Profile
After gaining an Upper Second Class LL.B. (Hons.) degree in Law, French Law and Language from the University of East Anglia, Norwich and the Université Jean Moulin, Lyon, France, Ben took the Bar Vocational Course at the Inns of Court School of Law, London.
Since joining Chambers in 1999, Ben has steadily specialised in Personal Injury and associated areas of work such as Clinical Negligence, Inquests, Health and Safety Prosecutions and Costs Assessments.
He has a split practice and regularly undertakes Conditional Fee, Trade Union and Legal Expense Claimant work, as well as self-funded and Insurance backed Defendant work.
He accepts instructions at all levels of the Fast Track and Multi Track and undertakes work at all stages of the litigation process from pre-issue advisory work, drafting and applications, through to post-judgement costs assessments and appeals.
Although Ben undertakes all types of Personal Injury work he has particular experience in dealing with Road Traffic Accidents (including Minor Impact/Delta V, Credit Hire, and Motorcycle cases), Highways Tripping claims, Occupiers Liability and Employers Liablility (including both accidents at work and industrial disease).
Ben also has an established Immigration and Asylum practice and has regularly appeared in the IAT.
Fields of Work
Road Traffic
- Representing two claimants in an allegedly staged RTA (on a CFA)
- Conducting a two-day trial in relation to a claimant who sustained a disputed whiplash injury when a lorry clipped her wing mirror
- Obtaining a settlement in excess of £100,000 for a claimant who was thrown from a moving taxi
Highway Tripping Claims
- Representing a claimant who tripped on a defective kerb that the local authority identified but left unrepaired for 6 months
- Arguing that the Highway Authority had wrongly classified a street as a result of its proximity to a local comprehensive school
- Appearing in front of a Circuit Judge on appeal from a DJ in relation to his approach to S.41 HA 1980 and the tests in Mills v Barnsley and James v Preseli
Occupiers' Liability
- Defending a local pub in a claim by a customer who slipped on a spilt drink
- Advising an enderly shopper who was knocked over by a large inflatable advertising display unit that was blown into the air by a strong gust of wind in a supermarket carpark
- Representing a child claimant who cut his leg open on rusty metal when playing football in a park
Employers' Liability
- Obtaining a settlement in excess of £250,000 for a bakery worker whose hand was crushed when using a machine at work
- Arguing limitation in relation to a VWF/HAVS claim
- Appearing in front of a Circuit Judge on appeal from a DJ in relation to a claim concerning manual handling and the suitability of the claimant's work boots
Disease claims
- Asbestosis/mesothelioma
- Deafness
- Vibration White Finger
Costs
- Conducting a detailed assessment on behalf of the paying party in relation to a costs bill that was subsequently assessed at a figure well below the Part 47 offer
- Arguing a claimant's entitlement to costs above fixed RTA costs following a failure to attempt to negotiate prior to issue
- Obtaining relief from sanctions in relation to a claimant's CFA uplift following the Court's failure to serve the N251 Notice of Funding upon the defendant
Inquests and Inquiries
- Representing the family of a deceased coke oven process worker who contracted mesothelioma
- Appearing on behalf of two ambulance drivers who left an elderly patient unattended at the wrong address
- Defending two civilian caving instructors following the death of a new army recruit on a caving expedition
