Lucy is an associate in the clinical negligence department. In addition to managing her own caseload, she assists partner Sally Leonards with complex and high-value brain and spinal injury cases.
Lucy has a wide range of experience and enjoys dealing with the varied nature of cases that her role attracts. She has developed particular interest and expertise in cases involving stillbirth, women’s health, delays in diagnosing cancer, and cases where psychiatric injury has arisen as a result of substandard care.
She has provided insight and commentary on the topic of maternity failures to various news outlets including The Independent and Sky News.
Lucy is also frequently instructed in cases involving the death of a loved one under the Fatal Accidents Act 1976, and where the matter has subsequently been referred for an inquest. She has helped to secure multiple coronial findings of “neglect.”
She is consistently praised for her empathy, dedication, clear advice, and attention to detail.
Lucy’s successful cases include:
- £850,000 for a 55-year-old father of two with terminal oesophageal cancer. Without the delay in diagnosis the client would have been cured.
- £200,000 for the widower of a 69-year-old woman who suffered greatly and died following a seven-year delay in diagnosing hypothyroidism. The condition is common and easily treatable with medication.
- £134,000 for the widow of a 69-year-old man who died of cancer after pre-cancerous cells taken during a biopsy were incorrectly reported as ‘normal’.
- £90,000 for a woman who was wrongly told that she had terminal breast cancer when in fact it was treatable with minimally invasive surgery. The negligence meant that she underwent an avoidable mastectomy and chemotherapy.
- £75,000 for the family of a 91-year-old man who died following a delay in diagnosing bowel cancer.
- £60,000 for the mother of a baby boy who was stillborn following a failure to recognise that she was at risk of developing pre-eclampsia and deliver the baby before he came to harm.
- £48,000 for a woman who was given an overdose of intravenous adrenaline. She suffered a cardiac arrest, required CPR, and suffered psychiatric injuries.
- £37,500 for a woman who suffered a delay in diagnosing a retinal detachment.
- £30,000 for the widow of a gentleman who was given an overdose of the contrast dye sometimes used during CT scans. The dye caused kidney failure leading to multi-organ failure and death.
- £22,500 for the widow of a 60-year-old gentleman who died after being overdosed on IV blood thinners.
Graduating from Lancaster University, Lucy achieved a first-class honours degree in law. As part of her degree, she completed a 15,000-word thesis with a focus on Articles 5, 6, and 15 of the European Convention on Human Rights and attained the highest mark possible. She then went on to complete her legal practice course at BPP Law School and gained a distinction. Lucy is also a past winner of the Law Society’s national annual essay competition.
Outside of work Lucy enjoys gardening, photography, and learning German. She also volunteers as a mentor both within the firm and with external organisations.