Clinical Negligence, Personal and Head Injury

Richard Barcan

Contact Richard on rab@barcanwoodward.co.uk or telephone him on 0117 925 8080.

Richard is one of the founding partners of the firm and the senior partner. A Law graduate from Liverpool University, his work covers all aspects of clinical negligence and personal injury. He has dealt with cases both large and small from brain damage claims, including cerebral palsy to nursing care cases. He recently played a central coordinating role in the Thompstone Group Appeals, important test litigation which went to the House of Lords, making ground breaking law. This case established that damages for an injured person’s future care needs would be properly inflation proof in the future.  

Richard  has also dealt with a large number of claims arising from accidents where someone has been fatally injured. His current workload is about 90% clinical negligence and 10% serious personal injury claims. Richard is a very keen cyclist and has a particular interest in cycling accident claims.

He has been regarded as a “Leader in his field” by the entirely independent “Chambers Guide to the Legal Profession” for many years. For example, the 2006 entry in the Guide read: “Everyone has nothing but praise for Richard Barcan. Many agree that he is largely to thank for the firm‘s high standard of service and commitment to the sector".  The current entry says that Richard “is widely credited as a “safe pair of hands” by clients; other interviewees termed him “an extremely nice, modest guy who has a formidable reputation.”  He is also recommended by the Legal 500. Richard is a panel solicitor for Action Against Medical Accidents (AvMA), a national charity dedicated to the interests of those injured by medical mishaps, and is a member of the Solicitors Regulation Authority’s  Personal Injury Accreditation Scheme. He is a Senior Litigator of the College of Personal Injury Law and a member of Bristol Law Society‘s Civil Courts Committee.

Richard has contributed to medico-legal journals and lectured to lawyers and doctors. He has wide contacts in the medical world and is an active member of AvMA South West Lawyers Support Group.

Richard lives in Bristol with his wife and numerous bikes. In various combinations they have traveled the world together.

Marina Van Vessem

Contact Marina on mvv@barcanwoodward.co.uk or telephone her on 0117 925 8080.

Marina joined the firm in 1994, and has been a partner since 1999, heading the Personal Injury team at Barcan Woodward. She specialises in personal injury and clinical negligence work, with a caseload balanced across the two fields, focusing on cases involving catastrophic injury.

Marina has an acknowledged expertise in claims arising from brain and complex back and neck injuries, including whiplash-type injuries and spinal cord damage. In addition, she regularly takes over cases from other firms of solicitors to bring them to a swift conclusion and to ensure that clients receive the amount of compensation to which they are entitled.

Marina is a Litigator of the College of Personal Injury Law and a member of the Solicitors Regulatory Authority Personal Injury Accreditation Scheme. She is also a member of Headway – the brain injury association Personal Injury Solicitors List and is named in the Spinal Injuries Association solicitor’s directory.

The international legal directory Legal 500 notes that "Partner Marina van Vessem is … a calm and ‘totally professional‘ choice for complex personal injury claims". 

Richard Harries

Contact Rich on reh@barcanwoodward.co.uk or telephone him on 0117 925 8080.

Richard is a Partner specialising in Claimant clinical negligence litigation and has experience of a wide range of medical negligence claims including complex birth injury, spinal injury and claims involving fatalities. 

His recent experience includes successful claims brought on behalf of patients treated negligently by GPs, A&E Departments and Surgeons.  He has developed a special interest in cases involving delayed diagnosis and treatment of cancer and lymphoedema.

Richard is a law graduate from the University College of Wales, Aberystwyth.  He joined Barcan Woodward’s Personal and Medical Injuries Team in 2003 and heads the Clinical Negligence Department. He is a member of the Law Society’s Clinical Negligence Accreditation Scheme and has Senior Litigator Accreditation from the Association of Personal Injury Lawyers.

Richard is also a member of the BW Trekkers, Barcan Woodward’s team of walkers participating in the Oxfam Trail Trekker Challenge in June 2011.  To follow the teams progress or make a donation please visit their dedicated fund raising page.

Myfanwy Buckeridge

Contact Myfanwy on emb@barcanwoodward.co.uk or telephone her on 0117 925 8080.

Following graduating in Psychology from Sheffield University Myfanwy subsequently converted to law and completed her professional examinations in Newcastle upon Tyne before returning home to the South West.

Myfanwy joined the firm in 2004 having worked exclusively for Claimants in personal injury claims since 1990. She has broad experience of all types of personal injury claims ranging from road traffic accidents to heavy industry employment related claims.  She now specialises in serious injury claims: head injury, spinal injury and fatal accidents as well as claims arising from asbestos-related disease.  She has a particular interest in Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.  She frequently takes over cases from other firms of solicitors requiring swift assessment, investigation and conclusion of cases often with tight deadlines.

Myfanwy has conducted personal injury seminars with membership organisations and lectured to doctors.  She is a Litigator of the Association of Personal Injury Lawyers and is also a member of the Solicitors Regulation Authority Personal Injury Accreditation Scheme.

Amie Prowle

Contact Amie on alp@barcanwoodward.co.uk or telephone her on 0117 925 8080.

Amie studied Law and German at University in Leicester and was lucky enough to spend the 3rd year of her degree living and studying law in Mainz, Germany. She is a confident German speaker and has an interest in other languages.

She trained to be a solicitor in London in a firm which specialised in personal injury claims and upon qualification chose to return to her home town of Bristol.

Amie joined Barcan Woodward in March 2004 immediately after qualifying as a solicitor. 

She specialises in personal injury and acts for clients making claims for compensation following accidents at work, road traffic accidents, cycling accidents and tripping/slipping accidents among others. She is also developing an interest in claims for compensation for injuries sustained whilst in hospitals which are not strictly clinical negligence claims.

Amie is accredited as a Litigator with the Association of Personal Injury Lawyers.

Claire Levene

Contact Claire on cll@barcanwoodward.co.uk or telephone her on 0117 925 8080.

Claire Levene is an Assistant Solicitor in the Personal and Medical Injuries Team.  She has worked in the clinical negligence field since 2005.

Claire undertakes a wide range of clinical negligence work and her current caseload includes orthopaedic, surgical and brain injury cases, amongst others.  Claire also undertakes Inquest work and has a special interest in human rights in the context of medicine and medical law. 

Claire has recent experience of successfully concluding cases which have involved negligently performed abdominal surgery, A&E negligence and both lower and upper limb orthopaedic surgery. 

Claire originally studied music in Bath, graduating in 1998 with a BA Honours.  She later studied law at the University of Westminster taking the common professional examinations in law and was awarded a Graduate Diploma in Law with commendation.  Following this, Claire went on to study Legal Practice at BBP Law School in Holborn and was awarded a Post Graduate Diploma in Legal Practice with distinction.

Katherine Moyse

Contact Katherine by email on kem@barcanwoodward.co.uk or telephone her on 0117 925 8080.

Katherine qualified as a solicitor in September 2010 and works within the busy Clinical Negligence team at Barcan Woodward managing a variety of different claims.

Katherine obtained an LLB Law with Legal Studies in Europe at the University of Reading which included a year at Uppsala University in Sweden studying various aspect of European Law.   After completing her degree she obtained her LPC at the University of the West of England in Bristol.

Since joining the firm in July 2007 she has worked in a number of different departments, initially as a paralegal and then for the past two years during her training.

Professionally, Katherine has a keen interest in issues around access to medical treatment including cases where allocation of NHS resources is an issue and the ethical issues around withholding and providing treatment for patients.

Outside of work Katherine is a keen cook who has recently started growing her own vegetables.  She also relaxes playing netball with some of her Barcan colleagues in a local league.

Fiona Dabell

Contact Fiona by email on ffd@barcanwoodward.co.uk or telephone her on 0117 925 8080.

As a paralegal within the Clinical Negligence Team at Barcan Woodward Fiona is the first point of contact for all clinical negligence enquiries received by the firm.

Fiona studied law with the Open University and obtained her LLB in 2003.  She is also a qualified nurse (RGN) with specialist training in Oncology from the Royal Marsden Hospital and experience in Medicine, Cardiac Care, Surgery and Gynaecology.

She joined the firm in May 2008 having previously worked as a module author and course tutor on Salford University’s Masters degree in Health Care Law.

Fiona is interested in all aspects of health law but in particular medical negligence and medical ethics.  Outside work Fiona enjoys running, reading, gardening and spending time with friends and family.

Katie Donne

Contact Katie by email on ked@barcanwoodward.co.uk or telephone her on 0117 925 8080.

Katie studied law at the University of Plymouth and the Bristol Institute of Legal Practice.  She initially joined Barcan Woodward as a Paralegal before becoming a Trainee Solicitor with the firm.  She qualified in 2007 and has gained a unique insight into medical negligence litigation having spent 2 years working for a Defendant firm. 

Since 2009 Katie has worked exclusively for Claimants in clinical negligence matters and is dedicated to providing the high level of personal service offered by the Personal and Medical Injuries Team at Barcan Woodward.

Katie is also a member of the BW Trekkers, Barcan Woodward’s team of walkers participating in the Oxfam Trail Trekker Challenge in June 2011.  To follow the teams progress or make a donation please visit their dedicated fund raising page.

 

Adrian Stone

Contact Adrian by email on ajs@barcanwoodward.co.uk or telephone him on 0117 925 8080.

Adrian, a personal injury law specialist, joined the firm in February 2011 as a Senior Solicitor within the Personal & Medical Injuries Team.  His main role at the firm will be to support department head Maria Van Vessem in managing the larger Personal Injury Cases.  He will also be working on Medical Negligence cases to extend his experience further in this area.

After qualifying as a solicitor in 1986, Adrian specialised in Personal Injury work and has moved here after running a Personal Injury Department in two Bristol firms. As an APIL Litigator his caseload was used towards the firms’ Headway Panel membership.

Adrian is a specialist in valuing brain injuries and dealing with fatal and other large value claims.

Outside of the office Adrian is keen on mountain biking and hiking off the beaten track.  He also enjoys music and can be found relaxing at various gigs and festivals across the country.

Sarah White

Contact Sarah by email on scw@barcanwoodward.co.uk or telephone her on 0117 925 8080.

Sarah joined the Personal & Medical Injuries team at the firm as an assistant solicitor in April 2011 and has experience of dealing with a range of clinical negligence claims including those involving cerebral palsy, the delay in the diagnosis of cancer and negligent nursing treatment.

She completed her training with Withy King in Bath and qualified as a solicitor with them in October 2007.  She has recently returned to her home city of Bristol after spending a few years working within the Clinical Negligence department at Henmans LLP in Oxford.

Sarah is the Secretary of the Oxford Medico Legal Society and a member of APIL and the Bristol Law Society.  Outside of work she enjoys spending time with her friends and family and looking after her cats as well as going to the theatre and gym.

Lyndsay White  

Lyndsay joined the firm as a solicitor in the Clinical Negligence Team in July 2011.  She has experience in both complex Personal Injury and Clinical Negligence Claims. Her role in the firm is very much focused on assisting victims of Clinical Negligence.

Lyndsay qualified as a solicitor in November 2007 and before joining Barcan Woodward  worked within the Personal Injury and Clinical Negligence Department of another Chambers and Partners recognised firm dealing with  complex medical negligence litigation  including birth injury, spinal injury and brain injury claims.

Outside of work Lyndsay can be found on the dance floor as she is a keen Ballroom and Latin dancer.  She also enjoys walking and good food. 

Contact Lyndsay by email on ljw@barcanwoodward.co.uk

Or telephone her on 0117 925 8080