Clinical negligence
Criminal injuries
Fatal accident
Military
Occupational disease/illness
Police or prison
Spinal cord injury
About Rachel Seddon
Rachel is a Solicitor and APIL Accredited Senior Litigator with broad experience in serious injury and clinical negligence work, including claims involving delays in diagnosis and treatment, employers' and product liability.
In recent years, she has built up expertise in Armed Forces/Ministry of Defence litigation (both in the county and high courts) acting and advising, predominantly, for serving military personnel, veterans and their families, leading a fatal and serious injury team at Slater and Gordon Lawyers (UK). She also represents Armed Forces Compensation Scheme applicants and is starting to accept instructions to advocate at tribunal. She acts for clients with high value claims for loss of career or financial dependency following death or medical discharge from service and her work can involve cross-border issues and complex liability disputes relating to the provision of appropriate equipment, injury and illness in the course of service and combat immunity.
Rachel is regularly instructed in climatic injury and PTSD cases and has also been instructed in some of the earliest psychiatric injury claims relating to the anti-malarial drug, Lariam. She is also expanding her practice area to include claims for assault, bullying and harassment.
Most recently, she acted for a former soldier following his limb loss and resultant medical discharge from service and negotiated a seven-figure out of court settlement package which included future loss of earnings and pension that gave him, and his family, security in relation to future needs.
She also represented the family and dependants of a soldier tragically killed in a Snatch Land Rover IED blast in Helmand Province, Afghanistan. Whilst the Defendant, Ministry of Defence, maintained it had a complete defence to the civil breach of duty and human rights claims presented, settlement was favourably negotiated and approved by the High Court.
Expertise
- Military/Ministry of Defence cases
- Armed Forces Compensation Scheme
- Catastrophic injury
- Inquests and fatal injury
- Psychiatric injury/mental health including PTSD
- Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme
- Assault, bullying and harassment
- Clinical negligence including failure to consent and delay in diagnosis and treatment