About Us – Seamus Jude Edney

Seamus Edney is the principal of the practice and qualified as a solicitor in 1985. He has over 30 years’ experience of personal injury and clinical negligence work and maintains an exclusively Claimant specialist practice.

The Firm was born on 01 July 1996 and we celebrated our 25th anniversary in 2021. During this period, Seamus and his colleagues have acted for over 2150 clients, most of whom are based in Wiltshire and Gloucestershire but some live further away.

Seamus holds Senior Litigator status with the Association of Personal Injury Lawyers (APIL).

He is understood to be the first solicitor in legal history to secure an unlawful killing verdict against an NHS Hospital Trust, in the ground breaking inquest of Cabrera.

In a recent book entitled “LifeLine”, the author, Dr Barry Monk comments on patient safety in the NHS and in particular, on the Cabrera case. He describes Seamus in his book as a:

“dogged solicitor… a man not afraid of a David versus Goliath battle.”

His focus is on providing exceptional service to clients. He is approachable, personable and achieves excellent results for clients, even in the most difficult cases, with a success rate well in excess of 90% (significantly above that of many solicitors in this area). He will always offer to see clients in person.

For Seamus, the focus is always on providing a personal service. It is for this reason that the Firm has adopted a boutique approach, enabling clients to speak directly to the lawyer handling their case from their very first contact. Caseloads are always kept to manageable levels, so cases can be concluded as swiftly as possible, with expert oversight at all stages.

Seamus is assisted in his work by Margaret Hansel, Legal Assistant, who handles lower value cases and Maggie Crouch, his long-serving PA/Legal Secretary.

Career highlights

Career highlights for Seamus include:

  • Obtaining a £7.5million settlement for a young child who developed septicaemia, following a delayed diagnosis of an infection, leaving her with no digits on her two hands;.
  • A £3million settlement for a young man with a serious brain injury following a road traffic accident, who will now need care and support for the rest of his life;
  • Obtaining a £1.65 million settlement for a client who suffered life changing injuries as a consequence of an ischaemic stroke caused by delayed diagnosis of a perforated colon at hospital

Other cases include:

  • acting for Arnel Cabrera in his clinical negligence claim against Great Western Hospital arising from the tragic death of his wife following childbirth in 2004. This case attracted huge national and international media interest;
  • acting for the family of Emma Cadywould, who died following the failure of Avon & Wiltshire Mental Health Trust to treat her postnatal depression.
  • Group litigation for 36 patients of Dr Davinderjit Bains, a GP in Royal Wootton Bassett who sexually abused/assaulted them whilst treating them as his patients;
  • Timothy Crook, who was convicted of the homicide of both his parents following the failures of Lincolnshire Partnership Foundation NHS Trust and Avon & Wiltshire Mental Health Partnership NHS Trust to treat his underlying mental health condition.

A number of his cases are reported by the local media. Read about some of our past cases and the level of compensation that was awarded.

Seamus maintains a close link with his old university, Reading University, where he has attended to give lectures to students on current legal practice in this complex area of the law.

Seamus Edney, Medical Negligence Solicitor

Seamus Jude Edney, Solicitor

Seamus Edney, Medical Negligence Solicitor

Margaret Hansel, Legal Assistant

Seamus Edney, Medical Negligence Solicitor

Maggie Crouch, PA/Legal Secretary