Helen Staines

Helen specialises in a wide range of insurance backed disputes and litigation, defending professionals (solicitors, accountants, surveyors and managing agents), property owners and developers with the benefit of legal indemnity insurance.

She has over 25 years’ experience advising clients across a range of sectors including insurance, financial services and real estate. Her key clients include Aviva, CLS/Ergo, GCS, QBE, WRB and Zurich.

Helen advises across a range of matters. In the professional indemnity area she has to cover underlying legal issues arising from corporate and commercial transactions, personal injury, conveyancing, employment and matrimonial. In the legal indemnity area she assists developers, local authorities, land owners and individuals with issues relating to restrictive covenants, planning conditions and access. In both professional indemnity and legal indemnity work Helen provides coverage advice when required.

Relevant experience includes advising:

• Thomas v Hugh James 2017 EWCA Civ 1303 - Helen won this solicitor’s negligence case for the Defendant firm of solicitors and their Insurers (QBE) in the Court of Appeal. Lord Justice Jackson confirmed that where a client provides clear instructions not to pursue a claim or head of loss there is no duty on a solicitor to continue to turn over every stone. The autonomy of a client with full capacity is to be respected and it is not the role of a solicitor to tempt a client with large sums of money in the face of non-existent evidence. The case helped stem the flow of claims drummed up by claims management companies pursuing alleged under settlement of personal injury claims.

Chambers comment that “She inspires great confidence in anyone who deals with her“.