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Nicola is a consultant for our Health and Regulatory team. She has acted for NHS Trusts and Medical Defence Organisations for over 15 years.

She previously qualified as a biomedical scientist specialising in haematology before transferring to law.

She has a wide, varied experience of all types of clinical negligence claims but with particular and specialist knowledge of high value birth injury and brain damage claims.

Experience

Nicola has a great deal of successful trial experience including the successful defence of a birth injury claim. She has also been involved in cases that have been pursued to the Court of Appeal.

Nicola has conducted a large number of very high value obstetric cases to a conclusion and has significant experience of ADR in this setting and of periodical payment orders. Of her last three birth injuries claims, one discontinued and one settled for £500,000 (against a reserve of £4.5 million).

Nicola was the lead partner for a team involved in advising and representing a Trust’s interests during a very high profile public inquiry. Following this, she successfully defended on behalf of the NHSLA the claims that followed.

Nicola has also been heavily involved in assisting a client undertake a Risk Management Review of the NHS 111 service including the development of a plan of action.

She has significant experience of representing clients’ interests at complicated high profile Inquests (including Article 2 and jury Inquests) where she usually undertakes her own advocacy.

Nicola has carried out secondments in the Technical Claims Unit at NHS Resolution (formerly the NHSLA) as well as previous secondments with the CNST teams.

She is involved in extensive training for client Trusts on all aspects of healthcare law and lectures on the LLM in Medical Law at the University of Northumbria.

Expertise: Sectors

Healthcare

Public & Third Sector

What people say

  • Nicola Richardson is very focused, knowledgeable and very effective in what she does.

    Chambers & Partners
  • Nicola Richardson devotes most of her attention to fighting clinical negligence claims for NHS Trusts. She also advises clients on various aspects of health law as part of the firm's 24-hour urgent response team.

    Chambers & Partners
  • [Nicola] is recognised as someone who 'is extremely good with clients, and really knows what she is doing.'

    Client quote, Chambers & Partners
  • Former haematology specialist Nicola Richardson continues to impress market sources with her clinical negligence expertise and extensive experience relating to prominent inquests. One commentator describes her as a 'very fair' and 'very reasonable' lawyer, who 'knows her stuff' and is 'not a soft touch'.

    Chambers & Partners
  • A really good and technically able lawyer who runs cases successfully to trial.

    Chambers & Partners

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