Biography
I'm a partner based in the Medical Negligence team in London. I represent people and their families who have suffered injury, particularly major spinal cord injury and brain damage, due to medical accident or substandard treatment. I specialise in:
- Children who’ve suffered injuries at birth – with particular expertise in cerebral palsy caused by HIE, hyperglycemia and hyperbilirubinemia (kernicterus)
- Adult and child brain injuries
- Spinal cases – particularly spinal tumours and cauda equina syndrome
- Meningitis and encephalitis
- Delayed cancer diagnoses
- Fatal cases – with particular expertise in maternal death cases.
I joined Irwin Mitchell in 2014, having qualified as a solicitor in 2010. I initially trained to be a barrister, and was called to the Bar of England and Wales in September 2008. I'm an APIL-accredited senior litigator and clinical negligence specialist, and I’m on the clinical negligence Action against Medical Accidents (AvMA) panel.
I've represented families at inquests where death is suspected to have occurred due to neglect. I’m also often invited to hospitals and national medical conferences to speak about improving patient safety and medical treatment.
What inspired you to get into law?
Being able to help injured people obtain the compensation they deserve to help them rebuild their lives and put in place much-needed rehabilitation.
What's the most rewarding aspect of your role?
Irwin Mitchell is one the leading medical negligence firms in the country. We offer the best possible service, making sure injured people get the rehabilitation and compensation they need and deserve.
What do you like about working at Irwin Mitchell?
Irwin Mitchell offers the full range of legal services under one roof. This includes client liaison managers, Court of Protection teams, education and public law specialists, and a full business legal services team. This means I can give my clients the very best legal advice, helping them throughout their legal claim and beyond.
What do you do away from the office?
I love to travel and experience new cultures. Being a father of three, I spend as much time at home with my daughters as I can.
Testimonials
“From the very first meeting I was treated with kindness and respect. Richard Kayser is very knowledgeable about my condition, and despite some very personal aspects to my case I have always felt that my dignity was protected. What has been a very traumatic time has been made bearable by the quality of support throughout the last two and a half years.” Client
“Our admiration for him is enormous… Your role is so important. It allows us to move forward and have security, replacing fear and insecurity with hope. Today you made a hell of a difference to our lives.” Client
“I could not ask for a better well-placed, well-qualified and well-informed solicitor for the case… He is very dependable, trustworthy, diligent and hardworking.” Client
“He did a terrific job in challenging circumstances. Particularly, he thought through the implications of their separation in advance making sure that they were advised early so that they had ample time for them to reflect… not all solicitors would have been so farsighted.” Leading counsel
Significant cases
MRR v Royal Surrey County Hospital NHS Foundation Trust
Achieved a seven-figure lump sum and six-figure yearly payment for a person suffering from severe cerebral palsy due to mismanagement of Group B streptococcus (GBS) following her birth. She will remain dependent on carers for all daily activities for the rest of her life. We agreed several large interim payments before the case finished to fund a care package, a case manager, and a move to more suitable accommodation.
CWM v King’s College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust
Recovered a lump sum of £5.2 million, plus yearly payments, for a cerebral palsy sufferer with severe developmental delay due to mismanagement of their mother's labour.
DC v Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust
Awarded £1.9m for a brain-injured adult who suffered life-changing injuries after staff failed to monitor their blood levels following major brain surgery. Test results showed they were dangerously over-coagulated, but staff did nothing for over two hours – and when they did, it wasn’t enough. The money funded suitable accommodation and a care package, and to allow him to continue with his rehabilitation.
JL v Medway NHS Foundation Trust
Recovered over £2.9m for a brain-injured adult who suffered life-changing injuries as a result of hyponatremia and hypokalemia following mismanagement of her sodium levels.
RH v Barts Health NHS Trust
Awarded £4.8m for a spinal-injured client who suffered paralysis due to failure to diagnose and treat a spinal tumour, even though the claim period had ended.
MS v Dr…
Recovered £1.8m for a client who suffered severe bowel incontinence following a failure to recognise and refer symptoms of cauda equina syndrome. Due to her injuries, she had to give up her career and needed adapted accommodation, ongoing care and assistance.
XX v Brighton & Sussex University Hospital NHS Trust
Recovered £800,000 for someone with a severe cauda equina injury that A&E staff missed on two occasions. Because of the delay in treatment, she suffered dysaesthetic/causalgic leg pain and dysfunction with her bladder and bowels.
AB (Deceased) v Kings College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust
Represented the family at the inquest into the death of AB after the birth of her daughter. The coroner found two findings of neglect in the care that she received. The settlement was for £735,000.
CE v various GPs
Recovered £215,000 for a father of three who was failed by his GPs. The GPs didn’t refer him for further investigation which would have diagnosed the cancer, despite him visiting the surgery a number of times. He developed secondary metastasis due to the delay, and his condition was terminal.
CD v unspecified
Secured £275,000 for a client given a spinal anaesthetic directly into her spinal cord while already under a general anaesthetic. This left her with permanent nerve damage and unable to return to full-time work.
MP (Deceased) v Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust
Secured £125,000 for the family of the deceased, who died after a severe allergic reaction to penicillin given during surgery. This led to full internal review of Trust Policy for monitoring patients with known allergies.
