Winding back the clock and withdrawing a pre-action admission is difficult. There is inevitably a tension between the finality of litigation and the interests of fairness. When a pre-action admission is made, the trajectory of a claim is set in motion. As the White Book commentary provides scant guidance on CPR 14.5, in this article I examine what happens when a defendant seeks to withdraw that admission, with particular focus on Somoye v North West Anglia NHS Foundation Trust [2023] EWHC 191 (KB) and the Court of Appeal’s guidance in Wood v Days Healthcare UK Limited [2017] EWCA Civ 2097.
Clerk Details
- Clerk Name: Jordon Gallifant
- Clerk Telephone: 020 7583 8055
- Clerk Email: [email protected]
Overview
Jeremy Warner specialises in the intersection between medicine and the law. His practice spans personal injury, clinical negligence, inquests and the Court of Protection. He is regularly instructed in both multi-track and intermediate track litigation.
Prior to joining 3PB, he worked in-house at a leading personal injury law firm in London, where he developed both written and oral advocacy experience in multi-track personal injury and clinical negligence litigation.
In personal injury and clinical negligence law, Jeremy represents both claimants and defendants and is happy to accept work on a Conditional Fee Agreement. In Coronial Law and the Court of Protection, Jeremy is instructed by all Interested Persons and parties including families and local authorities. He is also currently on the Junior Junior panel with the Government Legal Department.
The specifics of each of his practice areas are detailed below.
More generally, Jeremy also has a strong commitment to public legal education, having volunteered with the Schools Consent Project to deliver workshops on sexual offences law to secondary school students. He was awarded an Inner Temple scholarship to participate in a gender equality programme in Ghana and has also taught in Rwanda, worked as an English tutor in Shanghai, and worked on a vineyard near Rome.
He is also a keen cricketer and plays for the MCC and a team in London, having previously played for Dorset and Shane Warne’s first club in Melbourne.
Expertise
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Personal Injury Add this expertise to your shortlist Jeremy has appeared in both the County Court and High Court and has been instructed in trials, CCMCs, pre-action disclosure applications, stage 3 hearings, strike out applications, relief from sanctions, and applications to resile across a variety of cases.
He has also made submissions on directions and budgeting in high value claims and has advocated before the Masters at the Royal Courts of Justice. During pupillage, he secured multiple costs orders in favour of his client.
- Acting in a variety of personal injury related trials, including those involving allegations of fundamental dishonesty.
- Multi-track applications and CCMCs, including a successful recent opposition to an application seeking to withdraw a pre-action admission in a £100,000 noise-induced hearing loss case.
- Advising on liability and quantum in personal injury claims relating to spinal fractures, hip fractures, facial disfigurement, supraspinatus tears, and brachial plexus injuries.
- Drafting Advice and skeleton arguments for multi-track personal injury claims, including complex injury cases relating to Ogden disability, Smith v Manchester awards, and the nuances of claims involving future losses.
- Advising on liability and quantum, drafting skeleton arguments and injunctions in the cross-cut between education, personal injury law, and abuse.
- Drafting pleadings in negligence, product liability, and cases under the Highways Act, Animals Act, employers’ liability, occupiers’ liability and road traffic accidents.
- Striking out statements of case at Court for Road Traffic Accident cases.
- Acting in credit hire litigation, where he has been often praised by the judiciary for his pragmatic approach.
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Clinical Negligence Add this expertise to your shortlist Jeremy gained two years’ experience as a clinical negligence paralegal before joining 3PB. Since being called, Jeremy has:
- Advised on the delayed diagnosis of non-small cell lung cancer, including the assessment of damages in a reduced life expectancy in the context of multiple co-morbidities.
- Drafted Advice and a Schedule of Loss for a claimant who suffered significant scarring and incontinence due a delay in diagnosis of necrotising fasciitis.
- Advised on secondary victim claims in the context of clinical negligence.
- Drafted pleadings in birth injury claims.
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Inquests Add this expertise to your shortlist Jeremy’s practice in coronial Law includes:
- Appearing in a three-day Inquest concerning the miscategorisation of an ambulance call, which delayed treatment for cardiac arrest caused by an ST elevation myocardial infarction. He questioned an interventional cardiologist and multiple NHS Trust witnesses, assisting the Coroner and helping the family understand the circumstances of the death.
- Acting in a neonatal death Inquest involving sepsis and Group A Streptococcus. Jeremy drafted submissions on Article 2 ECHR and the application of the systems duty, and represented the family at the Pre-Inquest Review Hearing and in subsequent written submissions.
- Being instructed in a clinical inquest concerning multi-organ failure secondary to an infection due to and caused by infective endocarditis.
- Drafting written submissions under s7(2) and (3) of the Coroners and Justice Act 2009 requesting a jury for a three-day Inquest on behalf of his then pupil supervisor, an Assistant Coroner. This sensitive case involved suicide whereby there was reason to suspect the death arose from the act or omission of a police officer.
- Undertaking further advocacy training from both coroners and a leading silk.
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Court of Protection Add this expertise to your shortlist In Care and Community Law, and the Court of Protection:
Jeremy has:
- Been instructed in contested hearings regarding disputes over P’s best interests including questions of residence and format of care provision.
- Drafted a position statement for a local authority regarding educational provision for P, a young person with autism and global development delay.
- Represented a vulnerable client in a dispute between a care home seeking her eviction. The case involved complex medical needs including epilepsy and reliance on total parenteral nutrition, and focused on whether eviction was compatible with her safety.
- Been instructed in challenges under s.21a Mental Capacity Act 2005 concerning deprivations of liberty.
- Drafted position statements in property and financial affairs disputes before the Court of Protection, particularly regarding the execution of Lasting Powers of Attorney.
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Articles -
Too Little, Too Late? Applications To Withdraw Pre-Action Admissions
2nd Jul 2025 -
Paul v Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust [2024] UKSC 1
19th Jan 2024Michelle Marnham, 3PB's Head of Personal Injury and Clinical Negligence, alongside future 3PB pupil Jeremy Warner have written on the Supreme Court Judgement in Paul v Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust.
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A clarification of the “relationship akin to employment” and the “sufficiently close connection” tests in grooming cases
5th Sep 2023Michelle Marnham and future 3PB Pupil Jeremy Warner analyse MXX v A Secondary School [2023] EWCA Civ 996, a case concerned with the grooming of a minor, in which the Court of Appeal clarified that work experience can be a relationship akin to employment for the purpose of vicarious liability. The Court confirmed the difficulty to satisfy the “close connection” test, which requires for the tort and the employment of the tortfeasor to be “inextricably woven”.
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Bilal and Malik v St George's University Hospital NHS Trust
12th Jul 20233PB's Head of Personal Injury and Clinical Negligence Michelle Marham, along with future 3PB pupil Jeremy Warner, has written about the recent case of Bilal and Malik v St George's University Hospital NHS Trust. Michelle and Jeremy explore the insight it provides into a post-Montgomery landscape and the clarification it offers on informed consent.
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Recommendations “I was hugely impressed by Jeremy at the recent inquest. He was proactive, engaged and focussed, cutting to the heart of the key issues. His calm and thoughtful manner was a huge source of reassurance for the family during an incredibly difficult and emotional process. I look forward to instructing Jeremy again in the future”.
“I did consider Jeremy’s assessment of the relevant issues to be spot on and it was clear that he had gone through the papers with a fine tooth comb and noted pertinent issues. I would be more than happy to instruct you again on matters and will confirm the same to members of my team for their own files.”
“Jeremy clearly understood his brief well and had a good knowledge of the vagaries of credit hire and the specifics of this matter. Overall, this was a positive experience and a good outcome for the client, I would happily book him again for such work.”
“Jeremy has been very attentive to the details of the case and notified us in good time of any queries he thought the court would raise. He won our case in Court and we would definitely book him in again.”
“His communication prior to an up to the hearing was greatly appreciated and which resulted in a settlement moments before the hearing. I will not hesitate to instruct him again.”