Two pupils take tenancy at 9 Gough Square. Two of Chambers’ pupils, Catherine Atkinson and Ben Rodgers, became tenants on 1st October 2008 following their successful pupillage.

Gough Square’s ranking in Legal 500’s Client Guide to the legal profession has increased to 20 barrister listings in Personal Injury, Crime: Fraud, Clinical Negligence and Healthcare, Professional Discipline and Regulatory Law (incorporating Police Law) and Health and Safety with in a new ranking for its Crime practice.
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Work Accidents at Sea Conference: 19th November 2008 - Six 9 Gough Square barristers are contributing to this CLT conference providing guidance on the law, procedure and practicalities of claims arising from work accidents on ships and offshore installations. 9 Gough Square's new publication on Work Accidents at Sea. More...

New Books from 9 Gough Square
Work Accidents at Sea: Guide to the nautical world’s language, law, procedure, practicalities of claims and the Admiralty Court.
Manual Handling Claims: Comprehensive analysis and overview of manual handling injuries with the application of common law and statute. More...
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9 Gough Square is seeking a third six pupil to start in October 2008 as part of its strategy of attracting highly able and committed individuals. More details.

To support our increased business development activity, 9 Gough Square has created a new Marketing Executive position.

News at 9 published in May 2008 covers 2 recent costs cases, Corr v IBC, complaints under the CJA 2003, liability of local authories for failure to protect, clinical negligence and the Human Rights Act and a range of other news items. Subscribe here.

9 Gough Square's full day 8th Annual Personal Injury Seminar & Legal Update is at the 5* Swissôtel The Howard, London and provides 6 hours CPD with specialist speakers on ergonomics, pain issues and the effective presentation of cases. Click for a brochure.

Grahame Aldous QC took silk on 28th March 2008. The Ministry of Justice's announcement of the new Queen's Counsel list was made on 22nd January 2008.

John Foy QC has achieved success in two recent costs cases. They concern the recovery of a success fee in respect of work done on their behalf by costs consultants in costs only proceedings and also whether the 2000 Regulations had been complied with.

Simon Carr was interviewed on the Armed Forces Compensation Scheme on BBC Radio 4's File on Four programme, broadcast on Tuesday 11th March and repeated the following Sunday. 

Christmas and New Year Opening: Our clerks room will be open over the Christmas and New Year period as follows:
* Christmas Eve: 9 - 2pm;
* 27th/28th December 10 – 3pm;
* News Year’s Eve: 10 – 3pm.
We wish our clients a Happy Christmas and a prosperous New Year.

Former directors of Independent Insurance Group PLC convicted by a jury of offences of conspiracy to defraud in one of the largest investigations ever conducted by the Serious Fraud Office.  Andrew Baillie QC and Emily Radcliffe appeared for the prosecution. Full report.

Michael Bright, Philip Condon and Dennis Lomas, former directors of Independent Insurance Group PLC, have been convicted by a jury of offences of conspiracy to defraud.  Andrew Baillie QC and Emily Radcliffe appeared for the prosecution at the trial lasting 76 days at Southwark Crown Court.  The case followed one of the largest investigations ever conducted by the Serious Fraud Office.  Independent, the ninth biggest general insurer in the UK, collapsed with a deficit of about £1 billion.

The next Bar Returners’ Course will have 4 speakers from 9 Gough Square. Grahame Aldous, Rosina Cottage, Christopher Stephenson and Michael Goodridge will all be speaking at the 2nd Bar Returners Course on 29th October 2007. Grahame Aldous, Vice-Chair of the Bar Council Equality and Diversity Committee said “This is a great opportunity to spread 9 Gough Square’s successful diversity and flexible working practices to the Bar as a whole”.

Andrew Baillie QC and Emily Radcliffe are prosecuting three former directors of Independent Insurance Group PLC, following one of the largest investigations by the Serious Fraud Office. Independent, the ninth biggest general insurer in the UK, collapsed with a deficit of about £1 billion.

Ford mechanic recovers £500,000 after suffering two accidents at work. Andrew Ritchie represented the Claimant in this Amicus funded case which settled 2 days before trial.

New Court of Appeal guidance on law and experts in boundary disputes: Emily Radcliffe represented the successful appellant in Vernon v Butcher [2007] All ER (D) 302 (Mar): The Court of Appeal gave new guidance on 16th March 2007 on the instruction of experts in boundary disputes, including the information that should be available to them and the nature of their reports.
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Driving for charity:





Simon Carr and Andrew Ritchie successfully completed their Rally across Europe, crossing the finishing line at 6.00pm on Saturday the 5th May. Details
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Asbestos Claims: Law, Practice and Procedure: 9 Gough Square has published a book to help solicitors and others involved in this specialist area of personal litigation. It contains concise and informative analysis on the history and prevalence of asbestos, breach of duty, causation, apportionment, damages and practical guidance on case management and court procedure, identifying the appropriate defendant and how to proceed against defunct companies. Our barristers specialising in Asbestos Claims.

The 6th Edition of the Ogden Tables with explanatory notes for use in personal injury and fatal accident cases was published on 3rd May 2007.  Showing some changes as a result of changes in mortality rates, the revised notes contain the most radical departure from all previous editions.
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Tom Little on IBC clerks' question time panel: Tom Little joined a Question Time panel at the Institute of Barristers' Clerks' Annual Conference.

Dispute resolution review recommends radical change: The DTI has published an independent review of employment dispute resolution procedures, calling for a radical overhaul of the current approach to resolving workplace disputes. Susan Belgrave contributed to the Employment Lawyers Association submission to the review.
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Christopher Stephenson settles long running mesothelioma case: The claim in P v ECR Wigmore Ltd for an apprentice exposed to asbestos between 1968 and 1974 was listed for trial on 28 March 2007 in the High Court and settled 2 weeks beforehand for £425,000.   The Claimant was diagnosed in 2002 and underwent a radical pneumonectomy in March 2003.  He remains alive, but with a very limited life expectancy.

9 Gough Square barristers on Prosecuting Counsel List
The new Attorney General's List of Prosecuting Counsel includes:
Philip Henry (grade A); 
Rosina Cottage (grade B);
Tom Little (grade B);
Eleanor Mawrey (grade C), and 
Emily Radcliffe (grade C).
The List helps to ensure that prosecutions are carried out fairly, robustly and professionally.

House of Lords’ decision on fraud interlocutory appeals:
Fred Ferguson and Tim Godfrey were instructed by the Serious Fraud Office to resist an interlocutory appeal  which was heard by the House of Lords in December 2006 and dismissed on 28 February 2007.

Companies Act 2006; Directors’ Duties: Al Hogarth reviews the Companies Act 2006, one of the longest pieces of legislation ever passed in the UK.

Dependants receive damages from MIB where their deceased provider knew driver was uninsured: Andrew Ritchie represented the widow and the child dependants in the Court of Appeal in Philips v Rafiq on 23rd January 2007.

News at 9, Chambers' latest newsletter for clients containing a range of legal reports can be found here.
Click here for full report

Christmas and New Year opening at 9 Gough Square
Chambers' clerks room will be open on Wednesday 27th to Friday 29th December from 10am to 4pm. We reopen for normal business on Tuesday 2nd January at 8:30am. We wish all our clients a very Happy Christmas and a prosperous New Year.
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Grahame Aldous wins stress at work claim in High Court: Judgment on 20th December 2006 for £64,693 plus indemnity costs for Claimant health visitor who was subjected to undue stress in a department in crisis, and whose vulnerability revealed at an individual personal review was ignored, resulting in a nervous breakdown. Defendant had refused an offer to mediate.

NHS Redress Act to "provide a speedy and cost effective remedy in low value clinical negligence claims". Stephen Walker, from the NHS Litigation Authority, told delegates at 9 Gough Square's Annual Clinical Law and Update seminar that the scheme should provide a speedy and cost effective remedy in low value clinical negligence claims, and that it was not intended to replace litigation in higher value claims.

Simon Carr raises £8000 in charity auction: he was the auctioneer at a fund raising evening and raised just under £8000 from items ranging from laser eye treatment to a signed England football shirt. The musical charity evening held at St Bartholomew’s Hospital raised over £20,000 for Mesothelioma Research.

Emily Radcliffe elected to South Eastern Circuit in the under 10 years’ call category. Emily joined Chambers in 2004 after a successful pupillage and has rapidly developed a busy practice covering prosecution and serious fraud as well as personal injury, care proceedings and private family disputes.

Tom Little re-elected to Bar Council. He has been an elected member of the Bar Council since 2002 and has been re-elected in the over 7 years’ call category for three years from 1st January 2007.

£1.5m Catastrophic Injuries claim settles. PI team member Stuart McKechnie has settled a long running case involving a catastrophically injured claimant for just over £1.5 million.

Poonam Bhari and Tom Little - views published in The Times. Views about the pressures on the Bar, from Poonam Bhari and Tom Little were summarised in The Times, in advance of the 2006 Bar Conference, under an article “People do this job because they care about it”.

Chambers first to become APIL training provider: 9 Gough Square is the first barristers' chambers to be accepted as an external training provider for the Association of Personal Injury Lawyers.

Clinical Negligence seminar accredited CPD for APIL members. Members of the Association of Personal Injury Lawyers can now rely on 9 Gough Square's "appealing" 7th Annual Clinical & Legal Update to make up their specialist APIL training needs.

9 Gough Square recommended in Chambers UK Guide to the Legal Profession
Fourteen barristers from 9 Gough Square are recommended in Chambers UK Guide to the Legal Profession and 6 specialist practice areas have been ranked in the Guide.

9 Gough Square lectures for Charity
Our Personal Injury Team has teamed up with Reading based, Boyes Turner, to provide solicitors in the area with a legal update on personal injury law. Proceeds will go to Headway Thames Valley - the brain injury association.

Employment Law Bulletin
9 Gough Square's October Employment Law Bulletin looks at the Employment Tribunal procedure rules and whether secret recordings of disciplinary panel private recordings can be used in evidence. Sign up to receive your copy.

Highway authority's inspection regime and tilting manhole covers
Giles Mooney acted for the respondent. The case considered the scope of the highway authority’s duty under Section 41 of the Highways Act 1980 and to what extent it could rely on the statutory defence set out in Section 58 in circumstances of a Claimant injuring herself on a defective manhole cover.  

Clinical Negligence Seminar - 14th November, London
9 Gough Square's Clinical Negligence Seminar and Legal Update Programme has been described "as appealing as any conference I have seen for a long time". Book your place now.

Privacy in Family Proceedings
Poonam Bhari reports on a Young Bar Conference/FLBA session on Privacy in Family Proceedings on 7th October 2006.

Legal 500 lists Duncan Macleod as Leading Junior in Clinical Negligence and Healthcare
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Legal 500 lists 9 Gough Square high as leading set in Personal Injury
The Legal 500 lists 9 Gough Square as a leading set in Personal Injury, including 5 members of the Personal Injury Team;  In addition to John Foy QC, the members listed are: Nicolas Hillier, Roger Hiorns, Andrew Ritchie and Jacob Levy. Duncan Macleod is listed as a Leading Junior in Clinical Negligence and Healthcare.

Legal 500 lists 9 Gough Square as leading set in Police Law
In addition to John Foy QC, the Team members listed are: Duncan Macleod, Edwin Buckett, Jonathan Loades and Vincent Williams.
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News at 9 Gough Square published
Chambers' October 2006 Newsletter to clients News at 9 Gough Square contains 8 pages of information about the cases and law in which members of Chambers' have been involved over the last few months. To sign up to receive our Newsletters, specialist law bulletins and invitations to our seminars click here.

Child Law Update
In an article first published in New Law Journal, Oliver Millington of 9 Gough Square, addresses the identification of children in family proceedings; recognition of the decision of a Spanish court allowing children to remain with their father despite their wrongful removal to the UK; and disclosure of information between social services departments and the police.

9 Gough Square takes on three new pupils
Three new pupils, Toby Brown, Ed Lamb and Jennifer Scott started with Chambers on 3rd October 2006.

ASBO handed to violent drug dealer
Robert McAllister appeared for the Metropolitan Police in a successful application for an Anti-Social Behaviour Order (Asbo) against a 26 year old who recruited vulnerable children to deal drugs and who used violence to keep them in line.
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9 Gough Square pupils take tenancy.
Two of Chambers’ pupils, Esther Maclachlan and Al Hogarth, became tenants on 2nd October 2006 following their successful pupillage.

A trial Judge must be consistent in his consideration of all relevant evidence when making necessary findings of fact:
Hardisty v Aubrey [2006] EWCA Civ 1196.
Counsel for the Appellant: Nicolas Hillier.

Client care letter did not constitute a conditional fee agreement
John Foy QC wins appeal on costs. The Court of Appeal hold that a client care letter which provided for a client to receive initial advice on prospects of success without paying a fee did not constitute a funding agreement which breached the regulations governing Conditional Fee Agreements.

Fatal accidents, uninsured drivers and MIB
Andrew Ritchie of 9 Gough Square and General Editor, Kemp Law Practice and Procedure, reports a recent decision in which the dependents were awarded damages where the provider passenger with knowledge was killed by an uninsured driver.

Inconsistencies in medical records
Stuart McKechnie outlines a common situation, in his article published in News@ 9 Gough Square, where a claimant’s evidence at trial is contradicted by comments that have previously been recorded in medical records and examines the stautus of these records and the approach necessary when dealing with such inconsistencies.

Clinical and Legal Update Seminar
9 Gough Square’s annual flagship Clinical and Legal Update will take place in London on 14th November 2006.

Video Conferencing at 9 Gough Square
Next time you are organising a conference with a barrister at 9 Gough Square, consider a video conference and save yourself and your client the travel time and travel costs involved in coming to London.