Personal Injury
Chris has 15 years of experience in serious and catastrophic injury litigation. He now works exclusively for claimants who have sustained life changing injuries.
Chris has a wealth of experience as a trial advocate in the High Court and County Courts. He has represented claimants at trials of liability as a preliminary issue and on the assessment of damages, including cross-examination of medical experts, non-medical experts and collision reconstruction experts.
Chris has a particular interest in accident reconstruction evidence and is an assistant editor of the Royal Society judicial primer on Forensic Collision Investigation (soon to be published jointly by the Royal Society and the Royal Society of Edinburgh’s “Science and the Law” programme).
Chris is recognised as an expert in drafting multi-million pound schedules of loss in the most complex cases of brain injury, spinal cord injury, amputation and fatal accidents.
Chris negotiates settlements on behalf of claimants worth millions of pounds each year, including at joint settlement meetings and mediations.
Personal Injury Cases
A (2020)
The claimant suffered a catastrophic brain injury and other serious physical injuries as a result of a road traffic accident when she was 52 years old. She was left with a significant cognitive impediment and neuropsychiatric symptoms (which had seen her detained under the Mental Health Act in recent years). Her claim settled at a JSM for a lump sum of £1.3m and annual payments of £155,000 (equivalent to £4.3m capitalised). The claim included the cost of specially adapted accommodation, a deputy to manage her affairs and round the clock care for the rest of her life. Led by Bill Braithwaite QC.
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B (2020)
The claimant, a 57 year old motorcyclist, suffered a catastrophic crush injury to his foot in a road traffic accident. He underwent a below-knee amputation. He was unable to return to his work as a consultant draughtsman on-site at nuclear installations around the country. He required specially adapted, single storey accommodation and a suite of prosthetic limbs (including a microprocessor controlled ankle). In later life, he would become a part-time wheelchair user and require specialist equipment, including a wheelchair-accessible vehicle. He would require daily nursing care in the last years of his life. His claim settled at JSM for £1.5m. Led by Gerard Martin QC.
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C (2020)
The claimant was a 32 year old motorcyclist involved in a high speed collision with a motorcar. She sustained life changing spinal and orthopaedic injuries. She required multiple surgical interventions and had a spinal cord stimulator implanted for pain relief. She was left with permanent foot-drop and chronic instability in the knee. She walked with a stick and used orthotics. She was unable to return to her work as a pastry chef (in a Michelin star kitchen). She required adaptations to her accommodation and an adapted motorbike to return to motorcycling. Her claim settled for £900,000 (gross of contributory negligence).
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D (2019)
The claimant was a motorcyclist who suffered catastrophic lower limb injuries after a road accident in 2015. He underwent a below-knee amputation on the right and suffered a significant injury to his left ankle. His claim was settled at a JSM for £1.7 million including, amongst other things, the future costs of a powered propulsion prosthetic ankle, future care, a specially adapted bungalow and adapted vehicles. The claimant was able to make a return to motorcycling (on an adapted motorbike) and to his pre-accident pursuit of attending motorcycle rallies and music festivals (in a caravan specially adapted for his needs). Led by Will Waldron QC.
Link to press release: https://www.exchangechambers.co.uk/will-waldron-qc-chris-gutteridge-secure-1-7-m-motorcyclist/
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E (2019)
The claimant was working as a manual labourer when a steel girder weighing 11 tonnes fell and landed on his arms causing catastrophic injuries. He underwent a below elbow amputation on the left and amputation of his fingers and thumb from the right (dominant) hand. The claim settled at JSM for £2.1 million, including the future costs of a sophisticated myoelectric prosthesis and ‘Michelangelo’ hand for the left arm. The settlement also encompassed the cost of specially adapted single storey accommodation and a package of care (which will increase in intensity in later life). Led by David Knifton QC.
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F (2018)
The claimant developed CRPS in his right foot and lower leg after fracturing his ankle when he fell from a lorry in the course of his employment with the defendant. His pain was resistant to medication, therapies and even spinal cord stimulation. Eventually he underwent a trans-femoral amputation, but CRPS affected the residuum of his right leg, making it impossible for him to wear a ‘socket-based’ prosthesis and confining him to a wheelchair. Settled at JSM for £3m, which will be used to fund the claimant’s surgery and provide state-of-the-art prosthetics for the rest of his life. Led by Gerard Martin QC.
Link to press release: https://www.exchangechambers.co.uk/gerard-martin-qc-and-chris-gutteridge-secure-3m-settlement-for-above-knee-amputee/
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G (2018)
The claimant suffered a traumatic brain injury when knocked over whilst crossing a road. He made a good recovery, but was left with lingering cognitive problems and needed daily help from support workers. The defendant admitted liability for the accident but alleged contributory negligence against the claimant. A settlement worth more than £1.4 million (gross of an agreed liability apportionment) was approved. Led by David Knifton QC.
Link to press release: https://www.exchangechambers.co.uk/multi-million-pound-settlements-for-david-knifton-qc-and-chris-gutteridge/
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H (2018)
The claimant suffered an electric shock at work and developed chronic regional pain syndrome (“CRPS”) in her hand and forearm. Her pain was resistant to treatment and eventually she underwent a below-elbow amputation. After a successful trial of a sophisticated prosthetic hand, the claimant’s experts predicted she would come to function very well. The claim was settled for £2.75 million at a successful round-table meeting, including a fund of over £1m to enable the claimant to purchase the best available prosthetics for the rest of her life. Led by David Knifton QC.
Link to press release: https://www.exchangechambers.co.uk/multi-million-pound-settlements-for-david-knifton-qc-and-chris-gutteridge/
