Archived News

Our first Female Partner!

1 July 2004

We are delighted to announce the admission of Karen McCarthy to the Partnership.

Karen joined the Firm in 1995 after studying at Reading University and The College of Law. She become a key figure in the Clinical Negligence and Personal Injury department, where she increasingly specialised in acting for those who have suffered severe injury, particularly those arising from failures in medical treatment.

Karen has acted successfully in a range of clinical negligence cases arising from GP, Hospital and osteopathic treatment. These include: severe brain damage and death as a result of delayed diagnosis and inappropriate drug prescription ; infertility and other long term disabilities caused by surgical errors; and psychiatric injury following treatment given without full consent.

Karen has been involved in a number of high value and complex claims for birth injury resulting in Cerebral Palsy. She has also been a team member on other high profile cases. These include claims for catastrophic injuries suffered following paediatric cardiac surgery at the Bristol Royal Infirmary (subject of the " Bristol Heart Baby" Inquiry) and the spinal injury case which led to the highest award for personal injury in the Courts of England and Wales, at £9.3 million.

Karen is very active in developing relationships with charitable and other organisations to help to maximise the assistance given to clients and their families.

When asked her thoughts on the success of the department, she responds “Our aim is always to maximise the prospects of success, in terms of establishing both liability for injury and the level of any award of damages. We are therefore open to considering new or novel approaches to any given aspect of a claim. We know that it is only through developing a relationship with our clients that we can really understand their injuries and needs, which in turn enables us to ensure that they are properly compensated. We have seen the practical difference that this approach has made to the outcome of cases that have been referred to us from elsewhere.