Justin has been ranked as a Tier 1 Legal 500 clinical negligence specialist for several years. He acts almost exclusively for claimants in cases of significant value. He specialises in cauda equina syndrome cases and is credited as a contributor to the GIRFT National Suspected Cauda Equina Syndrome Pathway.
Justin has particular interest in obstetrics and gynaecology cases where consent issues are often present. He has extensive experience of a range of clinical negligence cases including sepsis, necrotising fasciitis, delayed diagnosis of cancer and diabetes cases and is instructed by many of the leading firms in clinical negligence.
Areas of expertise:
- Spinal injury (in particular cauda equina syndrome)
- Vascular diabetes claims
- Delayed cancer diagnosis
- Sepsis
- Surgical injuries
- Birth and neo-natal injury
- Allegations of negligent nursing care
- Cosmetic surgical errors
Justin produces regular articles for AvMA’s newsletter. He has also been an integral part of organising our very successful annual clinical negligence conferences.
Recent notable cases include:
- C v Princess Alexandra Hospital NHS Trust (2023). C was a type 2 diabetic. He complained of left foot pain and saw his GP who diagnosed plantar fasciitis. A steroid injection was given which was four times the appropriate maximum dose (and more appropriate for a hip joint). C developed an infection near the injection site. He attended the D hospital on a number of occasions. There was a failure to expedite referrals to the vascular service when seen in A&E and when he was seen by a vascular surgeon, a failure to undertake vascular imaging investigations to determine the adequacy of arterial supply to the foot before it became unsalvageable. In the event, C underwent a below the knee amputation when he was 51. He struggled with his prosthesis and became wheelchair dependent. Following negotiations between the parties the claim settled for £1.3 million. Read case note here.
- X v Secretary of State for Health and Social Care. X sustained serious sciatic nerve injury shortly after her birth in the mid-1960s. She only became aware of the negligence in her 50s. She had lived her life as a disabled woman and required future professional care and adapted accommodation. The case settled subsequent to a JSM for approximately £1.6 million. Read case note here.
- B v Dorset County Hospital NHS Foundation Trust. B suffered a prosthetic joint infection (“PJI”) subsequent to a hemiarthroplasty. The PJI was treated with repeated ineffective irrigation and debridement procedures rather than definitive treatment to remove all infective material. After her eventual referral to the Oxford bone infection unit, the PJI was resolved in one surgery. As a result of the delay in definitive treatment she was unable to undergo a second stage procedure to re-insert a hip prosthesis. She required a professional care package and adapted accommodation. The case settled at JSM for £1.5 million.
- L v Great Western Hospitals. L sought damages for mismanagement of a diabetic ulcer on his foot culminating in a below leg amputation. The case settled at a JSM for £450,000.
- O v Western Sussex Hospitals. O sought damages in relation to the negligent repair of a 3c tear. The case settled at a JSM for £535,000.
- C v County Durham & Darlington NHS Foundation Trust (misdiagnosis/failure to diagnose Crohn’s disease). Read the case note here.
- G v NHS Commissioning Trust (claimant suffered Erb’s palsy at birth). Read the case note here.
- W v Betsi Cadwaldr (failure appropriately to treat rejection episode following corneal transplant).
- S v University Hospital of Morecambe Bay (failure to diagnose and then treat infected abdominal aortic aneurysm which led to claimant’s husband’s death).
- A v Basildon and Thurrock University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (failure to diagnose pyoderma gangrenosum).
