The spotlight might currently be on Baker McKenzie, but alarm bells are ringing all around the city as to who might be next. It’s extremely difficult for someone, usually a woman, to stand up to their abuser and report sexual assault – many are frightened about reprisals but also feel shame at allowing themselves to have become a victim. But post MeToo and Times Up, women are increasingly emboldened to report inappropriate behaviour and more firms will likely find themselves dealing with a serious complaint that could have happened years ago, not least since to ensure a defendant doesn’t benef ..read more

In a trial widely reported in the media as likely to impact the law governing doctor/patient confidentiality, Jonathan Zimmern explains his case representing ABC. ABC's father shot and killed her mother in 2007 and was detained under the Mental Health Act. During 2009, he was diagnosed with Huntingdon's disease (HD), an incurable, hereditary brain disease, and was being treated in a forensic psychiatric unit by clinicians working at three NHS trusts, including St George's. Despite knowing that ABC was pregnant, the various teams of doctors involved in her father's care failed to inform her abo ..read more

Those in the mesothelioma community will be aware that immunotherapy treatment offers hope to some patients in prolonging life expectancy.  Such treatment is not however available on the NHS and only offered privately. The fees are very high – they can average £10,000 every three weeks – and the treatment can potentially continue for years. Availability of such treatment has represented a challenge for lawyers since 2018. Here at Fieldfisher we were always aware that the Courts would rule that Defendants in compensation claims should pay for private treatment if it was offered. Last year, in 2 ..read more

In a horribly tragic irony, a Swedish study on managing healthy pregnancies beyond the usual 40-week term was cancelled after only a quarter of the target number of expectant mothers had been surveyed due to five stillbirths and one early death of the babies of women allowed to continue into the 43rd week of pregnancy.  The study had originally planned to survey the outcomes of 10 000 women whose pregnancy had gone beyond their due dates. Despite the clear ramifications for women, the findings were only published a year after the study was halted. In the UK, the NHS routinely offers induction ..read more

In May 2018, eight-year-old Dev Naran was killed instantly on the M6 motorway near Birmingham after a lorry driver collided with the car driven by Dev's grandfather. At the time, the family's car was stopped on the hard shoulder of the motorway, which had been turned into an active lane by the Highway's Agency earlier in the day. Keith supported Dev's family at the recent inquest into the young boy's death at Birmingham Coroner's Court on October 12th.  After hearing evidence, Emma Brown, the West Midlands area coroner, issued a Section 28 Preventing Future Deaths report – the most serious rul ..read more

A very concerning report published by NHS Resolution this month highlights that the inability of staff to respond to CTG monitoring during a mother's labour is the most common reason behind cases where babies are born brain damaged. The report also identified ongoing failures by hospital trusts to follow statutory duty of candour when dealing with the families of injured babies and to apologise for mistakes. The report follows analysis of the early notification scheme, introduced by NHS Resolution a year ago, aimed at speeding up the time in which families receive an admission of liability whe ..read more

The coroner presiding over the inquest of Professor Bitner-Glindzciz this August heard evidence from witnesses to the accident, from the police and from the taxi driver who fatally injured the mother of two after she fell into his path in September 2018. While delivering a narrative verdict, senior coroner Mary Hassell very specifically included that the van driver who opened his door directly into the Professor was dangerously parked a long way from the kerb. She said he simply did not look before he opened his door, effectively 'side-swiping' her and causing her death. Ms Hassell told Profes ..read more

An important aspect of a negligence claim for many families dealing with the loss of a relative is the hope that highlighting failings will generate change in hospital procedures to prevent others suffering similar tragedy. Which makes it even more painful to read in the press this week details of the inquest into the death of a baby boy at Basildon Hospital last year. Hearing evidence this week, the coroner concluded that serious failings by staff looking after Louise Davies, the baby's mother, contributed to Ennis Pecaku's death at only one-day old.   The coroner heard that Ennis died hours ..read more

Researchers at University College London (UCL) have developed a non-invasive monitoring system, small enough to take into neonatal intensive care units, which shines infrared light into new-born babies' brains to detect possible brain damage within a few hours of birth. The device, known as CYRIL (CYtochrome-c-oxidase Research Instrument and appLication), sends hundreds of wavelengths into brain tissue which feedback detailed information to a digital camera about oxygen and metabolism levels. This information can then be used to identify brain injury severity in babies who may have been depriv ..read more

Like everyone, I'm very distressed to read in the press about the ongoing case of Lucy Letby, the nurse accused of murdering and attempting to murder babies and infants in the neo-natal unit of the Countess of Chester hospital between 2015 and 2016. My colleague Jenny Urwin and I are both currently running birth injury cases following negligence in the care of mothers and babies at the Countess of Chester hospital. Although neither is connected to Letby, we cannot help but be concerned that fundamental failings in hospital procedures to keep babies safe at the hospital have been ongoing for ye ..read more