James Pretsell

James acts on behalf of major insurers defending high value personal injury claims that often involve elements of fraud or fundamental dishonesty.  His caseload consistently involves multi-million pound claims in which the claimants are often represented by silks.

He has particular experience and expertise in the use of evidence obtained by surveillance as well as from social media, mobile phones and other data sources.  He appeared on behalf of the successful Defendant insurer in the leading case of Stewart v Kelly (2016) EWHC 3263 (Blake J) which considers and gives guidance on the problematic issue of when to disclose surveillance evidence.

He also represented the successful Defendant insurer in the High Court trial of Atkinson v Pathak (2015) EWHC 1120 (Robert Owen QC) where the forensic use of surveillance evidence at trial resulted in findings of dishonesty being made against the Claimant.

His current caseload involves the following cases of interest:

• A claim by a DP World Tour professional golfer in a multi million pound claim for damages arising out of a road traffic accident;
• A claim valued in excess of £7 million by the former chief executive of a leading automotive parts company who suffered a below knee amputation; and
• A claim valued in excess of £5 million by a construction worker who suffered a below knee amputation when he was crushed by a digger.

James has extensive experience of dealing with fraudulent claims in both the civil and criminal jurisdictions.

He has acted as junior to Patrick Harrington KC in a number of criminal matters involving allegations of fraud of the utmost severity ranging from the attempted bribery of a Local Authority Chief Executive to an alleged conspiracy to avoid the multi-million pound reinstatement of open cast mining sites.

The overwhelming majority of James’ work is though in the civil sphere where he represents Defendant insurers in a wide variety of cases involving allegations of fraud and which has resulted in him being ranked in the Legal 500.

James has particular experience and expertise in the use of surveillance evidence.   He appeared on behalf of the successful Defendant insurer in the High Court case of Stewart v Kelly (2016) EWHC 3263 (Blake J) dealing with the, often difficult, issue of when to disclose surveillance evidence.

James represented the successful Defendant insurer in the High Court trial of Atkinson v Pathak (2015) EWHC 1120 (Robert Owen QC) where the forensic use of surveillance evidence at trial resulted in the Claimant failing to beat an historic Part 36 offer.

James is also vastly experienced in advising on and drafting allegations of fraud and/or fundamental dishonesty whether in Defences or Counter schedules.

James has extensive and broad experience of advising and appearing in front of a broad range of professional and sporting disciplinary and regulatory bodies.

Recent examples of work include successfully acting for a professional boxing manager before the appeal panel of the British Boxing Board of Control where James enjoyed the rare distinction of cross-examining Frank Warren (Harding v Warren), and advising a rugby club on the prospects of successfully challenging a refusal by the WRU to allow promotion.

James is a member of the judicial panel of the RFU and sits on cases involving the full range of misconduct both on and off field. Most recently, James sat on the panel that imposed sanctions on a club for financial irregularities in payments to players (RFU v Blackburn RFC).

James acts on behalf of solicitors, accountants, medical professionals and teachers and appears before a wide variety of disciplinary panels such as those of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants, the General Medical Council, the Nursing and Midwifery Council, the Care Quality Commission, the National College for Training and Leadership and the General Regulatory Chamber. He has presented cases on behalf of the Nursing and Midwifery Council relating to serious disciplinary matters involving healthcare professionals, and is currently acting on behalf of a firm of accountants facing serious charges of misconduct relating to an audit investigation.

James also sits as Chairman of the Appeals Tribunal of the Showmen’s Guild of Great Britain, adjudicating on disputes that are often of a commercial and technical nature.

James is a member of the Association of Disciplinary and Regulatory Lawyers and of the British Association for Sport and Law.

James has a wealth of experience in litigation involving travel and cross-jurisdictional issues.

In particular his fluency in French and extensive expertise in personal injury litigation has led to his instruction in a variety of claims where an understanding and interpretation of French law and evidence in a foreign language has been invaluable.

For example, James has acted for defendants in a number of claims arising out of serious road traffic collisions in France.  He has advised on French legislative provisions relating to the equivalent of social security benefits and their recoupment in the context of high value personal injury litigation in the High Court.

He has also acted in cases arising out road traffic collisions in Italy and Spain where complex issues relating to damage in the context of cross-jurisdictional litigation concerning brain injury have arisen.

James has also acted for a number of major airlines in cases involving delay and damage involving the interpretation and application of the Montreal and Warsaw Conventions and Hague Protocol.

James’s expertise in clinical negligence has been built on his extensive personal injury practice which frequently involves consideration of complex clinical issues and his considerable experience in professional negligence, disciplinary and regulatory matters.

In the past year James has acted and advised in matters involving the following wide ranging and complex issues of clinical judgment and expertise:

• The misdiagnosis and consequent potentially negligent treatment of a minor for PTSD following a serious road traffic collision;
• The (mis)interpretation of an advanced brain scan;
• The infection of a wound in surgery leading to a substantial risk of lower limb amputation; and
• Whether colorectal surgery had been performed negligently.

The potential quantum in all of the above cases was in excess of £1 million.

As well as over twenty years’ experience of dealing with complex clinical issues, James brings an in depth understanding of the standards to which the clinical professions are held in practice by virtue of his work representing parties before the relevant tribunals of the General Medical Council and Nursing and Midwifery Council.