James Maxwell-Scott

James Maxwell-Scott

General Information

MA (Cantab) (1st class), BCL (Oxon).

Current Practice - Summary

He has considerable advocacy experience in a wide variety of tribunals. He has appeared in the Court of Appeal, Divisional Court, High Court, County Courts, public inquiries and Coroners' Courts, Crown and Magistrates' courts, Employment Tribunals and VAT Tribunals.

He was heavily involved in the Hutton, Mubarek, Shipman and BSE Inquiries. The Legal 500 has described him as a leading junior in this field and "a consistently good performer" with "a real specialism in this area".  

In April 2005 he was appointed to the Attorney General's Panel of Counsel (B Panel). He undertakes work for both private clients and central and local Government.

 

Practice

Clinical Negligence and Professional Negligence

He has substantial experience in clinical negligence cases. High Court and county court trials have included claims for failure to diagnose a subarachnoid haemorrhage and a myocardial infarction. In addition, many of the inquests in which he has appeared have involved issues of substandard medical treatment.

He also has experience of claims involving financial advisers, architects and solicitors.

 

Health & Safety

His experience of health & safety issues spans criminal prosecutions, inquests, appeals against prohibition notices and civil claims.

In December 2008 he represented a construction company in a successful appeal against a Prohibition Notice imposed by the HSE.

He has represented defendants in prosecutions under the Work at Height Regulations 2005 and the Fire Precautions Act 1971.

 

Inquests and Public Inquiries

In addition to his involvement in the Hutton, Mubarek, Shipman, BSE, Billy Wright and Rosemary Nelson Inquiries, he is regularly instructed in lengthy jury and non-jury inquests.

He has experience of a wide range of inquests including deaths arising out of:

  • Accidents at work and in the community;
  • Allegedly substandard medical care;
  • Explosions;
  • Incidents involving the Armed Forces;
  • Aviation accidents;
  • Incidents in custody.

He has represented clients in over 25 different coroners' courts in England and Wales.

He has delivered the human rights update lecture to coroners at a residential course organised by the Home Office. He regularly provides in-house seminars to firms of solicitors on aspects of coronial law.

In Autumn 2008 he advised Lord Sutherland on procedural matters of relevance to his private inquiry into the problems with the delivery of SATS in Summer 2008.

Recent inquests include:

Represented the manufacturer of a self-contained oxygen generator which exploded onboard the Royal Navy nuclear submarine, HMS Tireless, killing 2 submariners (February/March 2009).

Represented the employer of a welder whose van exploded as a result of a leak from an acetylene gas cylinder (October 2008).

Represented the owner of a hotel at an inquest into the death of a hotel resident who drowned in the hotel's indoor swimming pool (October 2008).

Represented the deputy manager of a nursing home at a 5 day inquest into the death of a resident who developed pressure sores (June 2008).

Represented a youth offending team at a 10 week inquest into the death of a 16 year old boy from the Irish Travelling community (November 2007 - February 2008).

Represented a developer at the inquest into the death of 3 workmen who died on site of carbon monoxide poisoning (September 2007).

Represented the Prison Service at a 5 week inquest into the murder of an Asian prisoner by his white cellmate. This was the first Article 2 inquest into a murder within a prison (April/May 2007).

Represented the MoD at a 5 day inquest into the death of a soldier during a training exercise in Iraq (January 2007).

 

Civil fraud

He has considerable experience of representing HM Revenue & Customs and the Assets Recovery Agency in a wide range of matters.

In March 2007 he represented the Assets Recovery Agency in an 8 day High Court trial for a civil recovery order under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 - ARA v Jackson [2007] EWHC 2553 (QB). This was the second contested trial under Part V of the Act and the first involving an interim receiver.

He has experience of money laundering cases and has obtained a number of freezing orders for HMRC and ARA against persons suspected of fraud, including carousel fraud, and other criminal activity.

  

Personal Injury

He acts for both claimants and defendants in most types of personal injury cases including fatal accidents claims and industrial disease claims.

Between July 2005 and December 2007 he was heavily involved in defending HM Prison Service in two sets of group litigation arising out a riot which took place in HMP Lincoln in 2002. In the first set of proceedings, which was the subject of a Group Litigation Order, 50 prisoners claimed that the prison should have had in place an alternative locking policy. In the second set of proceedings, 15 prison officers claimed that the prison should have predicted and prevented the riot. The Claimants in both sets of proceedings discontinued the actions shortly before their respective trials.

 

Product Liability

He gained experience of product liability issues through work on the BSE Inquiry representing civil servants from the Medicines Control Agency and external scientific advisers, including a former Chairman of the MCA.

In February/March 2009 he represented the manufacturer of a self-contained oxygen generator (SCOG) at a 6 week inquest into the deaths of 2 submariners following an incident in which a SCOG exploded on a nuclear submarine.

 

Publications/Seminars

James regularly provides in-house seminars to firms of solicitors and other professionals on request.

He is a contributor to the Chambers Health & Safety and Regulatory Newsletter. The latest edition, together with access to all previous editions can be found here:

http://newsweaver.co.uk/crownoffice/index.cfm

 

PROFESSIONAL MEMBERSHIPS

London Common Law and Commercial Bar Association, Professional Negligence Bar Association, Commercial Bar Association, Personal Injury Bar Association, Administrative Law Bar Association.

 

Selected Cases

The Hutton Inquiry. First junior counsel representing a number of MoD witnesses, including the Secretary of State for Defence and the Permanent Secretary.

The Mubarek Inquiry. First junior counsel representing HM Prison Service and many individual members of the Prison Service including the Director General.

The Shipman Inquiry. He was the most senior barrister in the legal team representing the Home Office in Phase 2 Stage 2 (death and cremation certification) and Phase 2 Stage 3 (controlled drugs).

The BSE Inquiry. Worked for over 18 months with a team of other counsel and solicitors representing former Ministers, scientific advisers and senior civil servants from the Department of Health.

The Billy Wright Inquiry. Represented a number of civil servants and soldiers at this public inquiry in Northern Ireland.   

The Rosemary Nelson Inquiry. Represented a number of civil servants and soldiers at this public inquiry in Northern Ireland.   

MM (Libya) v Home Secretary [2008] EWCA Civ 145

ARA v Jackson [2007] EWHC 2553 (QB)

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