Jennifer Harris
Jennifer.Harris@kennedyslaw.com
+44 1245 299 731
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Profile
Jennifer is Managing Partner of the Chelmsford office, and leads a team there of 84 lawyers. She has significant experience defending liability claims.
Jennifer acts for insurers, self-insureds organisations and third party administrators. She has experience of employers’ and public liability matters; and motor liability claims. She was instrumental in developing Kennedys’ volume motor operation.
She personally manages large loss cases including severe injuries such as brain and spinal injury, amputations, vegetative state or altered consciousness, polytrauma, brachial plexus injury, chronic pain and loss of senses. She also has extensive experience handling policy coverage disputes.
Jennifer frequently delivers training to clients and regularly writes for Kennedys Personal Injury Brief. She is also a co-author of Kennedys’ Claims Handling Law and Practice Guide, now in it's fourth edition.
Jennifer was the architect of Kennedys' online litigation product, Defence Lawyer (formerly known as KLAiM) which helps clients to manage the early stages of litigation themselves. This encourages users to be more self-sufficient and save money by reducing their reliance on lawyers.
Jennifer is a member of the Forum of Insurance Lawyers.
Winner of 'Legal Technology Team of the Year' Legal Business Awards 2016
Qualifications
- Qualified in England and Wales in 1993
Jennifer Harris is described as ‘well respected throughout the industry, well connected with superb legal knowledge and experience'.
Market recognition
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Recommended lawyer for 'Personal injury and clinical negligence: defendant (South East)'"Jennifer Harris is described as ‘well respected throughout the industry, well connected with superb legal knowledge and experience’."The Legal 500 UK 2024
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Recommended lawyer for 'Personal injury: defendant (London)'"Jennifer handles very high-value catastrophic personal injury claims. The results [she and the team] achieve for their clients are regularly exceptional due to the drive and care that they bring to every claim brought before them by their wide range of insurance clients".The Legal 500 UK 2023
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Recommended lawyer for 'Personal injury and clinical negligence: defendant (South East)'The Legal 500 UK 2023
- Recommended lawyer for 'Personal injury and clinical negligence: defendant (South East)'
The Legal 500 UK 2022 - Recommended lawyer for 'Personal injury: Defendant (South East)'
The Legal 500 UK 2021 - Best New Solutions for Clients: Winner
Managing Partners' Forum Awards 2020 - Best in Client Theme: Winner
Managing Partners' Forum Awards 2020 - Recommended Lawyer for 'Personal injury: defendant (South East)'
"Jennifer Harris is technically and procedurally quite brilliant. Insurance clients instructing Jenny are never in doubt that they are in the very safest pair of hands."
The Legal 500 UK 2019/20 - FT Innovative Lawyers: Winner of Innovation in the business of law - new products and services
Financial Times Innovative Lawyers Awards 2019 - Recommended Lawyer for 'Personal injury: defendant (South East)'
The Legal 500 UK 2018/19
Awards
Work highlights
- Handled a case where a claimant suffered devastating serious and life-changing injuries in a car collision. The matter settled on the claimant’s acceptance of Part 36 offer of £1.8m gross.
- Advised when a US citizen suffered serious injuries, which resulted in amputation of her left foot. Value £2m, settled for £550K.
- Love v Dewsbury [2010]. Advised on behalf of a sixteen year old who had been a passenger in a car collision at six years old. Jennifer successfully argued that a conventional lump sum was appropriate and resisted an argument for a change to the discount rate.
- Holt v Surrey Health Borough Council [2001]. Defended a claim for local authority following a road traffic accident (RTA) due to ice on the road.
- Managed a high-value (circa £8m) claim involving a rear end shunt. The force of the slightly offset impact caused immediate catastrophic injury resulting in the claimant entering a minimally aware state. We successfully resisted the application for substantial interim payment and for a move to private healthcare.
- Successfully defended a claim for local authority following a road traffic accident (RTA) at a junction where the claimant argued that faded and inappropriate road markings caused the accident.
Insurance and reinsurance