Steven is head of one of the two divisions at Hugh James. This division comprises all of the teams which advise private individuals; both claimant litigants and individuals requiring advice on their personal finances and family.”

Steve specialises in high value medical negligence cases including cerebral palsy, spinal injuries, brain injury, psychiatric, obstetric cases and issues relating to human rights.

He also specialises in representing clients in public inquiries and has a niche specialism in acting for people affected by food poisoning outbreaks and dealing with inquests. Stephen has been described as follows in the top legal directories:

• He is “excellent for high value brain injury claims” Chambers 2015
• He “understands exactly what is involved in heavyweight litigation and has an excellent relationship with his clients.” Chambers 2014
• Stephen Webber is “a real star” Legal 500 2015
• “First rate, handling very high value claims with aplomb and is an extremely calm solicitor who instils great confidence”. Legal 500 2011
• “Very calm” and “a most effective operator”. Legal 500 2010
• “Successfully combines a thriving clinical negligence practice with his management responsibilities and recently settled a £7.8m adult brain injury case”. Chambers Legal Guide 2011.
• Stephen is on both the AVMA and Law Society’s clinical negligence panels and is a Fellow of the Association of Personal Injury Lawyers.
• Stephen is also the Chairman of the Society of Clinical Injury Lawyers.

Memberships

• Action Against Medical Accident (AvMA) Clinical Negligence panel
• APIL Fellow
• The Law Society Clinical Negligence panel
• Inquest Lawyers Group
• Human Rights Lawyers Association

Experience

Stephen has acted in the following cases:

• Court of Appeal case of Ceri Ann Walters v North Glamorgan NHS trust, the leading case on the issue of psychiatric injuries affecting secondary victims.
• Recovering approximately £15,000,000.00 (capitalised sum) for a client who suffered cerebral palsy due to a delay in delivery.
• Recovering approximately £13,000,000.00 (capitalised sum) for a client who suffered from cerebral palsy following birth
• Recovering approximately £12,000,000.00 (capitalised sum) for a child after suffering an avoidable hypoglycaemic fit and brain damage.
• Recovering approximately £9 million for a child following over ventilation shortly after birth which caused cerebral palsy.
• Recovering approximately £3,000,000.00 for a client suffering a series of spinal cord injuries.
• A cerebral palsy claim, T v Gwent Healthcare NHS Trust in which £4 million was recovered following a brain injury to an infant client.
• On behalf of the families affected by the e-coli outbreak in South Wales in September 2005 in relation to a civil action and was appointed by the Welsh Government to represent the families in the public inquiry.
• Chairman of the Society of Clinical Injury Lawyers. This is an organisation of specialist claimant clinical negligence firms. The Society supports firms in relation to changes in the legal system to ensure that they can continue to support their clients.
• Lawrence v Pembrokeshire county council court of Appeal dealing with the issues of whether a Local Authority has a duty of care to parents when dealing with their children.
• C –v- Merthyr Tydfil County Borough Council. A case which decided the issue of a Duty of Care to a parent where her child had been abused by a person other than the parent.
• A case of a psychiatric patient who was injured jumping from a window of a psychiatric unit and sustaining brain injury recovering over £1.8m (capitalised sum).
• A case involving a client who was rendered paraplegic which was complicated by the fact that the claimant had already had a below knee leg amputation and the client recovered £800,000 and £110,000 per year rising to £135,000 per year after 4 years.
• Recovering £7.8million (capitalised lump sum) for a client who suffered brain injuries when the hospital did not provide her with anti-epileptic medication.
• A settlement of £700,000 for the family of a disabled child for wrongful birth and negligent failure to properly advise upon the diagnosis of the disability to the child during pregnancy.
• A settlement of £600,000 in relation to a failure to diagnose compartment syndrome.
• Numerous cases involving cerebral palsy where liability has been admitted by the defendants and investigations are ongoing to achieve multi million pound settlements.
• A wide range of other claims including brain damage, spinal cord injury, failure to diagnose cancer, fatal claims, negligent surgery, failure to diagnose cauda equina, failure to obtain informed consent, wrongful birth claims, side effects of incorrect medication, inquests, failure to avoid stillbirths and numerous human rights claims involving Article 2 (Right to Life) and Article 8 (Right to Family Life).
• Regularly lectures at Cardiff University on clinical negligence issues.

Work History

Steve completed his training with Hugh James and qualified in 1996. He then advanced within Hugh James through Associate, Salaried Partner and Equity Partner and held the positions of Head of Clinical Negligence (2007) to Head of the Claimant Division (2017) to currently Head of Division: Individual Services.(2019). This division comprises all of the teams which advise private individuals; both claimant litigants and individuals requiring advice on their personal finances and family. Steve specialises in high value medical negligence cases including cerebral palsy, spinal injuries, brain injury, psychiatric, obstetric cases and issues relating to human rights.