Personal Injury
Louis is ranked as a Leading Silk by Chambers and Partners and The Legal 500 in this field. He has vast experience of both advising and acting in very high value personal injury claims across the entire spectrum of work in this field. Before his appointment to Silk in 2017 he was Treasury Counsel. He remains on the Government’s Silk panel.
In 2022 – 23 alone he advised/appeared in over 25 claims each with a value in excess of £1m. The value of some of these claims exceeded £25m.
Many of Louis’ cases concern catastrophic injury claims involving brain damage, spinal injury and PTSD. He has particular recent experience of pain syndrome and related claims.
He has a track record of success for those clients he represents.
Louis acts for both claimants and defendants.
His recent claimant practice has included advising the family of a man with catastrophic brain damage in a claim valued in excess of £10m.
His defence clients include the Government (the Ministry of Defence and the Ministry of Justice), other public and local authorities, hospitals and insurers.
He has an excellent relationship with many major insurers.
He has a reputation for being accessible, easy to work with and for giving clear and straightforward advice.
Cases
Recent significant and/or reported cases include the following:
Acting for CICA in a case concerning whether outliving an estimated life expectation amounts to a change in medical condition.
Acting for a Hospital Trust in a case concerning the quantum of a wrongful birth claim. This involved twins born with CP who had twin to twin transfusion syndrome in the womb. This claim was valued in excess of £25m.
Acting for a claimant who suffered an above the knee amputation following an accident at work. The claim will be valued in excess of £3.5m. Liability is disputed between various defendants.
Acting for a defendant in a case in which the young claimant appeared, judged by indicative markers post accident, to have sustained a very serious brain injury. He was of low academic ability pre-accident. Despite the apparent severity of the brain injury, his level of independent functioning appears better than contended for, based on hospital discharge notes.
KK/LL v Lancashire County Council
Acting for the local authority in a sexual abuse claim for two young claimants. Damages are claimed in sums totalling over £18m. Causation and quantum were in dispute.
A v CICA
Acting for CICA in a claim for compensation of £9m brought by the victim of sexual abuse.
Louis has considerable experience of representing and advising local authorities and public bodies in claim for damages brought by victims of sexual abuse.
James Cobby v. MoD
Acting for the MoD in a claim for damages brought by a catastrophically injured young Royal Marine. He requires 24 hour care. The claim was advanced well in excess of £15m.
Hall v. Green
The Claimant claimed very substantial damages arising out of a road traffic accident. Acting for the Defendant in a hard fought case on causation and quantum where issues of credibility arise. The claimant was found to be fundamentally dishonest following a 9 day trial.
J v. Welsh Ambulance Services NHS Trust
A claim brought by a paramedic against his employer alleging that he was negligently exposed to psychological trauma witnessing a patient self-harm. The claim was deniedby the defendant and for whom I acted. It was discontinued.
Nathan Jones v MoD
Represented the MoD on a claim advanced at very high value following a near miss on board a military plane. The Claimant, a serving pilot in the RAF, contends he sustained very serious spinal injuries which could result in medical discharge.
Terry Connolly v MoD
Acting for the MoD against a serving soldier who claimed to have sustained serious injury when the piston on a warrior tank trapped his left calf. The Claimant’s pre-existing trauma caused him to develop peroneal nerve lesion which became problematic when undertaking exercise, therefore not caused by the index incident.
Goman and Harding v Secretary of State for Justice Stockport Metropolitan Borough Council
Instructed on behalf of the Secretary of State for Justice where issues concerning the duty of care owed by SSJ to the partner of a violent man supervised by the Probation Service on Licence were raised. SSJ were successful on all aspects.
Rai v. MoD (2016) – High Court.
Represented the MoD at the preliminary trial of the issue of whether the MoD could rely on the defence of acte iure imperii where a soldier had suffered a brain injury on a horse riding exercise in Canada. The claim also raised issues as the law applicable to the tort claim.
Gartej v. JSD Haulage [2016] EWCA Civ 551
Represented the Defendant in the Court of Appeal on an appeal concerning the quantum of damages for past/future loss of earning capacity and mitigation of loss.
JR v. Secretary of State for Justice (2016)
Represented the Secretary of State in successfully arguing that he owed no duty of care at law to the former partner of a convicted murderer on life licence who had assaulted her.
Ifede v. MoD [2015] EWHC 3835 (QB)
Successfully represented the MoD on the trial of the preliminary issue of limitation.
Birch v. MoD (2015)
Following the trial of breach of duty in the High Court and on appeal to the Court of Appeal ([2013] EWCA Civ 876), settling this high value claim at JSM.
Billett v. MoD [2015] EWCA Civ 773
Successfully representing MoD on its appeal to the Court of Appeal. This was the first case of its kind to reach an appellate court dealing with the application of the Reduction Factors in the Ogden Tables to a disabled person.
Cunningham v. Sainsburys [2015] EWHC 1382 (QB)
Successfully represented the defendant at the trial of the issues of causation/quantum in a complex regional pain syndrome claim.
