Morbidity of Cardiac Surgery

Advancing a case of negligence 27 years after an infant of 5 months underwent life saving cardiac surgery which resulted in her suffering spastic quadriplegia, epilepsy, hearing and visual loss, behavioural problems and significant cognitive impairment was never going to be easy. As recognized by the Court of Appeal (Grace Mugweni v NHS London [2011] EWCA Civ 20) “this must have been an extremely difficult trial for all concerned: both in the presentation of the respective cases by the respective advocates and in the resolution of the issues by the trial judge.”  The case was upheld on negligence but finally failed on causation. I led a very able junior (Jonathan Jones). He has given me permission to quote from the letter he wrote to me after he was appointed a QC in 2013 (KC 2022):

“More than any other silk, you taught me the importance of immaculate preparation, thorough and detailed analysis, persuasive advocacy and sublime cross-examination”