University of Central Lancashire – Law, LLB (Hons) – 2:1
College of Law (Chester) – Legal Practice Course
Called to the Bar (Middle Temple) in 2016
Personal Injury Bar Association
Sports Resolutions (UK) Pro Bono Panel
PNBA Professional Negligence Bar Association
APIL
Nick conducts a mixed practice of Civil and Chancery law with particular focus on Personal Injury litigation.
Experience in personal injury litigation
Prior to transferring to the Bar in 2016, Nick was a solicitor. He trained at Pannone & Partners in Manchester under Deirdre Healy and Carol Brooks-Johnson from 2002 and 2004, assisting in brain injury and fatal accident claims valued at in excess of £1m.
He worked at Aequitas Legal in Manchester between 2011 and 2015 before leaving to set up an advocacy-focused Bar Standards Board entity with a leading personal injury Silk.
During his years practising as a Solicitor, Nick conducted a mixed caseload of fast-track and multi-track cases including claims involving amputation, serious complex fracture and other serious injuries. He has also conducted fatal accident claims up to pleaded value of £2.5m.
In the year prior to transferring to the Bar, Nick handled a caseload of complex and high-value stress at work claims, including drafting pleadings and high-value schedules of loss.
Instructions
Nick has significant trial experience in road traffic accident and credit hire claims (to multi-track value); personal injury fraud; occupiers’ liability and public liability claims.
Nick has also had success in applications arising from interpretation and application of MOJ portal/protocol rules including successful applications for exceptional costs.
Nick is happy to receive instructions from both Claimants and Defendants.
Nick is particularly experienced in dealing with costs budgets and will happily accept instructions for CCMCs and other case management hearings.
Cycling injury claims
Nick is a keen road cyclist and has raced at local road race level. He has significant experience in handling cycle injury claims. He has a deep knowledge of the culture of cycling.
Inquests
Nick is happy to take instructions to attend inquests.
Nick has a developing interest in Sports Law. In 2017, he was appointed by a selection panel to the Sports Resolutions UK Pro Bono Panel to assist athletes in: Anti-doping; Sports Discipline; Athlete Selection; and Player Contracts. Nick is also a member of the Centre for Sports Law Research (Edge Hill University).
Nick’s Chancery and Commercial practice focuses on: Debt matters; insolvency and bankruptcy; and general contractual disputes.
As Nick practised as a Solicitor for 12 years across all levels of personal injury work, he has extensive knowledge of costs and litigation funding, including the many changes and challenges brought about by LASPO and the development of the Civil Procedure Rules.
His experience as a Solicitor means that he has a deep working-knowledge of the time and effort that has to be put into a case. He also has vast experience in using case management systems.
Nick is regularly instructed to attend CCMCs in the County Court, High Court (including the Circuit Commercial Courts). He is adept at dealing with high-level budgeting.
Nick also has experience in costs assessments and costs drafting.
Recent cases of interest include third party costs applications on behalf of insurers and credit hire organisations.
Clinical negligence – attended a CCMC for the Claimant who had a lower leg amputation arising from negligent post-surgical care.
Stress at Work – Acted for a former nurse who alleges she suffered psychiatric illness as a result of unfounded investigations into failures in medication administration. Ongoing.
Represented a cyclist who suffered a head injury as a result of falling from his bike on a shallow-angled tramline. The Claimant alleges numerous failings in road design and warning signage. Ongoing
Represented the Care Quality Commission at an Inquest.
Represented a family at an Inquest touching on a death following heart surgery.
Succeeded at Appeal on a credit hire claim for a Claimant taxi-driver. The appeal arose from a stage 3 assessment of damages at which the DDJ proceeded to assess the basic hire rate despite the Defendant producing no rates evidence. The Appeal court held that to be beyond the discretion of the Judge. Further, the Appeal court dismissed the Defendant’s contention that a taxi driver should only have the lower of his loss of profit or the credit hire rate.
Published in the Winter edition of the Student Law Review (Routledge) – ‘SARAH – does sport need her? Is the Social Action, Responsibility and Heroism Bill a waste of Parliamentary time?’
Co-authored an article on the Coventry v Lawrence decision of the Supreme Court 2015 with Joe Tomlinson of Manchester University (published by Litigation Funding magazine)
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