Daniel has expertise in a range of practice areas since starting his legal career in 2000 - initially as a Legal Executive and more recently as an Associate Solicitor. After moving to Watmores in 2006 from a niche insurance practice in Devon, he quickly established himself as an integral part of the team. Daniel has handled or been closely involved with many of the firm's large and complex cases.

Whilst predominantly now acting for parts of the German insurance market – taking instructions both locally and from abroad – Daniel also deals with claims for other insurers/re-insurers and on behalf of Lloyd’s Syndicates, insurance captives and self-insuring public sector bodies.

Property Damage

Daniel has dealt with and is dealing with a number of claims for property damage. These vary from claims arising in a domestic context to multi-million pound claims for damage to commercial premises arising from failed construction projects.

These claims often fall under the jurisdiction of the specialist Technology & Construction Court (TCC) and Daniel is fully conversant with the TCC guide and the requirements of the Construction & Engineering protocol

Recently Daniel successfully represented a German insurer in a claim for £6m following damage to the new offices of a magic circle law firm. The “upstream” claim settled in mediation. In 2009 an action to recover insurers outlay concluded in a trial before the presiding Judge of the TCC. Following Judgment insurers recovered in full along with penal interest and indemnity costs. The case was also successfully defended on appeal and helped reaffirm important principles on matters such as reasonableness of settlement and remoteness of damage. (Supershield Ltd v. Siemens Building Technologies Ltd (2010) CA).

He has also advised reinsurers in a multi-party claim for property damage following the collapse of a crane in South London. The case involves an interesting quantum argument about the cost of rebuilding a Council owned block of flats which had in fact already been earmarked for demolition.

Contractors all risks (CAR) policies are a feature of construction related litigation and Daniel has given advice on the issues which arise for insurers, particularly in subrogation proceedings where two or more of the parties are co-insureds.

Many claims for property damage include claims for other less tangible losses - in particular business interruption. Daniel has considerable expertise in this area and has recently been defending a claim for loss of rental income following water damage on a holiday caravan park.

Daniel is able to take on subrogated recovery claims under a CFA.

Public Sector Risks

Daniel has acted for public sector clients for over 8 years. He has developed an expertise in relation to officers indemnity claims and these form a notable part of his current case load. In particular Daniel has special expertise in claims involving defective local land charges searches, along with planning related litigation.

He represented a London Borough in respect of a high profile claim relating to the proposed £16bn Crossrail route and its alleged omission from a local land charges search. The claim settled in mediation shortly before trial.

Daniel has also given advice to a local authority about the pitfalls arising where the authority agrees to indemnify council officers engaged as directors of a separate legal entity.

Daniel also successfully represented a local authority in a claim for compensation for breach of procurement regulations following its decision to remove a contractor from their list of approved tenderors following a dispute over fees.

He has provided training to clients in respect of some of these unique issues facing local authorities.

Product Liability

Daniel has been involved in a range of product liability matters and deals with both commercial claims and claims under the Consumer Protection Act.

Examples of recent work include:-

A claim arising from an allegedly defective luxury bathroom product marketed by a company. Had the case succeeded the case would likely have had worldwide product-recall implications. The claim was dismissed at trial.

Daniel is currently dealing with an £18m+ cross-jurisdiction, product liability claim following a major UK wide product recall of houmous from all major supermarkets. Liability and quantum are in dispute and are now likely to be resolved by the Greek court following a successful challenge to jurisdiction before Mr Justice Eder in the High Court (Katsouris Brothers Ltd v. Haitoglou Bros S.A (2011) EWHC 11 (QB)).  The matter of appropriate applicable law remains in dispute. The case is being coordinated in conjunction with local counsel in Greece along with German and Greek based insurers.

Recently he has taken on a case involving the supply of defective display and ambient light fittings by an Austrian manufacturer as part of a nationwide fit-out and rebranding exercise at dealerships of the world’s largest (by sales) car manufacturer.

He has also defended a German luxury car manufacturer in a claim involving exploding car batteries which had previously been subject to a product recall.

Daniel has dealt with a number of claims for a  boiler manufacturer. Many of these claims have been for property damage arising out of alleged product liability. He not long ago successfully defended a claim for oil damage - which caused the dwelling to be demolished and rebuilt - in which it was alleged that the composition in the rubber of the oil feed line made it vulnerable to avoidable decay.

Insurance/Reinsurance

Daniel has many years experience in dealing with complex insurance issues. These cases often require a different approach to the adversarial nature of liability claims and Daniel has a good understanding of the commercial considerations that often come in to play in terms of avoiding damage to the relationship between insurer and insured.

Daniel has been asked to advise directly or has been involved in the provision of advice in key areas such as breach of condition precedent, waiver, late notification, extent of policy coverage and limits of indemnity.

Recently Daniel has provided coverage advice to an insurer as to whether the policy extended to provide cover for product liability in a potential claim for in excess of £5m. Such advice led to a detailed re-consideration of the Bacardi/Pilkington Glass line of authority and its relevance to the present case. The matter was ultimately resolved by agreement between insurer and insured.

In addition, Daniel has been acting for an upper level reinsurer in a dispute with a first-tier insurer as to the impact on future costs following the exercise of a Discharge of Liability Clause (DLC).

In addition to providing policy advice, Daniel has undertaken some recovery work for insurers in respect of excess payments and premium adjustment.

Personal Injury/Casualty

Daniel began his legal career defending personal injury claims and still retains a number of interesting cases. Some examples of cases Daniel has recently been involved in are set out below.

The in-service murder of a health care assistant (HCA) whilst on duty at a secure mental health ward. The incident formed the basis of a Channel 4 "Dispatches" documentary and was subject to considerable public scrutiny. The claim (by the wife of the deceased) also involved careful analysis of the relevance of Shariah Law and the cultural beliefs of the Muslim family in determining the special damages claim. The case settled on confidential terms following a mediation.

Daniel has been instructed to defend an unusual claim for damages against a German car part manufacturer involving a Claimant who is alleged to have contracted bladder cancer whilst working with the chemical Trichlorethylene (TCE).

Before joining Watmores, Daniel assisted in defending Somerset County Council in the landmark stress at work case of Barber v. Somerset County Council in the House of Lords (formerly referred to as Hatton v. Sutherland in the Court of Appeal) which set out the methodology upon which all stress claims are to be assessed. Since then Daniel has retained an interest in stress claims and, more recently, claims under the Protection from Harassment Act 1997.

Daniel's first solo trip to the Court of Appeal was a personal injury claim - Burgess v. Plymouth City Council (2005).

Health & Safety/Regulatory

Daniel has acted on behalf of various companies and employers in defending prosecutions by health & safety and trading standards.

Recently Daniel represented a client who were being prosecuted by trading standards for allegedly inflicting chemical burns upon a customer. The prosecution was abandoned mid-way through a magistrates court hearing.

Daniel has advised a London Borough on the FSA implications of setting up an insurance vehicle and offering the benefit of the "fund" to other legal entities in exchange for a premium.

Daniel has written a number of articles for various law journals. He is an affiliate member of ALARM.
He has also spent time on secondment to insurers.

Contact: dturner@watmores.co.uk