The Inquest process is required in order to determine a cause of death and for a death certificate to be issued. Although this can be a traumatic and challenging process, it does go some way to help families achieve closure during a period of grieving. However, at Ison Harrison we recognise that families and loved ones of the deceased need emotional support throughout an Inquest process and that this requires specialist and professional skills and a great deal of humanity and compassion.
For this reason, our team of dedicated Inquest lawyers at Ison Harrison are available to help you through this process of great distress and uncertainty, especially where you are required to give evidence and provide witness statements while you may still be going through the grieving process.
How our specialist Inquest team can help you
If you are preparing for the Inquest into your loved one’s death, we can help you by explaining:
- What the purpose of the Inquest is
- How the Inquest process works
- What your involvement will be
- When and why certain things might happen – such as when a Jury is required, what an Article 2 Inquest is, what a Pre-Inquest Hearing Review is, how long the Inquest process should take and who Interested Parties are
Our team of highly experienced Inquest lawyers
Gemma Vine is our specialist Inquest lawyer and our team also includes Ruth Bundey, who has over 30 years’ experience in successfully representing families at some very high profile Inquests. Supporting our Inquest team are James Thompson (Director & Head of our Clinical Negligence) and Gareth Naylor (Director & Head of Personal Injury) who can provide a high standard of appropriate representation at ensuing Inquests. Together, this team has built a nationally-recognised reputation for their expertise in handling complex Inquest cases to the satisfaction of the families involved. This requires great technical knowledge of the law, but also the emotional skills to support bereaved families at a most difficult time.
In addition to this expertise, Ison Harrison has also demonstrated a social conscience through its work in representing families at several Inquests. We see it as our duty to raise awareness of issues surrounding the circumstances of certain Inquests, and this has resulted in us working with families to prevent the re-occurrence of events leading to the deaths of loved ones. A high-profile example of this was the death of 30-year-old Shane Gilmer through the use of a crossbow. Following the Inquest verdict in 2021, Ison Harrison campaigned for a change in the law governing Crossbow use, and we started a petition to support this. We have led similar campaigns for other legislative changes where we believe that existing laws are inadequate.
Contact Ison Harrison for nationally-recognised Inquest expertise
By their very nature, Inquests are complicated, harrowing and emotionally draining. In such circumstances you need the support of the very best legal professionals, who can ease you through this process and ensure that the Inquest hearing is fair, thorough and fully understood.
Contact Ison Harrison for Inquest legal support in Yorkshire – call 0113 284 5000 today.
