Areas of Expertise

• Personal Injury

  Personal injury work forms a large part of Kate’s practice. She regularly appears in both the County Court and High Court, at first instance and on appeal, in a wide range of personal injury matters. The staples of Kate’s court practice include employers’ and public liability, highways, occupiers’ liability, and defective premises matters.

  Kate’s busy court practice is accompanied by an equally busy paperwork practice. She regularly drafts pleadings and schedules, and advises, in complex and high-value matters, including fatal accidents.

  Kate is regularly instructed in cases involving negligent beauty treatment and hairdressing.

  Kate has a particular interest in Animals’ Act matters. With a background in sheep and dairy farming, and as a lifelong dog owner and a horse owner of 17 years, Kate is regularly instructed in a broad range of claims involving injuries caused by livestock, equestrian accidents and dog attacks.

  Kate also has experience of claims brought to the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority and has acted for appellants in the CICA Tribunal in a range of matters including assault in the workplace, serious sexual assault and grievous bodily harm, in claims exceeding £250,000. She is able to advise both on paper and in conference on all issues of appeal including eligibility and quantum.

• Disease

  Kate is a very experienced disease practitioner. With particular expertise in noise induced hearing loss, COSHH and WRULD claims, Kate regularly represents both Claimants and Defendants across a broad range of industrial disease claims.

  Kate is regularly instructed to draft pleadings and advise in cases involving complex issues of breach and medical causation, particularly where there is a conflict in expert evidence. She is often asked to advise in conference with experts in attendance.

  Since her appointment to the Attorney General’s Regional C Panel, Kate has developed a particular interest in military noise cases and has appeared in both the County Court and High Court in such cases.

  Kate is intimately familiar with the law relating to the issue of Limitation and regularly appears at trials in which Limitation is determined as a preliminary issue. She is equally at home in all issues trials on both the Fast and Multi Tracks, particularly those involving difficult issues of breach and medical causation.

• Animals & Equine

  Kate has a keen interest in cases involving animals, both in a personal injury and commercial context.

  In her personal injury practice, Kate is regularly instructed in a broad range of claims involving injuries caused by livestock, equestrian accidents and dog attacks. With a background in sheep and dairy farming, and as a lifelong dog owner and a horse owner of 17 years, Kate is able to provide invaluable insight in Animals’ Act claims and is regularly called upon to represent both Claimants and Defendants in difficult; high value claims including:

  • A Claimant who suffered severe and disfiguring facial injuries following a dog attack in a claim worth over £250,000;
  • A Claimant who suffered significant injuries in an equestrian accident at a national show jumping competition;
  • A Claimant who suffered significant orthopaedic injuries having been attacked by a ram on a public footpath.

  In a commercial context, Kate has developed a keen interest in cases involving dog breeding and sales. She has represented many clients, including some of the country’s top breeding kennels as well as international clients, in cases relating to pet dogs, breeding dogs, show/field trial winners and champions and personal protection dogs, in cases valued at over £1 million.

  Kate is experienced in claims involving disputes over breeding restrictions, Consumer Rights Act issues and allegations of misrepresentation, as well as property damage claims arising out of injuries caused to dogs, including in competition.

  Kate appeared on behalf of the Claimant/Respondent in Pendragon v Coom [2021] EW Misc 4 (CC), which attracted national media interest.

  Kate also has extensive experience in sale of goods/misrepresentation claims involving the sale of horses, as well as debt claims involving arguments over livery/stud fees. Her own enthusiasm for, and experience in, equestrianism is of great assistance in assessing the merits of claims and allows for effective cross examination of witnesses.

• Motor

  Kate is extremely experienced in road traffic matters. She regularly appears at trials on both liability and quantum and now focuses solely on cases allocated to the multi-track.

  Kate has a particular expertise in road traffic claims where there are allegations of fraud and/or fundamental dishonesty, particularly those involving phantom passengers, low velocity impacts and contrived accidents. She is regularly instructed by Defendants to advise in conference in such cases and provide representation at trial.

  Kate also has extensive experience in claims involving the Motor Insurers Bureau, brought pursuant to both the Untraced and Uninsured Drivers’ Agreements. She is regularly instructed to draft pleadings and advise on tactics and procedure in such cases, both for and against the MIB/Article 75 Insurer. She has written articles and delivered seminars on the subject of MIB claims: To read Kate’s article on ‘Identifying the Correct Defendant in RTA Claims’, click here.

• Inquests

  Kate has experience across a broad range of coronial matters. She has appeared for families, insurers and the Care Quality Commission in a wide range of inquests such as those arising out of fatal road accidents, asbestos-related deaths and unexpected hospital deaths, often involving the questioning of both lay and expert witnesses.

  Having now been on the Attorney General’s Regional Panel for three years, Kate has appeared at many inquests and pre-inquest review hearings relating to deaths in custody and deaths of persons under supervision in the community. She has experience of cases in which Article 2 is or may be engaged.

  Kate’s coronial practice encompasses cases in which further proceedings (whether civil and/or criminal) are envisaged as well as those in which matters are unlikely to proceed any further. She welcomes instructions from families and other interested parties to coronial proceedings and is prepared to accept instructions pro bono, or on a conditional fee basis, where appropriate.

• Clinical Negligence

  Kate receives instructions from both Claimants and Defendants and is regularly instructed to draft pleadings and advise in a wide range of clinical negligence matters. She takes a meticulous approach to her cases and is adept at dealing with challenging and technical arguments relating to medical causation.

  Kate has particular experience in a broad range of matters including:

  • Delayed diagnosis
  • Surgical negligence
  • Negligent nursing care
  • Development of pressure sores
  • Claims against GPs
  • Lack of informed consent
  • Pharmacological errors

  She also has a busy coronial practice and is happy to provide representation at inquests which may subsequently lead to civil proceedings.

  Kate entirely recognises the need for sensitive client care and strives to approach her caseload in a client focussed and empathetic manner. Kate is particularly skilled in dealing with vulnerable clients and/or their litigation friend and approaches sensitive issues with kindness and compassion.

  She can be relied upon to give clear, straightforward and tactful advice.

  Examples of work include:

  • advice on quantum in a claim concerning negligent nursing care leading to the client, who was elderly and living with dementia, falling whilst an inpatient and suffering a subdural haematoma, leading to a loss of cognition and an ultimate inability to live independently, giving rise to a substantial claim for care;
  • advice and representation at approval hearing in a claim relating to inaccurate dispensing of epilepsy medication by a pharmacist, causing the client, a protected party, to suffer up to 30 grand mal seizures per day until the dispensing error was rectified;
  • advice and representation at approval hearing in a pressure sores case involving a child who developed a serious pressure sore on the back of his head whilst in a coma and was left with a large bald patch as a result;
  • advice and drafting defence for a care home in respect of a failure by district nurses to notice and appropriately treat pressure sores;
  • advice and representation on behalf of a GP in a case involving failure to diagnose a heart condition which ultimately led to the death of the patient.

About

• Memberships

  • Personal Injuries Bar Association

• Qualifications

  • LLB, Bangor University