Sara May

Sara specialises in life changing complex and catastrophic injury claims of the utmost severity with particular emphasis on brain and spinal cord damage.

She has over 30 years’ experience across the insurance industry to include major composite insurers, Gibraltar based insurers, the FSCS as well as brokers and corporations. Her key clients include Ageas, AXA, RSA, QBE, Tesco Underwriting, Tower Gate and Quest Consulting Limited.

Sara regularly advises clients on cases requiring a multi-disciplinary approach from the outset due to being instructed often within days of a major accident occurring. What makes her unique is that she will always meet with the injured Claimant and their family to ensure that a collaborative and consensual approach is adopted from the outset, placing the injured Claimant at the heart of the process going forward. This approach ensures that matters are discussed regularly and openly with a clear plan in place at all times which is regularly reviewed with the Claimant’s legal team. This approach has ensured that cases are settled at the very earliest opportunity and often without any litigation.

Relevant experience includes advising:

• In the case of Coulton v Isaacs (case settled at £3.5 million as against a schedule of £7.2 million). We were instructed within days of a major road traffic accident occurring. Our insured drove into the rear of the claimant’s stationery vehicle on a slip road causing him to sustain a very severe traumatic brain injury as well as multiple orthopaedic injuries
• In the case of Josie Ballard v Turners of Soham Limited. This was a serious road traffic accident which occurred in October 2017. The claimant was one of three rear seat passengers in a vehicle driven by one of her friends. She sustained a severe traumatic brain injury and various orthopaedic injuries. The case was settled within 2 years without recourse to litigation (settled at £1.5 million as against a schedule of £4.5 million).
• In the case of AAA and BBB (litigation friend) v CCC. This case was the subject of an anonymity order due to the size of damages awarded. This case involved the claimant who was under the age of 1 at the time of the road traffic accident. The case ran for 15 years and was settled shortly after the claimant’s sixteenth birthday, once it had been established from a neurological perspective that the claimant was sufficiently stable to enable a settlement to be achieved. The case was the largest lump sum award for Ageas Insurance to date. Whilst periodical payments had been advised by the claimant’s counsel, the matter was settled on a lump sum full and final basis.

Sara is ranked 1 in both Chambers and Partners and the Legal 500, for her expertise in Complex and Catastrophic injury work. She is named in the Hall of Fame in Legal 500 for personal injury, West Midlands.

She is named as one of the best lawyers in the United Kingdom for dealing with complex and catastrophic injury work in a world-wide directory of best lawyers.

Sara also regularly writes articles on key issues affecting complex and catastrophic injury as well as provides bespoke training for insurers on issues such as tactics and quantum in complex and catastrophic injury claims, the use of technology in complex and catastrophic injury claims, prosthetics, the rising cost of care, Osseo integration, horizon gazing and analysis of the top cases of the year on an annual basis, spinal injuries to include causation, accommodation solutions, capacity/deputyship v PI Trusts and chronic pain. 

Sara has chaired exclusive workshops with key insurer clients and politicians on issues of particular concern to include private and statutory regimes of care, the discount rate and new technology in complex and catastrophic injury claims. The most recent event was an event at the RAC in London to include women of influence in the insurance industry with the guest speaker being Baroness Virginia Bottomley to talk about the pressures and success achieved by women in similar positions which attracted a great deal of attention on LinkedIn subsequently.