Jamie Arthur

Jamie advises on professional negligence and indemnity disputes across a range of professional sectors, including solicitors, brokers, reinsurers and financial professionals. His work spans defence of claims, coverage analysis and pre-action strategy.

Selected cases:

• Acting for solicitors in the defence of a professional negligence claim arising out of a shareholders’ agreement for a minority investor, involving scope of retainer, causation and contributory negligence
• Acting for solicitors in the defence of a professional negligence claim alleging failures in the conduct of a criminal defence, where the claimant had subsequently been convicted.
• Acting for solicitors defending a claim arising out of residential conveyancing, where the claimant sought to recover losses said to flow from a loss of chance on a hypothetical settlement of a later TOLATA dispute
• Acting for solicitors defending a defamation claim brought by a third party to their client’s underlying dispute, involving issues of serious harm and qualified privilege under the Defamation Act 2013
• Acting for solicitors in a professional negligence claim concerning a defective notice under the Housing Act 1988, with the dispute turning on causation and the recoverability of loss of rent against a non-paying tenant.

Jamie has experience with construction disputes involving defects, delays, and professional negligence.

Selected cases:

• Acting on secondment in a substantial High Court claim concerning facilities management services, addressing entitlement for services performed beyond the contractual scope and a cost-to-complete counterclaim.
• Acting for an RTM company in First-tier Tribunal proceedings concerning the recoverability of service charges for major roof works, including cross-examination of a chartered surveyor on the reasonableness of competing remedial schemes.
• Acting for an architect in a claim alleging failure to provide drawings under a JCT Minor Works contract, considering issues of res judicata, witness immunity, and breach of duty.
• Acting for the defendant in a multi-track party wall dispute against a neighbour on alleged damage to a residential property as a result of work carried out.

Jamie has experience across property damage and product liability, with a particular interest in coverage disputes, product safety regulation, and complex causation issues arising from fires, contamination and defective products.

Selected cases:

• Advising in connection with a commercial fire allegedly caused by a defective electric vehicle battery, addressing product liability, negligent manufacture and complex causation issues.
• Acting for an insurer in a property damage claim brought by a police force arising from contact between a police vehicle and a stolen van during a pursuit, including issues of insurable interest, Article 75 MIB liability, and novus actus interveniens.
• Acting for a supplier in the defence of a property damage claim and advising on cross-border contribution strategy, involving battle-of-the-forms issues, exclusion and limitation clauses under UCTA 1977.
• Acted for a registered provider in a private nuisance claim brought by neighbouring freeholders, addressing the scope of a landlord’s liability for the acts of a tenant and the Human Rights Act 1998.
• Acted for the defendant in a property damage claim arising from an alleged escape of water, addressing defective pleadings, allocation, and limitation issues.

Jamie has a developing practice at the intersection of environmental regulation, public law and complex property damage, with particular experience of regulatory enforcement, pollution incidents and environmental liability.

Selected cases:

• Advised on strategy and drafted an enforcement undertaking in a complex environmental permitting matter, addressing emissions compliance failures and criminal sanctions.
• Advised a sewerage undertaker on charging decisions in a prosecution for repeated trade effluent breaches and interference with a wastewater treatment works.
• Acting for residential landowners in a substantial flooding claim against a county council, arising from prolonged failure to address known defects in highway drainage.
• Advised on appeals in relation to Compliance Assessment Reports (in relation to both the Environment Agency and Natural Resources Wales).

Jamie has experience spanning inquests, regulatory advisory work and complex criminal proceedings. He acts for both public and private clients in matters involving statutory frameworks and the interface between regulatory obligations and criminal liability. As a member of the Attorney General’s ‘Junior Junior’ scheme, he welcomes instructions from government departments.

Selected cases:

• Drafted written submissions on behalf of an interested person at a jury inquest into a fatal workplace accident, addressing whether a conclusion of unlawful killing should be left to the jury, involving the application of the Galbraith-plus test and the exercise of the privilege against self-incrimination under Rule 22.
• Acted for an interested party at the inquest into the death of a motorist following a fatal road traffic collision.
• Instructed at an inquest into a fatal motorcycle collision, involving expert accident reconstruction evidence.
• Advised on the regulatory framework applicable to state-owned vessels.
• Advised on subrogated recovery of misappropriated funds, focusing on compensation orders in criminal proceedings and the Proceeds of Crime Act.
• Acting for a corporate defendant in HSE prosecution proceedings appearing at a preliminary hearing in the Magistrates’ Court.

Jamie has a personal injury practice with a focus on pursuing allegations of fraud and cases turning on credibility, expert evidence and procedural non‑compliance.

Selected cases:

• Successfully secured strike‑out for the defendant in a personal injury claim involving sustained non‑compliance and pleaded allegations of dishonesty against both the claimant and the instructed expert.
• Acted for the defendant in a road traffic personal injury claim, successfully resisting summary judgment and strike‑out, obtaining relief from sanctions and permission to rely on key evidence raising serious credibility and fundamental dishonesty issues.
• Acted for the defendant in a credit hire claim brought by a minor, successfully resolving the claim before trial on the basis that the agreements signed by his father had never been ratified.
• Acted for the defendant in an abuse of process application related to defective protocol compliance following Cable v Liverpool Victoria Insurance Company Limited [2020] EWCA Civ 1015.
• Acting for the defendant in a strike-out application concerning abuse of process arising from a claimant’s deliberate undervaluation of a claim to evade the proper issue fee.
• Successfully secured strike-out at trial on multiple occasions in claims involving defective translation evidence.

Jamie has a growing sports-related practice, with experience in liability, regulatory obligations and risk allocation in sporting contexts.

Selected cases:

• Acted for a local authority in a claim brought by a semi‑professional footballer arising from an injury due to an allegedly poorly maintained pitch.
• Acted for a school in a claim brought by a pupil injured during a trampolining lesson, addressing supervision, spotting practice, and contributory negligence.
• Advised on liability in a claim involving a sports club, considering responsibility for volunteers, unincorporated associations, and the Occupiers’ Liability Act.