Personal injury
Specialist expertise
Our personal injury practice has a depth and breadth of experience that ensures an understanding of your requirements. Our client base comprises major UK and global insurance companies, Lloyd's of London syndicates and large UK and international businesses.
The team
Members of the team are accredited by the Solicitors' Regulation Authority as personal injury specialists, and several are members of FOIL (the Forum of Insurance Lawyers). The team is highly ranked by both the Chambers and Legal 500 directories. Mary Duncan is recommended as a leading individual by the Legal Experts and Chambers directories - Chambers describes her as 'absolutely outstanding'. In addition, Mary Duncan and Penny Heighway are co-authors of Health & Safety at Work Essentials, and Mary Duncan is co-author of Fatal Accident Claims.
Claims philosophy
Our principal aim is to understand your objectives in respect of a particular claim so that we can recommend innovative, cost effective strategies to meet your needs.
Location and pricing
Being based in Oxford, we are ideally positioned to cover a large geographical area. We are within easy reach of London, so we are a more cost-effective solution for those who would otherwise use London firms. We are pre-eminent in the Thames Valley, and compete successfully with City and national practices.
Online case access
Our bespoke case management system ensures efficient use of your time and ours by allowing you direct access over the internet to information about the progress of your cases. You can also set up new cases using the system. This helps to guarantee an extremely cost effective service.
Specialist expertise
We have substantial experience in dealing with the whole range of claims, from large 'disaster' cases, and serious injuries to the smallest 'damage only' road traffic accident. We have particular expertise in:
- Fatal/catastrophic injuries, including accidents abroad and the attendant jurisdictional issues
- Sports and leisure injuries, ranging from accidents on fairground attractions, go-karts, and ice-rinks, to injuries sustained in sports matches
- Professional indemnity. A specialist team, acting for most of the major insurers in this field, deals with the defence of professional negligence claims against solicitors arising out of their conduct of personal injury claims
- Employer’s and product liability
- Medical malpractice, defending claims arising from cosmetic surgery and other non-NHS disciplines
- Care home, nursing agency and foster care agency claims.
- Motor claims, including fraud and criminal prosecutions
- Dispute resolution, particularly mediation
- Health and safety - representing insurers, companies and individuals under investigation or facing prosecution by the HSE or other regulatory authorities
- Travel and leisure claims
- Industrial and occupational disease including mesothelioma and asbestosis claims
- Deafness claims. A specialist unit deals with industrial deafness claim. The unit specialises in running large schemes to administer multiple claims, resulting in considerable savings to insurers.
Client support
Our relationships with clients are a key factor in our continuing growth and success. We offer various services over and above simply handling matters for our clients to enable better understanding and increased efficiency on all sides. These include legal surgeries, 'pick our brain' schemes, internet access to your cases via our online case management system, workshops, regular newsletters and legal updates. We actively encourage our clients to call to ask for our views on an informal basis to act as a sounding board or to provide a second opinion when required.
For further information, please contact Mary Duncan, head of department.
"an excellent firm that completes its work competently and comprehensively."
Chambers 2007
"This confident firm certainly knows what it's about"
Chambers 2006
"We don't have to stamp our feet to get noticed," said opponent solicitors impressed by the proactive approach of this team.
Chambers 2005
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