Patricia Fearnley
Partner/Head of Department
Specialisms and expertise
Patricia has specialised in clinical negligence for over 16 years. She has expertise in all aspects of clinical negligence work but has particular interest in obstetric and gynaecology cases and cases involving children including those who have cerebral palsy as a result of a birth related injury. She has acted for numerous parents whose babies who have died shortly before or after birth as a result of clinical negligence. Patricia is a member of the Law Society and AvMA Clinical Negligence Panels and is a Fellow of the Association of Personal Injury Lawyers. Since 2003 she has been recognised as a leader in the field of clinical negligence in the Legal 500 and Chambers Guide to the UK legal profession. In the 2009 edition of Chambers she was described as "superb when it comes to analysing evidence" and it was noted that: "every one of her clients gets a Rolls Royce service". In the 2011 edition she is praised for her “compassionate and caring approach” and described as “absolutely brilliant”.
Notable cases
- Miles v West Kent Health Authority [1996] recovered £470,000 for Diana Miles who had sustained a negligently caused bile duct injury during the early days of keyhole surgery. At the time this was the highest award for this type of injury.
- Skelton v Lewisham and North Southwark Health Authority [1997] in which substantial damages were recovered for a child who sustained catastrophic brain injury during heart surgery.
- Between 1998 and 2004 Patricia acted for over 100 women who had been patients of disgraced Kent Gynaecologist, Rodney Ledward.
- B (a minor) v East Kent Health Authority [2001] recovered damages for £400,000 for a child who suffered sensorineural hearing impairment as a complication of birth asphyxia.
- In 2003 recovered damages of £250,000 for a lady who had suffered bowel necrosis following hysterectomy.
- B v Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust [2004] recovered damages of £250,000 for a mother who was refused amniocentesis and gave birth to a child with Downs Syndrome.
- In 2008 recovered damages for parents whose twins died in utero as a result of undiagnosed twin to twin transfusion syndrome.
- Patricia regularly represents families at inquests where a relative has died in the course of medical treatment. Often she has assisted the family to recover compensation following the inquest.
Profile
Patricia is a chemistry graduate and pursued a career in the pharmaceutical industry before taking a career break when the first of her three children was born. She then decided on a change of direction and undertook the necessary studies to qualify as a solicitor and joined Thomson Snell & Passmore in 1990 as a mature trainee. She has always been fascinated by the inter-relationship between medicine and the law. Patricia is married with 3 grown up children.