Simon Ross

Personal Injury

Practice Summary

Simon is Head of Chambers' Personal Injury Group.
He is dual qualified and practised as a solicitor prior to joining chambers in 2004. He was appointed as a Deputy District Judge in 2010.

Simon has a wealth of experience in credit hire claims accumulated over nearly two decades of being instructed by both claimants and defendants. He is routinely instructed in multi-track value claims or those that involve allegations of fraud or tricky points of law/procedure. Examples of recent work includes claims for hire charges of over £100,000 and appeals on allocation, profit earning chattels, enforceability and evidence from non-English speaking witnesses. 

Simon is instructed by national firms of solicitors, CHOs and Insurers. He can provide bespoke in-house training on all issues in credit hire including law, procedure and strategy. Last year, Simon judged two days of mock trials presented to a leading insurer. He has been invited to judge further mock trials this year.

Simon has an extremely busy practice and is experienced in advising and representing parties at trial in all aspects of personal injury work including road traffic accidents, employers’ liability claims, fatal accidents, occupational illness and clinical negligence.

He has a balanced practice and acts for claimants and defendants in roughly equal measure.

Simon also has experience handling professional negligence cases where the underlying claim was for personal injury; that was his area of specialism when in practice as a solicitor.

Simon is repeatedly instructed by leading firms that specialise in disease work. His experience includes deafness, work related upper limb disorders and asbestosis. He has also acted in claims concerning more obscure illnesses, for example, he recently successfully represented a claimant who had developed Hypersensitivity Pneumonitis following exposure to fungal spores in his workplace. He also provided advice in a complex claim concerning an individual diagnosed with toxic encephalopathy, multiple sensitivity syndrome and multiple chemical sensitivity.

Simon is particularly skilled in dealing with complex procedural issues and is often instructed to provide written advice and/or to attend on appeals concerning questions of civil procedure or costs.

Notable Cases

• Linda Topping -v- Ralph Trustees Limited [2017] EWHC 1954 (QB) – represented the appellant at a hearing to determine the correct destination for an appeal where a claim had been released by a Designated Civil Judge and heard by a District Judge. Mr. Justice Kerr agreed that it should be heard in the High Court.
• L -v- E – successfully represented the respondent defendant insurer at an appeal where the question was whether a District Judge had been correct to dismiss a claim for diminution in value of a motor vehicle following a road traffic accident.
• M -v- M – successfully represented the claimant respondent at an appeal which concerned the scope of the QOCS exceptions in CPR r.44.15(a) to (c).
• W v I – Acted for claimant who suffered CPRS Type II affecting left fore-arm, wrist, hand and fingers. Claim settled at JSM for £215,000.
• B v G – Acted for the claimant motorcyclist who suffered multiple injuries in a road traffic accident. Claim settled at JSM for £475,000.
• L v K – Acted for the claimant pedestrian who had been knocked down and suffered knee and ankle injuries. Difficult causation issues arose regarding the onset of chronic pain symptoms. Settled at JSM for £300,000.
• S v T – Acted for the claimant in an employer's liability claim. The claimant had suffered an ankle injury and had persistent symptoms following a Brostum repair. Secured a settlement offer at JSM of £250,000. Difficulties had arisen following surveillance evidence.
• B v P – Advised the claimant in a complex solicitor's negligence claim. The underlying claim was an employer's liability claim in which the allegation was that there had been exposure to toxins that had triggered toxic encephalopathy, myelin damage, multiple sensitivity syndrome, multiple chemical sensitivity and mobility problems. Complex medical causation issues and a vast amount of medical evidence to marshal that filled 12 lever arch files.
• S v L – Alleged fraud ring claim in which the defendant at trial relied upon similar fact evidence arising from numerous allegedly linked claims.
• B v O – Advised the defendant in a low velocity impact claim. Difficult issues arose regarding causation because the claimant had been diagnosed with a Chiari Type 1 malformation; a congenital abnormality of the brain.
• L v P – Advised the claimant in a complex layered claim of solicitor's negligence. The underlying claim was one of clinical negligence concerning ante-natal care provided to a mother whose daughter was subsequently born with Goldenhar Syndrome. There were complex limitation issues and a possible claim for wrongful birth.
• H v H – Clinical negligence claim concerning a negligently performed hip revision operation. Complex issues of causation.
• B v C – Road traffic accident claim. claimant suffered a diffuse axonial injury to the frontal lobes of the brain. Issues arose concerning capacity applying the Mental Capacity Act 2005 which had to be determined at a contested hearing.

Seminars

Simon has lectured on a variety of topics including:

• Qualified One-Way Costs Shifting
• CPR Part 36
• Credit Hire – all issues
• Fraudulent claims
• Low Velocity Impacts
• Quantum in Noise Induced Hearing Loss cases
• CPR Part 35 and Questions to Experts

Personal Information

Simon spends most of his limited leisure time enjoying the challenges of looking after his energetic young daughter and entertaining younger son. When not involved with family pursuits, he goes running and continues to strive to improve upon his best time for completing a 10km race; his current PB is 47.41 minutes.