Caroline Harrison KC

Ranked in 1 Practice Areas

Band 1

Clinical Negligence

London (Bar)

16 Years Ranked

About

Provided by Caroline Harrison KC

UK Bar

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

Provided by Chambers

UK-Bar

Clinical Negligence - London (Bar)

Band 1

Individual Editorial

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.

Learn more about this team❖View ranking table