Robert Sowersby

Call 2000

"Robert is always well-prepared, very down to earth, and adept at putting forward hard hitting, persuasive arguments."

For enquiries please contact

Caroline Evans
Senior Practice Manager - Civil
0117 930 9000
Click here to email

Olive Kavanagh
Practice Manager - Personal Injury, Clinical Negligence, Court of Protection (Health & Welfare) and Costs & Litigation Funding
0117 930 9000
Click here to email

"Robert is always well-prepared, very down to earth, and adept at putting forward hard hitting, persuasive arguments."


Legal 500 2022

"Extremely thorough, unflappable, and insightful, with a sensitive and very efficient approach to cases."


Legal 500 2021

"The work he produces is always of a high standard. He is very down to earth and is well received by clients."


Chambers & Partners 2021

"A very grounded barrister, who always provides pragmatic advice."


Legal 500 2019

"He is a dedicated barrister and shows repeated good judgement."


Chambers & Partners 2018

  • Assistant Coroner (Avon)

  • BVC, ICSL
  • PgDip Law, UWE
  • MA, History & Anthropology
  • First Class Hons, History, UCL

  • PIBA
  • The King’s Fund
  • The Coroners Society
Rob is a Clinical Negligence and Personal Injury specialist. He also sits locally as an assistant coroner and has a wealth of experience conducting Inquests both as coroner and as an advocate.

Rob undertakes clinical negligence and personal injury work for claimants and defendants.  He has a sensitive but down-to-earth approach, a strong record at trial, and a recognised ability to bring clarity to complex cases.

His work is often high-profile / high-value and he is frequently in court alongside KCs.

Rob has recently:

  • Been instructed by the Royal College of Nursing in a number of the ‘Ian Paterson inquests’ (a process examining the deaths of more than 60 patients of a convicted former breast surgeon)
  • Acted for the hospital in a tragic case concerning the death of a baby who was born unattended in a maternity unit
  • Represented a private surgeon at trial in a widely reported High Court case concerning surgical leg-lengthening.

Expertise

Rob undertakes work in all areas of clinical negligence.

His cases are often of unusual factual or medical complexity: they tend to be between £250,000 and £5m in value.

Rob has frequently provided advice and representation in cases involving alleged:

  • Failings in the provision of primary and/or emergency care
  • Failure to diagnose cancer
  • Surgical negligence
  • Negligence in the provision of psychiatric care.

Rob undertakes personal injury work: usually where the case is complex, high value, or involves a death. His coronial experience has proven useful in fatal claims but Rob handles the full spectrum of personal injury matters, including RTA and employers’ and public liability claims. He predominantly acts on behalf of defendants and insurers but is increasingly sought after by claimants due to his excellent approach to client care, keen ability to support clients through the claims journey and his sharp eye for detail.

Notable cases include –

  • Representing the insurer of an HGV involved in a multi-fatality collision with a minibus
  • Acting for the widow of a man killed in a freak accident at an on-shore power facility
  • Advising a close protection officer who was injured while working on the roof of a British embassy

Rob sits part-time as an assistant coroner in Avon and has extensive experience of large and high-profile inquest work both as coroner and as an advocate.

He is currently involved in ‘the Ian Paterson inquests’ – thought to be the largest inquest process in English / Welsh legal history.

Featured Inquests cases


Re Ellie-May Clark (2018)

A 5-year old girl died after her GP refused to see her when her mother was minutes late for an emergency appointment.


Re Carl Smith (2015)

Mr Smith died of methadone toxicity while on remand in Exeter Prison. He was on a methadone stabilisation programme but had obtained illicit methadone in addition to his prescribed dose. The jury returned a conclusion of ‘drug-related death’, adding a narrative which indicated that both the welfare checks performed by the prison’s healthcare provider and the overnight observations carried out by the prison staff were insufficient for a prisoner in Mr Smith’s vulnerable position.


Re Shaun Beasley (2012)

Acted for Mr Beasley’s family in the inquest following his suicide in a privately run prison. Mr Beasley had killed himself while purportedly under a scheme of increased observation in the prison’s healthcare unit. Both the prison and the unit were run by different companies: there was a double finding of neglect by the jury.

For enquiries please contact

Caroline Evans
Senior Practice Manager - Civil
0117 930 9000
Click here to email

Olive Kavanagh
Practice Manager - Personal Injury, Clinical Negligence, Court of Protection (Health & Welfare) and Costs & Litigation Funding
0117 930 9000
Click here to email

"Robert is always well-prepared, very down to earth, and adept at putting forward hard hitting, persuasive arguments."


Legal 500 2022

"Extremely thorough, unflappable, and insightful, with a sensitive and very efficient approach to cases."


Legal 500 2021

"The work he produces is always of a high standard. He is very down to earth and is well received by clients."


Chambers & Partners 2021

"A very grounded barrister, who always provides pragmatic advice."


Legal 500 2019

"He is a dedicated barrister and shows repeated good judgement."


Chambers & Partners 2018

  • Assistant Coroner (Avon)

  • BVC, ICSL
  • PgDip Law, UWE
  • MA, History & Anthropology
  • First Class Hons, History, UCL

  • PIBA
  • The King’s Fund
  • The Coroners Society

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