Clair Wilson is a highly experienced senior solicitor based in Thompsons Solicitors’ Newcastle office and is a supervisor of the firm’s clinical negligence and serious injury teams covering the North East, Cumbria and Yorkshire & Humberside.
Clair has specialised in these cases since 2012 and was accredited by the Law Society for her excellence in clinical negligence work in 2015.
The main injuries covered by Clair include those sustained at birth (such as cerebral palsy), brain injuries, amputations and spinal injuries (cauda equina syndrome in particular, a rare but very serious neurological problem, involving pressure on the nerves at the very bottom of the spinal cord). Her cases also involve surgical errors and delayed diagnosis of illnesses such as cancer. The latter is often difficult to prove because of the need to show that the delay in diagnosis made a difference to the overall prognosis. Inevitably her clients are suffering from serious long term problems.
Clair qualified as a solicitor in 2001 and during her career she has handled a mixed personal injury caseload. Her cases involved road traffic accidents, Employer’s Liability and Public Liability. She also represented clients suffering from conditions such as Vibration White Finger, Repetitive Strain Injury, deafness, stress and illness caused by hazardous substances.
In her current role Clair leads and motivates team members and supervises their work, but she also runs her own caseload of high value/maximum severity cases.
Clair values her role at Thompsons because of the firm’s close identification with unions and its insistence on working solely on behalf of injured parties and vulnerable individuals. She sees her involvement in campaigns like “patients before profits” as an integral part of her work at the firm.
Clair prides herself on ensuring that she gives her clients accurate and timely advice about their cases and regularly receives positive feedback about her proactive approach. She always strives to recover the highest level of compensation possible for her clients.
Away from the office, Clair likes to go fell walking in the Lake District and spending time with her husband and sons.
Clair's case experience
- Secured £4 million for a former firefighter who suffered a traumatic brain injury during surgery to remove a brain tumour.
- Secured a £1.7 million settlement for a Unite member who had his right leg amputated above-the-knee after medical staff failed to diagnose a serious condition for almost a week.
- Secured £1.5 million for a 41-year-old man who, as a result of a delay in diagnosis and treatment of cauda equina syndrome, was left with life-changing injuries, including bilateral foot drop, mobility issues and bladder, bowel and sexual dysfunction.
- Recovered £800,000 for a man left with leg pain and weakness, and bladder, bowel and sexual dysfunction as a result of a delay in diagnosis and treatment of cauda equina syndrome.
- Secured £550,000 in compensation for a women diagnosed with terminal cervical cancer as a result of a misreported smear, securing an admission of liability and an interim payment of damages prior to her death aged 31.
- Recovered more than £528,000 for a client who was forced to undergo a below-the-knee amputation.
- Ensured a £170,000 settlement for a former horticulture teacher for children with special needs, following negligent replacement knee surgery.
- Secured a £250,000 compensation settlement, despite the hospital denying liability, for a client who developed discitis, a permanent disability, as a result of delay of diagnosis of cauda equina syndrome and a surgery gone wrong.
- Secured £48,000 in compensation for a client whose baby died when the midwife failed to monitor the unborn baby's heartrate during labour, when it would have shown abnormalities.
Professional membership
Clair is a member of the medical negligence charity, AvMA (Action Against Medical Accidents), which works for patient safety and justice. Clair is also a member of the Law Society's clinical negligence panel which is testimony to her high level of expertise and specialist knowledge in clinical negligence law.