Victoria Gofton

Victoria is the national head of clinical negligence at Thompsons Solicitors, based in our Condor House office in London.

A litigation solicitor for over 20 years, Victoria has specialised in clinical negligence since 2014 with a particular interest in acquired brain injury, spinal injuries and delay in diagnoses of cancer cases, in which she has acted for numerous seriously injured clients and their families.

Leading Thompsons' clinical negligence teams across England and Wales involves Victoria ensuring that the lawyers acting in the cases have confidence in the resources, contacts, training and support needed to deliver the highest quality of work and the best possible outcomes of which they can be professionally proud.

A key focus for Victoria has always been the client experience, from first contact to case conclusion. She believes the best way to evidence that the injuries her clients have suffered are life-changing for them, their family and loved ones, is through forensically hard work, and close liaison with case managers and deputies. She always uses interim payment applications wherever possible to secure appropriate packages of rehabilitative support for her clients to aid them in their recovery and help them achieve their full potential.

Away from work, Victoria enjoys running, yoga and cooking. She can often be found cooking with her young children or listening to a food or fitness podcast.

Victoria's case experience

• Secured �13.4 million in a 90% liability settlement for a client who sustained quadriplegic dyskinetic cerebral palsy and cognitive disability at birth. Following early agreement on liability and before the full financial settlement, a significant interim payment was obtained to fund a case manager to immediately start working with the family, putting in place additional therapies and support which had a noticeable positive benefit on both the client and his loving parents.

• Ensured a �300,000 settlement for client who'd had their diagnosis of breast cancer delayed, with the compensation enabling her to have further treatment and providing a safety net in case her support needs increased and she needed private palliative care in the future.

• Recovered �5.6 million for a 17-year-old acquired brain injury client who had been involved in a car accident and needed significant rehabilitation, initially in a residential unit and then in independent living with a 24-hour support team around him.

• Secured �1 million for client with an above-the-knee amputation following a delay in diagnosis of their critical foot ischaemia.

• Secured a settlement of �450,000 for a young client who suffered permanent foot drop and weakness in the right leg following the incorrect placement of a spinal aesthetic.

• Recovered �4.3 million for a client who suffered a second and catastrophic subarachnoid haemorrhage while in hospital awaiting delayed coiling.

• Secured �550,000 for a client who suffered a serious psychiatric reaction and developed chronic fatigue syndrome following awareness during anaesthetic.

Professional membership

Victoria is an accredited member of the Law Society Clinical Negligence Panel, which is awarded to solicitors who demonstrate a proven competency and expertise in clinical negligence work on behalf of claimants. She is also a member of the Association of Personal Injury Lawyers.

Testimonials

It is a real pleasure and privilege to work with Victoria. Her commitment to her clients is second to none. She combines exceptional judgement, borne of a deep knowledge of the field of clinical negligence, with astute strategic skill and a genuine empathy for her clients. Highly analytical but also pragmatic, Victoria always puts the client at the heart of the case and is dedicated to supporting them through the litigation experience and to achieving the best possible outcome for them.

Sarah Christie-Brown, Hailsham Chambers

Victoria represents her clients with skill, zeal and determination. She is a pleasure to work with.

Andrew Post KC, Hailsham Chambers

I thoroughly enjoyed working with Victoria recently on what was an exceptionally challenging case. She is wonderfully efficient, has great judgement and is blessed with a calm manner that instils confidence. Her dogged determination to keep looking for a solution in the face of repeated rejections was extremely impressive and resulted in a fantastic outcome for the client.

Rachel Vickers KC, Outer Temple Chambers