Melanie has been practising clinical negligence law for over thirty years. She has handled a varied clinical negligence caseload and complex matters including cerebral palsy, birth injury cases, brain injury, spinal injury, misdiagnosis, delayed diagnosis of cancer as well as complex orthopaedic injuries. In addition to this Melanie has acted for a number of vulnerable mentally disordered clients.

Melanie’s clients would recommend her for her legal skills, her determination and her tenacity.  Melanie believes in getting the best outcome for her clients, building relationships with them and working with them collaboratively to ensure that they are fully involved in their cases from start to finish.

In addition to a more general clinical negligence practice, Melanie has specialised in acting for people detained under the Mental Health Act. She has an in-depth knowledge of the Mental Health Act and the Mental Capacity Act which means that she is uniquely placed to act for such clients in clinical negligence matters. Melanie is able to advise on inquest-related matters following fatalities caused by suspected medical mistakes including where patients have taken their own lives in prisons and mental health units.

Melanie has been a personal injury and clinical negligence lawyer since training in 1989 and qualified as a FCILEx in 1996.  Since then she has undertaken a broad range of clinical negligence cases as well as leading teams and training junior fee earners.

A client recently described Melanie as “kind, tenacious and hard-working”.  Another client described that she approached their case, “…always as a professional and with integrity whilst obtaining outstanding results”.

Recent work

• Negligent delay in performing C-Section causing hypoxic injury and global developmental delay to the baby;
• Failures in midwifery during labour causing PVL and cerebral palsy;
• Pursuing a seven-figure settlement for a client where failure to monitor a head injury in A&E led to stroke and acquired brain injury;
• Failure by prison medical staff to appreciate the red flag symptoms of Cauda Equina leading to paralysis;
• Failure by primary care staff at a maximum security mental health unit to diagnose late-stage bowel cancer leading to full pelvic exenteration and reduction in life expectancy.
• Recently acted for a gentleman who suffered a head injury following a fall. He was taken to the hospital but was not admitted and no CT scan was undertaken. This failing was repeated on a further two visits to Accident & Emergency. Due to the severity of the head injury the client suffered a stroke, due to undiagnosed brain swelling, subsequent permanent left-sided paralysis and personality change. He was unable to work and will need professional care in the future. The case settled for a significant sum to enable the client to pay for future treatment and care as well as being compensated for lost earnings.