Caroline Harrison KC
UK Bar Guide 2025
Band 1 : Clinical Negligence
Email address
[email protected]Contact number
+44 (0)20 7822 1200Share profile
Band 1
About
Provided by Caroline Harrison KC
Practice Areas
Clinical & lawyer’s negligence. Catastrophic injury. Inquests. Medical Research & Product Liability. Insurance. Specialist in complex clinical & legal issues.
Career
Clinical negligence: Williams (Privy Council. Causation. Whether Bailey applies to indivisible and divisible injury. Whether need to prove doubling of risk if causation factors are sequential); Maytum (Causation. Obverse of Gregg v Scott. Delayed diagnosis breast cancer. 10-year survival always above 50%. Recurrence of metastatic disease. Poor prognosis); Thomas (Locked-in syndrome); Bint (Delayed diagnosis of anti-phospholipid antibody syndrome. Stroke in young man. Later leg amputation. Effect of under-anticoagulation c.f. atherosclerosis); Smith (Wrongful birth. Disabled child. Whether damages payable post-18 years). Lawyers negligence: Carter (Under-settlement of EL claim. Minor injury ultimately causing leg amputation. Failure investigate medical causation); Whitehead (Underlying wrongful birth claim. Novel issues: duty of care to father; when events after notional trial can be taken into account). Personal Injury: Merrett (Brain damage. £14m claim. Young man with pre-existing tetraplegia. Issues: scope of Sklair ‘injury-on-injury damages’; non-delegable duty; vicarious liability for agency nurses); Scott (Head and leg injury to cyclist. No helmet. Contributory negligence. ‘Bizarre presentation’. Difficult management issues. Psychiatric conversion disorder. £4m). Neve (Motor claim. Brain damage and vulnerable personality. £6m); Lyons (Psychiatric injury. Material contribution causation c.f. Jobling v Associated Diaries. Causation and physical injury where second accident prolonged effects of first). Medical Research and Product liability: PIP breast implants; Trans-vaginal and abdominal mesh claims; Consent in: experimental laser therapy; laparoscopic surgery by inexperienced operator. Member of: Gene Therapy Advisory Committee (to 2009); Human Genetics Commission (to 2012); National Research Ethics Advisory Panel (to 2012). Expert witness to House of Lords Science & Technology Committee (cloning, employment and insurance in genetics). Insurance: Willsher (£2m permanent health insurance claim. Discontinued at trial after cross-examination exposed flaws in diagnosis of intractable depression).
Professional Memberships
PNBA (co-opted member of executive committee)
Publications
Medical Ethics and Genetics, in Powers and Harris, Clinical Negligence (2008).
Chambers Review
UK Bar
Caroline Harrison KC is a high-ranking silk specialising in clinical negligence, with a particular focus on cases arising from adult brain damage, as well as neonatal and spinal injuries. She is also an expert in niche areas of medical law such as granulomatosis with polyangiitis and microbiological causation in septic arthritis. Her practice also incorporates personal injury and health and safety cases.
Strengths
Provided by Chambers
"Caroline is exceptionally talented, forensically and interpersonally.She is ruthlessly efficient at navigating complex and technically challenging claims."
"Caroline is a delight to work with. She is thorough and identified the key issues when instructed at short notice in a high-value claim."
"Caroline is super experienced and knows her stuff. She is very sensible."
"Caroline is exceptionally talented, forensically and interpersonally.She is ruthlessly efficient at navigating complex and technically challenging claims."
"Caroline is a delight to work with. She is thorough and identified the key issues when instructed at short notice in a high-value claim."
"Caroline is super experienced and knows her stuff. She is very sensible."
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