Alison McCormick
| Call date: 1988 | |||
| Email: Alison McCormick | Clerk: Graham Woods | ||
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Practice summary
Alison McCormick is highly experienced in personal injury and clinical negligence claims.
She has a broad based, Claimant focussed personal injury practice encompassing occupational disease claims, employers’ and public liability, occupiers’ liability, road traffic accidents and travel litigation.
Her nationwide personal injury caseload includes many fatal accident claims, and she frequently represents Claimants who have suffered catastrophic brain and spinal injury and limb amputation.
Alison undertakes a wide range of clinical negligence cases arising out of general practitioner, surgical and anaesthetic negligence across many fields, including orthopaedics, neurology, oncology, gynaecology and obstetrics.
Alison has a sensitive and common sense approach to litigation. An emphasis on client care and good working relationships with solicitors are key features of Alison’s practice. She is particularly experienced in dealing with Claimants who lack mental capacity, the terminally ill, recently bereaved and cases involving minors. She aims to maximise the damages awards which her clients receive and assist them to cope with what is, for many, very traumatic litigation. To this end Alison is always willing to travel to see clients wherever is most comfortable for them.
A significant part of Alison’s practice is in asbestos related litigation, and, since October 2006 she has been junior counsel for the Claimant in Lead Case 1 (Durham v BAI) in the so called “Employers’ Liability Trigger Litigation”. This high profile test litigation involves individuals, employers and insurance companies. The issue for determination is whether payment should be made on policies of employers’ liability insurance in force during periods of negligent exposure to asbestos in respect of mesothelioma manifesting many years later. The case was heard by Burton J at first instance over a 9 week period in summer 2008. The Claimant was successful at first instance, but the case was appealed to the Court of Appeal. The 2 week appeal hearing took place before Rix LJ, Smith LJ and Stanley Burnton LJ in November 2009. Judgment was handed down on 8th October 2010 and all 3 judges found in favour of the Claimant in Lead Case 1, albeit that they all delivered differently reasoned judgments. Permission to appeal to the Supreme Court was granted by the Court of Appeal and BAI has confirmed its intention to proceed with a further appeal.
- Johnson v Humm
- Court approval of negotiated settlement of £475,000 (estimated gross value £712,500 after deduction for contributory negligence) for head, orthopaedic and facial injuries suffered in a road traffic accident. Causation was a difficult issue in this case as the Claimant had a very chequered past involving criminal activity and alcohol abuse.
- Rayson v EON UK Plc
- £510,000 gross settlement for serious burn injuries suffered in an accident at work which required consideration of the extent to which credit should be given for payments made to a Claimant by his employer which was not the tortfeasor.
- Price v Heath Metals
- £355,000 settlement of a complex mesothelioma claim. Expert accountancy evidence was required to quantify the Claimant’s loss of income dependency on the family scrap metal business which her deceased husband ran.
- Lydia Cross v Dr. John Harrison
- Court approval of a negotiated settlement on liability of a claim on behalf of a young child who lost the lower part of both legs after her general practitioner failed to diagnose and treat haemophilius influenza septicaemia. This case is ongoing in respect of quantum.
- Bromiley v Dr. Brendan Slavin
- Court approval of £250,000 negotiated settlement of a fatal accident claim arising out of an anaesthetic accident in which a mother of 2 children died after routine nasal surgery. There were quantum issues in respect of recoverability of the deceased’s husband’s reduced earnings and loss of pension and also arising out of the claim for loss of mother’s services.
The "wonderfully approachable" Alison McCormick, "whose excellent demeanour and use of plain English quickly put clients at ease." A popular port of call for complex issues of law and quantum, McCormick divides her time between disease and catastrophic brain and spine injury cases. Personal Injury, Chambers and Partners 2012
Alison McCormick, is ‘extremely helpful and approachable’ and has ‘great empathy for clients’. Clinical negligence and healthcare, Legal 500, 2011
‘personable’, ‘practical’ and ‘clever’ Clinical negligence and healthcare Legal 500 2010
Alison McCormick, a highly regarded personal injury practitioner whose analytical and technical capabilities make her a popular choice for high-value RTAs, employers' liability and industrial disease matters. Personal Injury, Chambers and Partners 2011
Appointments & memberships:
- APIL
- PIBA
- AVMA