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Practice Profile
Personal Injury
Personal injury work is equally divided between the leading union claimant firms and most major insurers including Aviva, Royal and Sun Alliance, Zurich, the Ecclesiastical and the NFU. Current workload covers both fast and multi track claims with recent involvement in a number of separate catastrophic injury claims with and without a leader. Such work includes extensive experience at trial and in a pre trial advisory capacity of industrial disease litigation (including group actions) in the form of deafness, asbestosis, dermatitis, WRULD and HAVS.
Commercial and Chancery
Commercial and common law civil litigation. This encompasses a multitude of contractual disputes as well as insolvency and Companies Act litigation. Common law work covers professional and general negligence claims.
Public Law and Planning
This largely involves regulatory crime comprising a combination of environmental and health and safety prosecutions. Regular instructions have been received from the Environment Agency and the Health and Safety Executive. Defendant representation includes recurrent involvement with several of the large public utilities.
NOTABLE CASES
• Charles v Cardiff County Council CA 2002 (The duty of care on a council employer in respect of residential homes).
• Saunders v Williams CA 2002 (the burden of proving mitigation of loss in negligence claims).
• Stevens v Blaenau Gwent Borough Council CA 2004 (The duty of care on local authority landlords in respect of upgrading facilities)
• Environment Agency v James and others. 2004 Cardiff Crown Court. Prosecution of a large scale unlicensed waste disposal site in Barry. At that date the largest prosecution of its type in South Wales.
• WRU v Penygraig Rugby Club. 2005. Representing the Welsh Rugby Union in disciplinary proceedings brought in response to the refusal of an entire rugby team to submit to a drugs test.
• Slade and others v Corus 2006 Cardiff County Court. Successful group action brought by 30 steelworkers for HAVS suffered whilst working at the Llanwern Plant.
• Jones v BBC and others 2007 QBD (liability of employer and occupier towards a soundman rendered paraplegic whilst engaged on an external assignment)
• Preece v Caerphilly County Borough Council 2007 (Enforceability of an unsigned CFA).
• Edwards v Edwards 2007 EWHC 1119 Ch (Undue Influence in the making of a will.)
• Neal Soils v Environment Agency of Wales [2007] EWHC 2592 Lawtel 12/11/07. Divisional Court (The proper purpose of Notices served under Section 59 of the EPA 1990).
• J (A child) v The Executors of the Estate of Griffith Jones [2007] 3CL 344 Kemp B2-022.1. (£3.15 million settlement in respect of a catastrophic brain injury)
• Fuk Wan Hau v Shushing and Steven Jim [2007] QBD 19/12/2007. Lawtel 4/1/08. Aggravated damages in an assault claim.
• Kerslake v Thames Valley Police [2008] CA 21st October 2008. The application of the Animals Act 1971 to a police dog.
EDUCATION
1994-95: Inns of Court School of Law, Bar Vocational Course
1991-94: University of Cambridge, Corpus Christi College, MA 2:1 Law
1983-1990: Cardiff High School, 3 A grade A Levels
AWARDS AND ACHIEVEMENTS
• Welsh Schoolboy Rugby International at 18 group
• Recipient of the 1990 Cardiff High School Award for the top history student.
• Cambridge Rugby Blue 1993.
• First class professional rugby player for Richmond, Newport and Glamorgan Wanderers.
• Company Law Tutor on the Cardiff Bar Vocational Course 1999-2006
• Employers Liability and Clinical Negligence Tutor on the Bar Vocational Course 2006-2007.
DIRECTORY ENTRIES
• Chambers Guide to the Legal Profession. Listed as a leading personal injury practitioner since 2000. The 2009 entry records “Sources commend ‘the sound and practical’ Andrew Arentsen for being ‘extremely approachable but also straight with you – he will tell you if you are going down the wrong route’.
• The Legal 500 Directory has listed Andrew as leading personal injury practitioner since 2000. The 2009 entry notes the ability of Andrew Arentsen to handle numerous high-value damages claims. The 2011 edition recommends Andrew as "highly rated" in the field of personal injury and clinical negligence.
INTERESTS
• Family. Husband and Father of 3 young children.
• Rugby
• Skiing
• Surfing
• Mountain and road biking
• Reading
