Expertise

Alison has almost exclusively specialised in running brain and spinal cord injury claims since qualifying in 2007. She has particular experience in claims arising from the delayed diagnosis of spinal abscesses, injuries resulting from mismanagement of spinal injury, cauda equina and spinal surgery claims.

Alison is committed to securing excellent results for her clients and recognises the importance of early access to rehabilitation following a life changing injury. This has led Alison to pioneer access for clients to support networks from the outset of the case. Alison knows the importance of getting to know the individual client and their families during the lifetime of a case and focuses on a collaborative approach to ensure that compensation is tailored, as far as possible, to enable clients to fulfil their future goals and aspirations.

Experience

• Inquest conclusion: Adequate mental health monitoring would possibly have made a difference to the outcome
• Alison has recovered over £7.3 million in capitalised damages for a 39 year old who suffered a severe brain injury following the negligent insertion of a shunt. The client was left with significant cognitive, behavioural and emotional impairment. A six figure interim payment was obtained which enabled the client to move from an assisted living facility into his own property with the assistance of support workers and a team of therapists.  The claim settled on the basis of annual payments for care and remainder by way of a lump sum. The client’s family hope that the compensation will enable him to lead as fulfilling and independent a life as possible.
• Recovered damages with a capitalised value of over £7 million in relation to a catastrophic brain injury case relating to the mismanagement of anti-platelet medication leading to the claimant having a stroke.
• Recovered damages for a 74 year old claimant who was rendered tetraplegic following negligent spinal surgery. The damages were awarded by way of annualised payments for care for the rest of his life and a lump sum for the remainder of the damages, with a total capitalised value of £3 million.
• Acted for a horse enthusiast rendered an incomplete paraplegic following the delayed diagnosis of a spinal abscess. Damages of £3 million were recovered which assisted the claimant to return to her passion for riding.
• Secured a seven figure settlement for a brain injured client in relation to the delayed diagnosis in A&E of a subdural haematoma following an assault.
• Recovered damages of £2.6 million for a 56-year-old claimant with cauda equina syndrome
• Recovered damages of £1.49 million for a 39-year-old claimant with cauda equina syndrome. The settlement reflected significant litigation risks as liability remained in dispute.
• Recovered damages of £1.2 million  for 83-year-old tetraplegic with four year life expectancy.

Alison has acted in a number of notable medical negligence cases that have been widely reported within the profession, including Read v Dorset County Hospital NHS Foundation Trust & Anor, in which the court refused the defendants’ application for additional time to serve their defence pending an early medical examination of the claimant. The judgment is of particular significance to claimant practitioners facing requests for early examinations. She also acted in Dee, securing a successful interim payment despite causation remaining in dispute.

Career

Starting her career at Stewarts as a paralegal, Alison trained in the Personal Injury department before taking an assistant solicitor role at Irwin Mitchell. Following time at Brethertons, she returned to Stewarts as a Senior Associate in the Clinical Negligence department and became a partner in 2021.

Publications and media

Alison regularly writes articles for the Stewarts website and has also published her career story.

An article about one of her cases titled ‘Staff shortage left my sister abandoned in Barnet Hospital A&E’ was published by the BBC.