Michael de Navarro QC

QC: 1990  Call: 1968

Expertise

Clinical Negligence
Insurance & Reinsurance
Personal Injury
Professional Negligence
Professional Regulation
Property Damage

Appointments

Queen's Counsel 1990
Recorder 1990
Governing Bencher Inner Temple 2000

Practice Profile

Michael de Navarro is instructed regularly in heavy trials and appeals concerning cases of clinical and professional negligence, insurance, product liability, health and safety at work and general commercial litigation. He was chairman of the Personal Injury Bar Association from 1997-1999.

Many of Michael de Navarro’s instructions, over a wide range of practice areas, have involved the ability to master and present detailed factual and legal questions and technical and scientific issues with the assistance of appropriate experts over a wide field (including electrical, mechanical and geotechnical engineering experts, fire and gas experts, chemical and electrochemical experts, accountancy, medical, solicitor and valuer experts) and the need to develop and argue difficult points of law.

He has, on many occasions, been instructed in cases involving liability of local authorities.

 

Clinical Negligence

In silk Michael has been instructed in a variety of clinical negligence cases include acting for claimants and defendants which has earned Michael the assessment of being a robust advocate and for having a tough but fair approach to quantum issues (Chambers and Partners 2008). The following are examples:

• acting for 14 year old girl with severely curving spine.  Third of three operations to correct this congenital defect was negligently performed with distraction rods wrongly positioned damaging spinal cord; as a result the defect was not corrected, and the patient was rendered paraplegic
• acting for boy suffering major brain damage from birth; probable cause was paroxysmal tachycardia of foetal heart during labour; issues included whether given state of medical knowledge at time there should have been earlier intervention; and causation
• acting for Health Authority in case involving major brain damage from birth; the probable cause was shoulder dystochia; there was an issue as to whether shoulder dystochia should have been foreseen; it was accepted that there should have been earlier intervention as a result of fetal distress; however that distress did not materially contribute to the brain damage; the principal issue was whether if earlier intervention had taken place it should have taken the form of delivery by caesarean section or encouraging natural delivery; in the latter case, shoulder dystochia and the resulting brain damage would still have occurred.  In essence this was a Bolitho defence.
• acting for NHS Trust in case involving cerebral palsy as a result of cord prolapse after ARM in hospital. The issues were whether the midwives were negligent in electing to carry out the ARM; whether Registrar was negligent in attempting forceps delivery (which failed) rather than proceeding straight to caesarean section; and causation, i.e. what the outcome would have been if she had proceeded straight to caesarean section.
• acting for London Ambulance Service in case of cerebral palsy as a result of cord prolapse at home; the issues were whether the ambulance crew who attended were negligent in taking too long over treatment at the mother’s home and in taking the mother to hospital; and causation, i.e. what the outcome would have been if between 5 and 20 minutes had been saved. The latter issue involved the proper application of animal research on total asphyxia to the effect of profound (but sub-total) hypoxic ischaemia on the human foetus
• acting for NHS Trust in quantum only cerebral palsy case where issues were life expectancy (including the applicability of customised interrogation of Professor Strauss’ Californian database on cerebral palsy) and the proper approach to multipliers in cases of diminished life expectancy (whether the multiplier should reflect the chances of dying before, and living beyond, life expectancy).  This was the first English case in which Professor Strauss gave evidence.
• acting for health authority in cerebral palsy case where cord prolapse occurred spontaneously in hospital in footling breach presentation; issues included whether midwife should have carried out vaginal examination when abdominal examination suggested (wrongly but not negligently) cephalic presentation with head 3/5 palpable and whether cord prolapse and its consequences would have occurred in any event
• acting for various NHS Trusts in preliminary issue over whether doctors making diagnosis of Munchausen By Proxy in relation to their patient an allergic child owed a duty of care to the child’s mother who was not their patient
• ­ acting for health authority on limitation issue in a cerebral palsy case in which claimant was not a patient; date of knowledge and discretion to disapply limitation period
• acting for health authority in case of brain damaged child where mother contracted chicken pox during pregnancy; shared care case; mother sued GP who she had asked for advice and health authority whose hospital registrar had not been asked for such advice
• acting for hospital trust in case of brain damaged child as result of neonatal stroke; whether caused by negligent use of forceps; causation
• acting for hospital trust in case of brain damaged patient who had absconded while sectioned under Mental Health Act and attempted to commit suicide
• ­acting for hospital trust who had not carried CT scan after RTA head injury in patient with subdural haematoma, whether negligent, causation and attributability of subsequent severe brain damage to original injury, non-negligent exposure to subdural haematoma and negligent exposure to subdural haematoma;
• acting for, and advising, NHS Trusts, Health Authorities and ambulance authorities in numerous other liability, causation and quantum cases. These cases have involved, inter alia, cerebral palsy, neo-natal stroke, kernicterus, brain damage from small pox vaccination, wrongful birth, pregnancy screening, failure to detect brain tumour and resuscitation; failure of ambulance to carry defibrillator

 

Insurance & Reinsurance

• repudiation and commercial fraud, including defences of fire fraud claims for insurers;
• insurance policy disputes;

 

Personal Injury

• Major personal injury cases for Plaintiffs and Defendants (including persistent vegetative state and psychiatric injury and PTSD claims and many paraplegic, tetraplegic, brain damage and back injury cases: many of these involve disputed expert medical issues and nearly all involve quantum issues both expert and factual which are identical to those involved in clinical negligence cases);

 

Professional Negligence

• Professional negligence claims against solicitors and valuers acting both for clients and professionals (most involve disputed expert evidence as to the proper professional practice at the time of the actions or advice complained of; some involve claims against solicitors for their conduct of personal injury litigation);

 

Professional Regulation

• professional disciplinary tribunals (e.g., GMC; including fraudulent claims on NHS and judicial review of decision not to adjourn disciplinary hearing when criminal proceedings pending);

 

Property Damage

• liability of fire brigade for failure to detect fire on neighbouring premises when called to scene of reported explosion (whether any duty of care);
• negligent/contractual electrical and other fire claims;
• negligence and nuisance claims involving economic loss;

Notable Cases

Ruff v RVI [2001] Lloyd’s Rep Med 530 (first instance);

RVI v B [2002] EWCA Civ 348 (Court of Appeal)

Reynolds v Newcastle and North Tyneside HA [2002] Lloyd’s Rep Med 459

Davis v East Berkshire NHS Community Trust and ors [2003] Lloyd’s Rep Med 9

R v Kearley [1992] 2 AC 228 (House of Lords); implied assertions as hearsay.

Wentworth v Wiltshire County Council [1993] QB 654 (CA); liability of Highway authorities for economic loss.

R v Kearley (No 2) [1994] 2 AC 414 (House of Lords); effect of remission of issue to Court of Appeal. Can dead men appeal?

Green v Building Scene Ltd [1994] PIQR 259 (CA); occupiers' liability; effect of non-compliance with Building Regulations and British Standard.

O'Shea v Royal Borough of Kingston-upon-Thames [1995] PIQR 208 (CA); personal injuries; diving accident at public pool; liability of local authority for not prohibiting diving.

Nykredit v Edward Erdman [1995] 2 WLR 607 (CA) [1996] 3 WLR 87 (HL); whether surveyors negligently overvaluing property liable for further fall in value of property attributable to fall in market (the "BBL" point).

Nykredit v Edward Erdman [1996] 1EGLR 119 (CA); liability of valuers carrying out RDV on office development site, whether outside range of valuation a reasonable valuer could arrive at.

John Munroe (Acrylics) v LFCDA [1997] QB 983; [1997] QB 1004 (CA) whether fire brigades owe duty of care to property owner in respect of fire damage caused by their negligent omission to detect fire.

Star News Shops Ltd v Stafford Refrigeration Ltd [1998] 1 WLR 536 (CA); whether jurisdiction or proper exercise of discretion to strike out defence for failure to comply with non-peremptory order for discovery

Jolley v London Borough of Sutton [1998] 1 WLR 1546 (CA); [2000] 1 WLR 1082 (HL); whether negligent local authority liable for accident of type which was not a foreseeable consequence of their negligence.

Day v Cook [2000] PNLR 178; solicitor who persuaded businessman client to invest in disastrous joint business ventures negligent and in breach of fiduciary duty to client; damages limited because much of claimant’s loss consisted of diminution of value of his shares in company in respect of which company alone could sue.

Additional Information

Affiliations:

• Chairman, Personal Injury Bar Association 1997-9