Jennifer Preston

Jennifer is a Principal Associate and Team Manager of our Newcastle & Leeds healthcare team and is based in our Newcastle office.

She has more than a decade of experience in dealing with complex clinical negligence claims. Throughout her career, she has worked almost exclusively in the healthcare sector. Prior to joining Weightmans in 2022, Jennifer built her career working at three other leading law firms.

Jennifer's breadth and depth of experience is drawn from acting for both professional and lay clients. She has worked on behalf of the NHS, private healthcare providers, Medical Defence Organisations and insurers as well as individual claimants. She also worked for six months as secondee trust Solicitor in a large mental health trust, where she managed a broad range of claims, advised on risk management and GDPR issues and dealt with court orders and court of protection matters. An important part of the role was considering the wider needs of the trust, including supporting staff members in providing reports and statements, attending meetings, providing risk management data and information and legal advice and support on a wide range of healthcare issues. Her first-hand experience of working in-house means Jennifer is particularly aware of the pressures facing the clients she now represents in private practice.

Since joining Weightmans, her career has gone from strength to strength. Jennifer co-leads on group settlement meetings upon the instruction of Weightmans’ patron client, NHS Resolution. She is one of only a small number of healthcare lawyers who have delegated authority to settle clinical negligence claims at these meetings, on behalf of NHS Resolution’s claims interventions team. These meetings require detailed preparation, analysis and advocacy and Jennifer has an excellent success rate at successfully bringing multiple claims to a conclusion per meeting. Building strong working relationships with the claimant firms involved is also key to their success.

Collaboration, learning and resolution are important priorities in the representation of NHS Resolution. Jennifer contributes to this on a local level by attending regional collaborative meetings with claimant and defendant firms.

In 2024, Jennifer was appointed as manager of our multi-office Newcastle & Leeds healthcare team. This appointment demonstrates that she is a trusted and approachable individual and has become a leading figure within healthcare at Weightmans. Her role spans a range of wider business issues including budgeting, recruitment, supporting our people and delivering on a range of departmental priorities. This is balanced against retaining a range of complex healthcare claims, including four maximum severity files reserved at thirteen million pounds and complicated multi-defendant matters.

Jennifer's skills include detailed, forensic analysis of liability and quantum issues, quantum research, drafting of key procedural documents including complex defences and advising and negotiating timely, pragmatic settlements. She has significant experience working with third parties, including counsel and medical experts, and guiding and providing supervision and training to others. Clients value Jennifer's clear, timely and commercially sensible advice. She prides herself on being approachable and responding to queries as promptly as possible.