Avril Scally

About Avril

Avril Scally is a Partner and Head of the Medical Negligence and Personal Injury Team at Lavelle Partners. She specialises in complex medical negligence claims and is vastly experienced in areas like catastrophic and fatal injury due to medical negligence, birth injuries and wrongful birth as a result of  negligence including cerebral palsy and Erbs Palsy among others, spinal injuries, cancer misdiagnosis, delayed diagnosis, the CervicalCheck screening controversy, nerve damage, negligent care and surgical negligence.

With more than 18 years’ experience in her field, Avril is well-known within the profession for representing a significant number of claimants in high-profile cases like the Hepatitis C Tribunal, the Surgical Symphysiotomy Payment Scheme and cases against various hospitals and medical device providers like DePuy.

Medical Negligence Expertise

She acts as a specialist advisor in relation to many  medical negligence claims including birth injuries like cerebral palsy and Erbs palsy, defective medical devices and orthopedic cases among many others.

She is a go-to expert in relation to complex medical negligence claims for many media outlets and often speaks on the topic of medical negligence at conferences and events and is an active member of the DSBA Litigation Committee. She has been a panel speaker for the Advanced Diploma in Medical Law in the Kings Inn and regularly speaks at events such as the Medical Negligence Claims Conference.

Child Sexual Abuse Expertise

Avril is currently actively advising a number of clients as survivors’ of the child sexual abuse experienced in many Irish schools throughout the country.

In the Press

• Read Avril’s comments in The Irish Times, shining a light on the perspective of the survivors’ of child sexual abuse in Irish schools run by religious orders
• Watch Avril on RTÉ’s Prime Time Investigates: Botox & Beauty at Any Cost discuss the proposed Patient Safety (Licensing) Bill legislation to help safeguard cosmetic surgery clinics in Ireland.
• Read Avril’s article in the Winter 2023 edition of The Parchment examining the notable High Court decision regarding Personal Injuries Summons, whereby a failure to serve same within the required timeframe may not necessarily prove fatal.
• Read Avril’s article on the Open Disclosure Requirement in the New Patient Safety Act 2023 in the Spinal Injuries Ireland Magazine.
• Listen to Avril discussing the findings of the Children’s Health Ireland report and the options open to families affected by recent developments at Temple Street Children’s Hospital on Midland’s 103 Radio the Saturday View with Vinny O’Brien.
• Read Avril’s piece in the NR Times on how solicitors can help in securing specialist help for those who’ve experienced brain injury as well as the importance of employing specialists. 
• Listen to Avril on Highland Radio’s Nine to Noon show talking about the dangers of having cosmetic surgery outside Ireland.
• Read Avril’s piece on Dr Scally’s final review in the CervicalCheck scandal and the need for absolute clarity on the duty of candour among healthcare professionals on pages 20 and 21 of the Winter 2022 edition of The Parchment. 
• Read Avril’s comments in the Sunday Times on patients rights under Irish law following botched surgery abroad.
• Read Avril’s analysis of Dr Scally’s Implementation Review Report November 2022 in Irish Legal News. 
• Read Avril’s comments in the Irish Examiner following the French ruling in the ongoing PIP breast implants case. 
• Read Avril’s thoughts on contracting Covid-19 in the workplace in The Medical Independent. 

Recent Cases

Lavelle Partners Obtain Substantial Settlement for Patient who Developed Colon Cancer as a Result of Hospital Negligence

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Lavelle Partners successfully secured a significant settlement on behalf of a Plaintiff who developed right brachial plexus and a number of other conditions as a result of his negligent delivery

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Lavelle Partners secures settlement for a Plaintiff suffering from Cerebral Palsy due to negligence surrounding the circumstances of his birth at a regional hospital

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Lavelle Partners successfully settled a matter on behalf of the parents of child that developed Erb’s palsy due to substandard care during his delivery

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Lavelle Partners successfully settled a matter on behalf of the parents of a baby that died at birth as a result of hospital negligence

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Lavelle Partners secures settlement for Plaintiff who suffered from uterine perforation as a result of the manner in which a LLETZ procedure was performed

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Lavelle Partners secured significant settlement for woman who suffered as a result of surgical negligence

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Lavelle Partners successfully secured compensation through the Hepatitis C & HIV Compensation Tribunal for a client that had been infected through a blood transfusion in the 1980’s

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Experience

• Specialist in relation to wrongful birth and birth injuries/cerebral palsy, Erbs palsy, child deafness and other obstetric claims
• Specialist in catastrophic and fatal injury claims
• Expert in spinal injury claims
• Specialist in cancer-related medical negligence claims
• Represents patients in delayed cancer diagnosis and medical misdiagnosis cases
• Represented many women who received incorrect smear results in the CervicalCheck screening programme
• Expert in brain injury claims
• Specialist in claims involving defective medical devices having represented patients in cases against DePuy among others
• Represented clients at the High-profile Hepatitis C Tribunal and the Surgical Symphysiotomy Payment Scheme
• Specialist in orthopaedic negligence claims

 Awards / Professional Recognition

• Shortlisted for the prestigious award of Brain / Spinal Injury Law Firm of the Year in the inaugural Neuro Rehab Times Awards, 2023
• Winner of Personal Injury / Medical Negligence Law Firm / Team of the Year at the Irish Law Awards, 2023
• Winner of Personal Injury / Medical Negligence Law Firm / Team of the Year at the Irish Law Awards, 2022
• Finalist in Personal Injury / Medical Negligence Law Firm / Team of the Year at the Irish Law Awards, 2021
• Medical Negligence Team of the Year, Global Law Experts, 2021
• Medical Negligence Law Firm of the Year, Corporate INTL, 2020
• Medical Negligence Team of the Year, Global Law Experts, 2020

Professional Memberships

• Member of AVMA (Action Against Medical Accident)
• Member of APIL (Association of Personal Injury Lawyers)
• Member of the Litigation Committee of the Dublin Solicitors Bar Association
• Law Society of Ireland
• Consulegis

What our Clients say

• “Avril Scally at Lavelle Partners was wonderful to work with as were all the staff at Lavelle. They treat their clients with dignity and respect and guide you through the legal proceedings with experience and confidence. They were a pleasure to work with and truly hold their clients interests foremost. I highly recommend Avril and Lavelle Partners.”  – Brian D, Medical Negligence client, 2024

• “Lavelle Partners and Avril in particular are an incredibly invested and committed team who are invested and treat their clients with respect, I highly recommend and can guarantee you will receive high quality service.” – Colm Bermingham, Medical Negligence client, 2023

• “Lavelle Solicitors helped me when I was in a very tough time. I would highly recommend Avril Scally and her team. She was very professional and kind from day one. She was very patient with me and explained the whole process. She did a brilliant job. I could not thank her enough. I would not hesitate to recommend them to anyone!!” – Valentina Ilies, Medical Negligence client, 2023

• “Avril and her team provided a first class service with prompt communication and clear guidance during a very difficult time for me. Thanks for the positive outcome and all your help and support.” – Martin Burke, Medical Negligence client, 2023

• “Avril and her team have been really supportive and patient during a long personal injury case.” – Riccardo Pellegrin, Medical Negligence client, 2023

• “I can’t tell you how much I appreciate the amazing legal work Avril Scally and Lavelle Partners did on my behalf. Avril and the team did everything in their power to help me to settle and resolve my case. I am so grateful for her passion, dedication, and professionalism. I’ve never hired a solicitor before, but Lavelle Partners are no doubt the best company I could have ever worked with. Thank you so much!!!” – Anna Nakoskina, Medical Negligence client, 2022

• “I found Avril compassionate in her approach, very aware of the delicacy of the situation. I trusted her and the team completely and knew they’d do everything possible to ensure I was appropriately compensated.”  – Medical Negligence client, 2022

• “It’s obvious that Avril is hugely experienced in negligence cases. She asks the right questions and I found the whole process efficient and I always felt I was in safe hands.” – Medical Negligence client, 2021

• “The Team at Lavelle Partners are very professional, really easy to deal with. They kept me informed every step of the way and I was happy with the outcome.” – Medical Negligence client, 2021

• “They brought in medical experts to review my files and made it very easy to see where my case had been negligently handled. I couldn’t fault them, their attention to detail and ability to ask the right questions is really second-to-none. – Medical Negligence client, 2020