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Summary Of Practice

I have a wide-ranging practice covering civil and regulatory work. Twenty years' experience has taught me that working as a team is important and that the team should include both my Instructing Solicitor and the lay client.

Civil
I have set out the details under specific headings below. As a general rule, civil work is about attempting to settle matters on the best possible terms. Consequently, when outlining the areas of practice below, I have tried to avoid the names of the parties in cases which have settled rather than fought.

-   Administrative law : I have wide experience in the administrative court including applications against education authorities - R (on application of Ross) v Leeds City Council [2005] EWHC 2495 (Admin) and police authorities regarding funding - R v SYPA ex p CC S Yorkshire [1999] EWHC Admin 286. I advise public bodies on the effects of local policies in areas covered by statute.

-   Civil Fraud : I act in cases of both deliberate frauds on, eg, insurance companies and in commercial cases in which fraud is alleged as part of the case. I was instructed in the application for a search and freezing order against the directors in the TAG litigation.

-   Commercial : This area includes advisory work, drafting and litigation. I advise clients regarding the enforcement of share agreements, management buy-outs and the interpretation of contracts. I draft contractual clauses. Recent commercial trials include Lawtex v Mothercare (purported termination of contract for non-compliance with specification - see also civil fraud) and Dixon v S & N [2002] 4 Comp LR 484 (construction of Beer Order). I also apply for and contest interim injunctions, particularly freezing orders and search orders. I am currently instructed in a conspiracy case against Police Forces and Customs.

-   Clinical Negligence : I act for Claimants and Defendants in numerous cases. Reported examples include M v Calderdale and Kirklees Health Authority (formerly West Yorkshire Health Authority) [1998] Lloyd's Rep Med 157 (Health Authority's delegation of care of patient under S1 NHS Act 1977); Bancroft v Harrogate Health Authority [1997] 8 Med LR 398 (Causation in cervical cancer); and Burke v Leeds HA [2001] EWCA Civ 51 (what constitutes negligent advice in clinical care).

-   Defamation : Since taking Silk, I have been instructed on a regular basis in defamation, including interim relief and advice on whether to litigate. I act mainly for companies, but also for individuals. Defamatory material is more and more frequently published on the internet. I have experience in interim injunctions to compel the removal of such material from web sites. For obvious reasons, clients are unnamed.

-   Employment : I am instructed in litigation arising from breaches of restrictive covenants and conspiracy. I advise commercial enterprises as to the effects of recent legislation upon their contractual arrangements with staff and as to the effects of groups of employees setting up competing businesses.

-   Mediation : Many commercial disputes go to mediation. I can draft all relevant documentation and attend mediations, both supported by my Instructing Solicitor and alone.

-   Partnership : I have wide experience in the break up of partnerships on a local and national level. I deal with partial buy-outs, simple falling out and amicable splits. I advise individuals, firms of accountants and solicitors and groups within such firms. By definition, settlement is a favourable result and, consequently, I have preserved clients' anonymity.

-   Professional Negligence : I am mainly instructed in matters concerning solicitors and accountants, although I have some experience of architects and surveyors' negligence. I am currently instructed in a solicitors' negligence action regarding a failure to advise on a commercial development and a solicitors / accountants / trustees' negligence action regarding a failure to obtain tax advice.

Regulatory
-   Discipline : I am instructed in discipline cases concerning the Police (including the Cross-Border case), the Fire Service, Probation Service and Customs and Excise, as well as individual, corporate and charity matters. I represent individuals and advise employers.

-   Health and Safety : All aspects, including trading standards - Poundstretcher (unsafe clothing), and many industries including Medley (asbestos); Mather and Jackson (fireworks and explosives); Butters (Lightwater Valley amusement park); Seiles (electricity); Henry Boot (roofing); Next (warehousing and fork lift trucks); Scurr (transportation of animals spreading foot and mouth); Totty (scaffolding); and Wakefield (hydraulic lifts). I have experience in advising HSE and defence solicitors in cases involving HSWA charges and corporate liability. I have also prosecuted asbestosis offences and cases of death caused by marsh gas. I have attended  numerous inquests, including those concerned with death by crushing at work and death as a result of hospital treatment.

-   Judicial Review : Arising from other regulatory work I have judicially reviewed public bodies, including witness statement only reviews, and live evidence reviews. Cases include R (on application of Ashton & Fraser) v CC West Yorkshire [2005] EWHC 975 (Admin) (Chief Constable's refusal to stop discipline proceedings after case stopped as abuse in the Crown Court); R v DPP ex p Duckenfield [1999] EWHC Admin 286 (DPP's refusal to take over and discontinue private prosecution).

-   Profession Standards : I advise firms of solicitors and accountants regarding defaults of particular employees and have acted for entire firms alleged to have committed both disciplinary and regulatory breaches. I draft professional guidance for accountants and barristers. I also act for those wishing to make complaints. I act for both doctors and patients in Hospital Trust investigations.

-   Public and Departmental Inquiries : I acted for the Humberside Police Federation in the Bichard Inquiry (Soham murders) and advised the officers in the IPCC Inquiry into the death of Christopher Alder. I also act for groups and individuals who do not necessarily require representation during the inquiry itself (or are not allowed it) but need to make representations prior to the Report being published. I also advise local government departments and agencies into the scope and terms of local inquiries into, for example, offences committed whilst being the subject of a Community Order.

Selected Cases

Lightwater Valley Inquest and subsequent prosecution on behalf of the one individual identified as being responsible for the accident which led to the death of Gemma Savage.

HSE v Jarvis : Railway electrocution. Prosecuted the HSE leading Sam Green.

Wakefield MDC v Next Plc : Prosecution for local authority in respect of employee killed when abseilling from a fork lift truck as part of training.

Re National Cargo Services : Advice on prosecution of defendant in respect of third party workman being crushed to death at Hull docks in the absence of a banksman.

R v Mather & Jackson : Defence of accused charged under the dangerouse substances regulations and HSWA in respect of death of a third party contractor who had disposed of industrial fireworks.

R v Totty Services : Another death by falling from a roof case. Also prosecuted that case when one Defendant went to the Court of Appeal.

Education

MA Cantab

Other Information

I am currently 45 years old (d.o.b. 22.10.62).  I am married with 4 daughters - 2 of whom are teenagers - providing me with an incentive to work long hours... We live in Leeds and we have a Heinz dog. When I am not working I run (no good at marathons - halves are OK), sail when on holiday, read and teach an adult education course for the Hebrew University.

Recommendations:

Legal 500 2007/8 - "Simon Myerson QC is particularly valued in professional indemnity litigation and partnership disputes"

Legal 500 Commercial 2006 - "Simon Myerson QC is taking more commercial instructions, including professional negligence and partnership matters"

Legal 500 Regulatory and Public Law 2006 - "Simon Myerson QC has wide experience of HSWA defence and corporate liability"

Career History & appointments:

Attorney Generals Provincial List 1992
Standing Counsel Inland Revenue 2000
Recorder 2001
Silk 2003
Times Law Panel 2007
Member of the Bar Council Conduct Committee