It has been a year since Jason Harwood joined Kenworthy’s Chambers, strengthening our Personal Injury and Clinical Negligence Team.

In his first year of practice, following being called to the Bar, Jason has been hard at work attending an impressive 238 hearings in total!

With a small break in his busy schedule, Personal Injury and Inquests Barrister Jason Harwood spoke with Marketing Manager Bruce Cousins to share some of his personal work highlights from his first year.

You have completed a remarkable volume of work for Kenworthy’s Chambers this year, with the clerking team massively impressed by the number of small claims and fast-track claims you have been able to handle! Is there one case win that stands out for you?

I was instructed to defend a strike out application on a case where the claim had twice been incorrectly pleaded. This case would be the one that most stands out because of the serious risk it held for the Solicitor and the client.

The stakes were high because, if the claim had been struck out the claimant would have potentially lost their entitlement to any damages. Not only this, but the Solicitors would also almost certainly have faced a professional negligence action, so the pressure was on for me to succeed. No room for error!

I was able to use my expertise to persuade the judge not to strike out the application and to give the claimant and their Solicitors one final chance to get the pleading correct.

Brilliant! What other skills besides your powers of persuasion and expertise in catastrophic injury, chronic pain, and fatal accident claims have you called upon in your case work?

I always strive to be friendly and approachable to my clients and clearly explain legal details in a way they can understand. One of the cases that brought this to the forefront involved a head and neck injury.

My client injured their head and neck in an accident that took place in 2017. There were causation issues in this case, and, prior to my involvement, a settlement offer, of £20,000, had been made.

The claimant was having difficulties understanding the issues within their case. In part this was because their first language was not English.

I advised in conference, helping the client to understand all the issues, and was precise in describing exactly what we needed to do to secure the best possible outcome for them.

Shortly after the conference and based largely on the advice that was given, the Solicitors were able to secure a settlement of £34,000.

Amazing! Keep up the good work Jason and thanks for your time.

Jason Harwood transferred to the Bar in 2022 after working as a Solicitor for more than 18 years, specialising in catastrophic injury, chronic pain, and fatal accident claims.

If you have a Personal Injury or Clinical Negligence case you want Jason Harwood to advise on, call our Civil Clerks Michael Jones or Alessandro Saportia-Clark on 0161 832 4036, email [email protected] or [email protected], or fill out our contact form.

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