William Latimer-Sayer
Areas of Practice
Profile
William specialises solely in personal injury and clinical negligence. He is experienced in the full range of such work including County and High Court trials, appeals (including Court of Appeal and House of Lords), inquests and criminal injury compensation claims. He is also instructed in professional negligence cases arising out of failed personal injury or clinical negligence litigation.He accepts work on behalf of both claimants and defendants but his practice is predominantly claimant based.
William has a special interest in quantum and is co-author of Schedules of Loss: Calculating Damages (Tottel, 2nd edition 2005). The majority of his work is related to contested assessment of damages hearings in catastrophic injury cases such as those who have suffered severe brain or spinal cord injury or amputation etc. Over the last three years William has been instructed in cases recovering a combined total of over £110 m on behalf of injured claimants by way of settlement or trial. These have included a number of record-breaking awards such as Sarwar v Ali which was the highest ever gross court award previously made in a personal injury case (equivalent to a lump sum of £9.5 m but was awarded by way of periodical payments and reduced for contributory negligence) and A v Powys Health Board which was the highest court award ever made following a contested trial in a clinical negligence case and the first to break through the £10 m barrier (the claimant was an Irish national and the award was made up of two different currencies but was equivalent to £10.7 m). Most recently he was instructed in XXX v Strategic Health Authority in which the claimant, a boy with cerebral palsy, recovered a grossed up award of £9.4 m. This is thought to be the highest ever award for an English national following a contested trial together with the highest ever court assessed award for periodical payments in respect of care and case management which for the long-term were in excess of £250,000 per annum.
He is also often instructed in cases involving novel or interesting points of law such as fatal accidents or psychiatric injury cases.
William is recommended as a leading junior in personal injury and clinical negligence work in Chambers & Partners, Legal 500 and Legal Experts.
In 2008 he was winner of the prestigious Chambers & Partners' Personal Injury Junior of the Year.
Directories/press/awards
In 2008 William was named Chambers and Partners' Personal Injury Junior of the Year. Sheer talent and an impressive worth ethic were said to mark William out as "one of the best juniors of his generation".
William Latimer-Sayer is known for his "outstanding attention to detail and technical ability". "Great with clients and immensely hard-working," he specialises in high-value catastrophic injury work, and has recently won some landmark rulings for claimants. Chambers 2009 (Personal Injury)
William Latimer-Sayer is praised unreservedly for his skill with quantum, schedules and number-crunching generally. "Way ahead of his peers" in relation to such issues Chambers 2009 (Clinical Negligence)
Clients and peers alike heap praise on Cloisters' William Latimer-Sayer, whose "enthusiasm and attention to detail" are highly commended, particularly in relation to complex quantum issues, where he is described as having "fantastic depth of knowledge". Legal 500, 2008 (Personal Injury)
William Latimer-Sayer moves up the tables this year, after completing numerous high-profile cases. He is fast becoming one of the leading juniors in the field due to "hard-working and diligent nature" A "true star of the future" he "always goes the extra mile". Chambers 2008 (Personal Injury)
William Latimer - Sayer is a quantum expert, and is the junior of choice for many Solicitors who enjoy his "energetic, helpful and friendly" style and appreciate his "detailed and precise advice" -Chambers 2008 (Clinical Negligence)
The outstanding figure, however, is comparative youngster William Latimer-Sayer who has all the qualities instructing solicitors look for, including "judgement", "sensitivity", "common sense", and the ability "to sniff out the issues in a case with remarkable speed and clarity" Legal 500, 2007 (Personal Injury)
The "affable" William Latimer-Sayer of Cloisters is a "dogged claimant specialist" who is "incredibly hard-working" and "exceptionally talented" Chambers 2007 (Personal Injury)
William Latimer-Sayer is a barrister who spends the majority of his time on catastrophic medical and dental injury cases and presents as "a barrister who really knows his stuff." Chambers 2007 (Clinical Negligence)
"William Latimer-Sayer is earmarked by top table peers as a 'barrister who is definitely going places'" Legal 500, 2006
"Energetic. Despite his lack of grey hair, he is popular among judges and has a fantastic knowledge of quantum" Chambers 2006
"Is going places and is full of ideas" Chambers 2006
"Wins praise from many solicitors, described as a 'very energetic junior with a fantastic knowledge of quantum'" Legal 500, 2005
"Highly rated for his ability to grapple with technical points, and to advance novel arguments in a cogent and persuasive manner" Chambers 2005
"Superb and very promising" Chambers 2005
"A very able junior with a successful track record" Legal 500, 2004
Publications
Co-editor of The ABC of Medical Law, Blackwell Publishing (forthcoming)
Co-editor of Division I of Butterworths Personal Injury Litigation Service (loose leaf)
Contributor to the PIBA Handbook (3rd edn, March 2007)
Co-author of Personal Injury Schedules: Calculating Damages (2nd edn, Tottel 2005)
Contributor to PIBU Law Journal
Into the Breach (PILJ, 2006)
Counter-Schedules (PILJ, 2003)
Schedules of Loss (PIL, 2002)
Pre-action Disclosure of Documents other than Medical Records (Clinical Risk, 2002)
Net Benefits (Counsel, 1998)
When should patients not be resuscitated? (MLSJ, 1997)
Qualifications
LLB (Hons), MA (London)
Cases
XXX -and- A STRATEGIC HEALTH AUTHORITY
Ref: [2008] EWHC 2727 (QB) Date: November 2008
Mark Noble - and - Martin Raymond Owens
Ref: [2008] EWHC 359 (QB) Date: March 2008
Whipps Cross University NHS Trust -and- Khazar Iqbal (by his mother & litigation friend Irene Iqbal)
Ref: [2007] EWCA Civ 1190 Date: November 2007
JOSH HARCOURT - and - (1) FEF GRIFFIN OF PEGASUS GYMNASTICS CLUB (2)OVIDIU RUGINA (3) IQNUT TRANDABURU
Ref: [2007] EWHC 1500 (QB) Date: June 2007
Sarwar v Ali & MIB [2007]
Ref: [2007] EWHC 1255 Date: May 2007