyors and valuers and accountants. Important actions in which Chambers has appeared include: Corbett v Bond Pearce; Carr Glynn v Frearsons; White v Jones; and Smith v Bush.
In costs and funding matters, Members have appeared in a number of leading cases including: Kay v London Borough of Lambeth; Arkin v Borchard & Ors; Leigh v Michelin Tyre; Hollins v Russell; Tolstoy v Aldington and Ridehalgh v Horsefield.
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