- AvMA Clinical Negligence Panel
- Human Rights Lawyers Association
- Member of the Multi-Professional Advisory Panel of the mother and baby charity Babylifeline
Gill Edwards
Gill is a Partner within our clinical negligence department. She has spent over 25 years in the legal profession specialising in the field of claimant clinical negligence and deals with a range of cases involving serious injury. She has particular expertise in cases involving cerebral palsy, brain and spinal injury, and amputation.
Education & career
After originally training as a nurse, Gill graduated from Oxford Brookes University with an LLB (Hons) degree in 1994 and after completing her training at Alexander Harris Solicitors, she qualified as a solicitor in 1997. Gill comments:
"I trained as a nurse at Manchester Royal Infirmary and became aware of the field of medical negligence, in particular the work of Ann Alexander at Alexander Harris where I went on to do work experience and complete my training."
Gill joined the Clinical Negligence team here at Potter Rees Dolan in 2016 and was promoted to Partner two years later. Her favourite aspect of her role is being able to give injured people a voice and obtaining lifelong support for them when things have gone wrong.
Successful cases
Recent cases include recovering £2.4 million for a child with an upper limb amputation; £4,676,400 awarded to a young man who suffered a below knee amputation due to a delay in diagnosing compartment syndrome; obtaining Judgment in cases involving cerebral palsy due to negligent antenatal care, delay in diagnosing cervical spine fracture dislocation leading to an incomplete spinal cord injury, and delay in diagnosing spinal abscess leading to tetraplegia; and interim payments obtained for clients in excess of £1million.
Reported cases
- Acted for the Appellants in the landmark Supreme Court Article 2 human rights case of Rabone v Pennine Care NHS Trust 2012 UKSC 2 involving the death of Melanie Rabone;
- Acted for the Claimant in Dr Sido John v Central Manchester and Manchester Children's University Hospital NHSFT 2016 EWHC 407, an important case on material contribution involving a young man who suffered a brain injury due to a negligent delay in diagnosing a sub-dural haematoma;
- Acted for the Claimant in Riley v Salford Royal NHS Foundation Trust [2022] EWHC 2417 (KB), a young man who had a below knee amputation due a delay in diagnosing compartment syndrome where causation and quantum were determined at a 5 day Trial;
- Acted for the Claimant in University Hospitals of Derby & Burton NHSFT v Harrison [2022] EQCA Civ 1660 where the Claimant recovered damages for injuries due to sepsis following a bowel perforation during a negligent polypectomy and her case went to the Court of Appeal to deal with the issue of costs following late acceptance of a Part 36 offer.
Professional memberships & accreditations
Gill is a top ranked lawyer within the prestigious Chambers guide to the legal profession and is recognised by Legal 500 as a Key Individual. Gill is also a member of the Multi-Professional Advisory Panel of Baby Lifeline, a charity which is dedicated to improving the care of pregnant women and newborn babies by raising funds for maternity and neonatal equipment and providing specialist training.
Chambers says:
"Gill is incredibly knowledgeable and has a calm, friendly and reassuring manner" and "She offers exceptionally good service to her clients."
Previous comments from Chambers include: "Gill Edwards regularly advises claimants in surgical error and delay in diagnosis cases and possesses noteworthy experience in claims for obstetric and neonatal brain injuries. "She knows the right questions to ask and is quick to understand the issues," according to one market source, while a client says: "She is considerate, caring, understanding and most importantly, she treats you as an equal and never makes you feel as if you’re asking a stupid question." "
Legal 500 says:
“Gill Edwards is a highly skilled and knowledgeable practitioner. Her friendly and supportive manner creates a strong bond with clients, and her experience in the field gives confidence to individuals and families who aren’t experienced in this world.”
“Gill Edwards is hugely experienced, very personable and willing to fight for a client.”
Articles
Journal of Patient Safety and Risk Management April 25 2013: Rabone, Misinterpreted” which provided a response to an article by Bertie Leigh, Partner at defence firm Hempsons, entitled “A Bad Decision for Patients”, appearing in Clinical Risk 2012;18 157, commenting upon the landmark judgment of the Supreme Court in Rabone v Pennine Care NHS Foundation Trust (2012). Mr Leigh deemed the decision to be “profoundly wrong” and “bad for patients”. The article seeks to explain that his conclusions are based on a misinterpretation of the Supreme Court's decision.
Outside of work...
In her spare time, Gill enjoys gardening, oil painting and travelling.