Darren is an approachable highly experienced civil lawyer with a practical attitude to litigation also hallmarked by close attention to detail. He is a skilled negotiator in settlement meetings and a strong advocate in court. He appears in the County Court, High Court and Court of Appeal.
He has a strong practice in the fields of personal injury and Coroners’ Inquests. He has also over many years undertaken clinical negligence work, as well as civil cases on behalf of the police.
Of the non-police work roughly 75% is for Defendants and 25% for Claimants. Darren has particular expertise in advising and appearing for major UK insurance companies, local authorities and corporate clients in employers’ and public liability litigation involving liability and/or quantum disputes concerning all manner of personal injuries or death. This covers the full range of accidents at work, occupiers’ liability cases, highways claims, motor accident claims (including fraud), industrial disease actions (mostly for work-related upper limb disorders or noise-induced hearing loss), holiday sickness claims; etc.
The full spectrum of advisory drafting and advocacy is offered, the last a complete service from procedural/interlocutory hearings (e.g. cost and case management hearings, applications to strike out, public interest immunity applications, preliminary hearings on limitation and other issues) to joint settlement meetings and mediations to trial.
In general no case is too big or too small. Although most of Darren’s work has been in the multi-track he also appears regularly in fast track cases. He has several times appeared (without a leader) in high value cases up to c.£3.5m, most such concluding via joint settlement meetings or mediation: but the majority of his work concerns claims worth under £150,000, with many worth less than £50,000.
His other more occasional fields of practice have included accountants’ and other (non-clinical) professional negligence cases, and some data protection work.
CFA claims are undertaken in appropriate cases after preliminary consideration of the Instructions.
M.A. (Oxon)
PNBA; PIBA
Darren Undertakes personal injury and clinical negligence instructions mostly concerning accidents at work or occupiers/public liability, or road traffic accidents. Liability and/or quantum disputes.
Exmples of such are:
• fall from a height at work causing broken back: settlement at £825,000.
• traumatic amputation of fingers in machinery, with psychiatric sequelae: settlement at £400,000.
• perinatal delayed treatment causing brain damage: settlement at £3.3m (acted for Claimant).
• misdiagnosis of lower limb disease leading to amputation and additional complications: settlement at £1.2m.
However most claims are worth under £150,000, with many worth less than £50,000.
Darren accepts all types but mostly under Article 2, including deaths in custody/in medical care etc. Examples being:
• Europe’s largest cycling disaster, with multiple casualties: represented the police in a 4 week hearing;
• deaths in police custody: represented the police in hearings lasting up to 3 weeks;
• death in prison: presented the deceased’s family in a 3-week hearing;
• numerous cases of deaths in the workplace (frequently after falls from a height): represented employers/their insurers in c.90% of these, and the deceased’s family in c.10%.
Mostly clinical negligence. Some solicitors/surveyors/architect’s negligence.
Darren undertakes instructions on behalf of the police which include:
• Defence of civil claims: particularly interlocutory hearings in wrongful arrest/false imprisonment and/or assault cases, including public interest immunity applications, applications to strike-out, costs issues etc. Recently, a slightly novel assessment of damages by the Administrative Court arising out of a Judicial Review.
• Disciplinary work: advocate and legal advisor to police disciplinary panels on various occasions, including as legal advisor at a hearing which made national news when an Assistant Chief Constable was summarily dismissed.