Source: https://www.7br.co.uk/barrister/richard-baker/
Timestamp: 2019-04-23 01:53:17+00:00

Document:
Richard Baker is described by Chambers & Partners and the Legal 500 as a leading junior specialising in personal injury and clinical negligence work and has been ranked in both areas for a number of years. He has built up a busy and successful practice and wins praise for his advocacy and problem solving skills but also his ability to relate to his clients, especially the bereaved. He was an Assistant Coroner in South Yorkshire between 2011 and 2016 and has earned an excellent reputation for his ability to manage complicated and difficult inquests.
Richard is happy to accept work from Claimants or Defendant organisations.
Richard has specialised in complex clinical negligence work since he was called to the bar and has been described by Chambers and Partners as “an outstanding junior whose advocacy is superb. The quality of his work is superb” and “Determined and dogged in his approach. He is described in the most recent edition of the Legal 500 as “An extremely capable senior junior with a pleasant manner”.
He undertakes work covering all clinical and surgical specialties but takes a special interest in obstetric cases, having represented claimants in a large number of high value birth injury cases. He has been involved in several trials on liability and quantum in cases where the Claimants suffered catastrophic brain injury at birth or as babies.
He is highly experienced in high value quantum claims, having represented the Claimants at trial in both Manna v. Central Manchester and JR v. Sheffield Teaching Hospitals.
Richard also has particular experience of working with the bereaved having represented many families through complicated and traumatic inquests and subsequent claims pursuant to the Fatal Accidents Act 1976 and Law Reform (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1934.
Sat as an Assistant Coroner between 2011 and 2016 and has provided representation at inquests throughout his career. He has appeared in a large number of complicated inquests, often relating to treatment provided to detained and voluntary psychiatric patients and often in cases where the coroner has summoned a jury. In many of the inquests where he has provided representation to bereaved families coroners have considered there to have been serious failures in care warranting findings of ‘neglect’.
Richard’s practice requires him to have a detailed understanding of the rules of professional conduct as they apply to medical professionals. Several of the cases that he has been involved in have culminated in references and complaints to the GMC and NMC. He is happy to advise on issues relating to professional conduct and provide representation in Disciplinary Tribunals.
Richard regularly undertakes cases in the Coroner’s Court involving alleged breach of Article 2. He has also been involved in a number of claims for damages on behalf of victims and has been involved in numerous cases where family members bringing claims following a breach of a vulnerable patient’s Article 2 rights have recovered damages exceeding £100,000.
JR v. Sheffield Teaching Hospitals  EWHC 1245 (QB). Representing the Claimant at trial and in proceedings before the Court of Appeal. At over £24 million, when capitalised, the highest court award for personal injuries. A landmark case both in relation to claims for accommodation following the change in discount rate and in relation to claims for lost-years.
Manna v Central Manchester University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust  EWCA Civ 12. Representing the Claimant at trial and in proceedings before the Court of Appeal. A trial on quantum involving a young man who suffered cerebral palsy following. A multi-million pound judgment before Cox J, upheld in the Court of Appeal, including an award for two properties to enable the Claimant to spend time with both of his parents.
Welds v. Yorkshire Ambulance Service NHS Trust and Sheffield Teaching Hospitals  EWHC 3325 (QB): Representing the Claimant at a trial on liability. The Claimant suffered catastrophic brain injury at the time of her birth allegedly as a consequence of the Defendants’ failure to diagnose placental abruption.
Atherton v. Manchester Hospitals (2016) – Unusual historic case culminating in a multi-million pound settlement on behalf of a man who sustained brain injury as a consequence of alleged failures surrounding his delivery and resuscitation in August 1969.
SC v. Sheffield Teaching Hospitals (2016) (unreported) – Trial on liability relating to the allegedly negligent delivery of twins at the old Jessop’s Hospital in Sheffield in 1989.
Thomas v Curley  EWCA Civ 117 and  EWHC 2013 – Representing a woman who suffered biliary peritonitis following iatrogenic injury to her common bile duct during private surgery. The claimant was successful at trial and in the Court of Appeal, a significant authority on the use of res ipsa loquitur in clinical negligence claims.
H v Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust (2012) – £2.5 million for a child who suffered brain injury as a consequence of uncontrolled hypertension following a kidney transplant.
A v Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust (2012) – Birth injury case in which the claimant recovered a lump sum of £2.75 million with annual payments of £85,765.00 rising to £130,000.00.
In the matter of CD (2013) – Representing family of a man who committed suicide after absconding from a low security mental health unit. The Coroner returned a verdict reflecting serious failings in the care provided to him and Richard thereafter obtained £325,000 for his family representing, in part, their victim status under Article 2 of the ECHR.
AS v Sheffield Teaching Hospital NHS Trust (2014) – Birth injury case in which the claimant recovered lump sum of £1.25 million with annual payments of £100,000 rising to £118,000.
Richard is recognised as a leading personal injury and clinical negligence specialist and is occasionally called upon to provide advice and consultancy services to lawyers and advocates conducting claims in other jurisdictions. He is happy to advise on the management of complex injury claims being brought outside of jurisdiction and manage and analyse expert evidence and his experience of conducting complicated clinical claims can be of value to legal professionals wherever they are based.
Richard has been instructed to advise Advocates in Guernsey in relation to complicated claims arising from clinical negligence. He has provided direct assistance with the amendment pleadings, conferences with medical experts and the assessment of quantum.
Richard has been a personal injury specialist throughout his career and is listed as a leading junior by both the Legal 500 and Chambers and Partners. He undertakes cases involving catastrophic injuries or complicated legal issues in the fields of employer’s liability, road traffic collisions, and sexual abuse. He is instructed by claimants and by defendant organisations.
He has been praised within the directories for his ability to provide “digestible and succinct advice” and for being “approachable and friendly” but also for his “thoroughness” and his “impressive reputation, particularly for his work on high-value brain injury cases” (Chambers and Partners).
Richard accepts instructions on behalf of claimants who have been the victims of sexual abuse. His largest case to date was a claim brought on behalf of four claimants who had been the victims of sexual abuse at the hands of family members and who had consequently sustained severe psychiatric injuries. They recovered in excess of £800,000.
Richard sat as an Assistant Coroner between 2011 and 2016 and regularly provides representation at inquests. He is able to advise on all issues relating to Coronial Law.
Richard has been instructed by defendant organisations to defend claims involving allegations of fraud or exaggeration. He recently provided extensive written submissions on the costs consequences of exaggerated injury claims to the Court of Appeal (the other party did not proceed with the appeal in light of those submissions).
Joyce v O’Brien and Tradex  EWHC 1324 (QB),  All ER (D) 225 – Representing a man who sustained catastrophic injuries in a road traffic incident following the alleged theft of ladders at first instance and before the Court of Appeal. The case is now the leading authority on ex turpi causa in cases of joint enterprise.
Acting for four Claimants who recovered in excess of £800,000 for injuries sustained following a local authority’s failure to protect them from sexual abuse at the hands of family members.
S v Royal Mail – Below knee amputation following road traffic accident. The claimant, in her 80’s at the time of the accident, recovered in excess of £300,000.00.
Richard is a specialist inquest lawyer and is regularly instructed in complicated cases, involving breaches of Human Rights and the interpretation of the jurisprudence of the European Court. He understands the unique issues that providing representation through the inquest process brings and has been praised for “his sensitivity and ability to deal with bereaved clients” (Legal 500).
He is also familiar with the Inquiries Act 2005 and with Judicial Review and has recently provided advice to family members seeking and public inquiry into patient care at Welsh Hospitals.
Richard undertakes judicial reviews in relation to decisions by coroners and general medical matters. He has recently advised families seeking to encourage the Welsh Government to establish a public inquiry into the care provided to their relatives at Welsh Hospitals.
Richard has been instructed to advise families seeking a public inquiry into the neglect of patients in Welsh Hospitals and is leading a team within 7BR who are preparing submissions on that issue. The case has been described within the media as the “Welsh Mid-Staffordshire”. Richard is happy to accept instructions from any party seeking advice in respect of a public inquiry.
Richard regularly represents parties at inquests held pursuant to Article 2 of the ECHR, often involving complicated issues and often heard before juries. He has advised in relation to inquests and claims brought following the decision of the Supreme Court in Rabone and has extensive experience of cases involving the care provided to vulnerable and detained patients in the NHS and vulnerable patients who have been subject to deprivation of liberty in residential homes.
Re FK (2011) – Representing the family of a detained person who escaped from the Manchester Royal Infirmary and committed suicide. After a 12 day inquest before a jury a verdict of suicide contributed to by neglect was returned. A claim was subsequently brought by the deceased’s family for damages pursuant to Article 2 of the ECHR, which was settled for a six figure sum.
Re CD (2013) – Representing family of a man who committed suicide after absconding from a low security mental health unit. The Coroner returned a verdict reflecting serious failings in the care provided to him and Richard thereafter obtained £325,000 for his family representing, in part, their victim status under Article 2 of the ECHR.
Re CHB (2014) – Representing the family of a woman who suffered from catatonic schizophrenia and who developed a deep vein thrombosis and fatal pulmonary embolism as a consequence of failures to provide proper care. Article 2 inquest before a jury culminating in a verdict of ‘neglect’ and breach of Article 2.
Richard is committed to protecting and respecting the privacy of individuals. In order to provide legal services, including advice and representation services, Richard needs to process personal data. This will include client’s personal data and the personal data of others who feature in the course of any matter upon which he is instructed.
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