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Background

Denise Owen

Call: 2003

Denise Owen’s practice focuses solely on personal injury law, and she regularly advises and appears for parties in fast and multi-track claims.

Expertise

Personal Injury

Denise has considerable experience in claims arising from road traffic accidents, employer’s liability, public liability, occupier’s liability and industrial disease. She has a particular interest in claims involving fraud and associated issues relating to causation, fundamental dishonesty and low velocity impacts.

Denise appears in Courts across the country, and regularly in both Birmingham and London.

Denise cross-qualified to the Cayman Islands Bar in 2012, where she practiced as an attorney for 5 years. As an attorney, she undertook the equivalent duties of both solicitor and barrister in conducting litigation, and she now draws on this experience to provide comprehensive assistance to both her professional and lay clients. During this time abroad she undertook cases involving high-value personal injury, commercial, financial services and costs disputes. She represented Claimants who had suffered catastrophic injuries, including traumatic brain injuries, and obtained settlements in a number of cases around or in excess of US $1 million. She regularly appeared in the Grand Court, Financial Services Division and on several occasions in the Court of Appeal.

Much of the work that she undertook included international aspects and many cases involved cross- jurisdictional proceedings. She developed her interest in fraud by acting in a number of very high-value financial cases relating to trusts and share transfers involving allegations of fraud, with associated international civil and criminal investigations and proceedings

Credit Hire

Whilst studying law at Exeter University Denise was actively involved in mooting. Having won the prize for Best Undergraduate Mooter in her second year she represented her University and reached the finals of the Herbert Smith National Mooting Competition. She received a Commendation from the Dean for her final degree result and was awarded the Bracton Prize for outstanding performance in the Faculty of Law. During her Bar Vocational year, she was awarded a Bedingfield Scholarship – a major scholarship from Gray’s Inn.

Denise regularly advises and appears in all personal injury matters on both the small claims and fast track, including trials, assessment of damages hearings, costs hearings, case management conferences and interim applications. She has experience in a variety of areas including road traffic accidents, employers’ liability, occupiers’ liability, public liability, claims involving children, health and safety at work, benefits appeals and social security appeals. She also regularly represents both witnesses and families at Coroner’s Inquests. Her practice is evenly balanced between claimant and defendant representation and she undertakes CFA work.

As well as being based in Birmingham, Denise is a member of the London team and regularly appears in Court in London and on the South Eastern Circuit, and welcomes such instructions.

Fraudulent Insurance Claims

Denise’s practice focuses solely on personal injury law, with a particular emphasis on civil fraud.

Denise has extensive experience of cases involving allegations of fraud, both in this jurisdiction and in the Cayman Islands, where she was called to the Bar in 2012 and practiced as an attorney for 5 years. She has acted in a number of very high-value financial cases relating to trusts and share transfers involving allegations of fraud and forgery, with associated international civil and criminal investigations and proceedings, freezing injunctions and asset tracing. She also regularly undertook high-value personal injury, commercial and costs disputes.

Denise’s current caseload involve claims arising from:

  • road traffic accidents
  • employer’s liability
  • public liability
  • occupier’s liability
  • industrial disease

Since returning to this jurisdiction in 2017, Denise is regularly instructed by a number of the UK’s major leading insurance companies on cases involving issues of causation and fundamental dishonesty. She has secured findings of fundamental dishonesty and associated costs orders in cases involving phantom passenger claims, low velocity impacts, staged accidents, exaggerated claims, large scale fraud rings and complex credit hire claims. She has a reputation for meticulous attention to detail, in particular in identifying inconsistency, and robust cross-examination of witnesses.

Her practice is primarily Court-based, but she is also regularly instructed to test evidence in conference, advise and settle pleadings. As an attorney she undertook the equivalent duties of both solicitor and barrister in conducting litigation, and she now draws on this experience to provide comprehensive assistance to both her professional and lay clients.

Notable Personal Injury Cases


T. FARRELL and C. FARRELL v. BODDEN [2013 (2) CILR 411] GRAND COURT (Quin, J.)

Denise acted as lead counsel against silk, for two Claimants in a road traffic trial heard in the Grand Court where both liability and quantum were disputed. Live evidence was received at trial from experts in forensic engineering, reconstruction, neurology, neuropsychology and orthopaedics. There were substantial claims for loss of earnings, pension loss, past and future care and past and future medical treatment. She successfully obtained Judgment for the Claimants for a total gross award in excess of US $1.7 million.


GOVERNOR v. INFORMATION COMMISSIONER [2013 (2) CILR 421] GRAND COURT, CIVIL DIVISION (Moses, Ag. J.)

Denise represented the Information Commissioner of the Cayman Islands in two sets of judicial review proceedings brought by the Governor of the Cayman Islands, heard before The Honourable Lord Justice Moses. This was the first judicial review of a decision by the Information Commissioner and the first time the Court had considered the Freedom of Information Law in the Cayman Islands. This case involved matters of national importance and complex issues relating to statutory interpretation, defamation law and consideration of international public law legislation and authority. The judicial review related to highly sensitive documents produced during Operation Tempura, an investigation into allegations of corruption in public office including the judiciary, in the Cayman Islands, and the hearing was conducted partly in camera. The Judge found in favour of the Information Commissioner that the Law provided no exemption from disclosure for documents containing defamatory material. The Governor ultimately accepted the Information Commissioner’s ruling and recognized the obligation to release information in accordance with the Law.


CVC/OPPORTUNITY EQUITY PARTNERS LIMITED v. DEMARCO ALMEIDA [2013 (2) CILR Note 5] GRAND COURT, CIVIL DIVISION (Henderson, J)

Successfully represented a recipient party in a costs / taxation review where just under US $700,000 was awarded in costs. The taxation arose from complex financial proceedings which were heard by the Court of Appeal and the Privy Council. The Court provided important costs principles on issues including the application of the Grand Court (Taxation of Costs) Rules 1995, indemnity basis taxation, the Practice Direction relating to the taxation of costs and the recoverability of interest on costs (establishing the allocator rule in the Cayman Islands).


Related News, Resources and Events

Podcasts


Personal Injury & Clinical Negligence Vlog – Episode 1 – Video Court Hearings

Presenting the first vlog from the Personal Injury and Clinical Negligence groups at No5. Join Jamie Gamble, Richard Adams, Denise Owen, Rebecca Livesey and Neil Shastri-Hurst as they discuss their personal experience…

View all related news

  • Gray’s Inn (Major Bedingfield Scholar 2002)
  • Personal Injuries Bar Association
  • PIBA representative on the Bar Council Working Group on Wellbeing
  • LLB Hons (Exeter) 2001
  • Bar Vocational Course, Nottingham Law School, (Very Competent), 2003
  • Bar Admission – England and Wales 2003, Cayman Islands (Full Admission) 2012

When not practicing at the bar, Denise enjoys photography, having previously worked as a professional underwater photographer whilst living in the Bahamas. Her images have been published and featured in advertising campaigns. Denise is also a keen SCUBA Diver, having qualified as a PADI Instructor over 18 years ago.

Related News, Resources and Events

Podcasts


Personal Injury & Clinical Negligence Vlog – Episode 1 – Video Court Hearings

Presenting the first vlog from the Personal Injury and Clinical Negligence groups at No5. Join Jamie Gamble, Richard Adams, Denise Owen, Rebecca Livesey and Neil Shastri-Hurst as they discuss their personal experience…

View all related news

Clerk Team

William Theaker

Practice Director, Clinical Negligence & Personal Injury

williamt@no5.com

07494 070989

Clare Radburn

Practice Director, Family, Clinical Negligence and Personal Injury

clarer@no5.com

07809 407950

Pete Mottram

Practice Manager, Clinical Negligence & Personal Injury (Multi-Track)

peterm@no5.com

Ed Milburn

Personal Injury (Fast-Track) Team Leader

edmundm@no5.com

Matthew Reeves

Clinical Negligence, Personal Injury (Multi Track) and Regulatory Clerk

matthewr@no5.com

Tracey Witherford

Clinical Negligence & Personal Injury (Multi-Track) Clerk

traceyw@no5.com

Morgan Smith

Clinical Negligence (Multi-Track) & Personal Injury Clerk

morgans@no5.com

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