Sarah Atkinson

Specialisms & expertise

• Sarah has practised in Clinical Negligence since qualifying as a solicitor almost 25 years ago.  Her work has involved a wide range of cases including:
• Cerebral palsy caused by a delay in diagnosis and treatment of herpes encephalitis
• Cerebral palsy due to hypoxic injury
• Wrongful birth claims
• Delays in diagnosis of compartment syndrome
• Delays in diagnosis of sepsis
• Delays in diagnosis of breast cancer
• Delays in diagnosis of prostate cancer
• Delays in diagnosis of bowel cancer
• Surgical errors
• Compensation claims for the families of patients who died due to delays in treatment of cardiac issues, sepsis, rheumatic fever and meningitis
• Claims relating to IVF errors
• Psychiatric injury claims relating to the loss of a baby 
• Psychiatric injury relating to the death of a 4 year old from air embolism during air evacuation
• Acquired brain injury from delay in treatment of strokes
• Acquired brain injury from delay in treatment of aneurysms
• Bariatric surgery.

Sarah has also acted for many families at Coronial Inquests.

Achievements & other appointments 

2015 Queensland Law Society Outstanding Achievement Award

Doyles Guide Australia 2016 Leading Lawyer for Medical Negligence

Doyles Guide Australia 2017, 2018 and 2019 Recommended Lawyer for Medical Negligence

Women Lawyers Association of Queensland International Women’s Day Top 100 inspiring women 2018 and 2019.

Profile

Sarah obtained an honours degree in Law (European) from the University of Warwick and Universite de Bordeaux in 1992.  She completed her Law Society Finals at the College of Law, Guildford in 1993.  She completed her Articles at Thomson Snell & Passmore and was admitted to practice as a solicitor in England in 1996.  She then spent 6 years as a solicitor in the Clinical Negligence department of Thomson Snell & Passmore.

In 2002 Sarah moved to Queensland in Australia where she worked for 2 years in the Medical Negligence Department of one Brisbane law firm before joining the largest Medical Negligence team of a national Australian Law Firm, where she headed up their Queensland Medical Negligence team for 15 years.

In late 2019 Sarah returned to the UK with her family and joined the Clinical Negligence department of Thomson Snell & Passmore again.