Coroner's Court Solicitors
If you or your business are involved in a case that is being referred to the Coroner's Court for an inquest to determine the cause of death, our solicitors have extensive experience in providing legal representation during inquest proceedings.
An inquest is a limited fact-finding enquiry that looks at the circumstances surrounding a person's death. It aims to identify who has died and how, when and where the death occurred. It does not establish any matter of liability or blame, although the evidence obtained during the investigation can appear in other litigation. It can be an extremely difficult time for all parties involved, and sound legal advice may be vital.
At JMW Solicitors, we have significant experience working on behalf of bereaved families, businesses and state representatives to help deliver a fair outcome for all concerned parties. With offices in Manchester, Liverpool and London, clients throughout the country can benefit from practical legal advice throughout the inquest process.
To speak to our inquest representation solicitors about a coroner's inquest, contact us today by calling 0345 872 6666. Alternatively, fill in our online enquiry form and we will call back at a time convenient for you.
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How JMW Can Help
JMW's specialist inquest solicitors have a thorough approach to technical issues arising in the Coroner’s Court, and offer legal representation in more detailed or complex processes such as jury inquests or Article 2 proceedings. Our experienced solicitors deal with all types of coroner cases, ranging from hospital inquests to inquests in parallel with corporate manslaughter charges, possible suicides, deaths in custody or deaths at care homes. We represent care homes, commercial organisations and members of regulated professions who require legal representation, as well as the loved ones and family members of people who have died.
While an inquest is not about finding fault, it can identify criminal liability and result in a separate criminal prosecution. JMW can gather evidence on your behalf, including witness statements from experts, to clarify how the death occurred and your degree of involvement. We use the services of expert witnesses on a regular basis, including medical professionals, engineers and other individuals with specialist knowledge regarding the nature of the inquest. From our offices in Manchester, London and Liverpool, our inquest team delivers services throughout the UK. We have advised in many high-profile public inquiries leading to or arising from inquests.
Thanks to our experience, we understand the sensitive nature of inquests and can advise you on the best approach to ensure that the process is as free from complications as possible. In this way, we have supported many interested parties through what is often a difficult time.
Meet Our Team
If you need your own legal representation during a coroner's inquest, the team at JMW can help. We can offer expert guidance based on years of experience representing a full range of parties in many inquests, from bereaved relatives to public bodies and individual professionals who are asked to attend as interested parties.
How Can a Solicitor Help During the Inquest Process?
An inquest is a type of fact-finding investigation into the circumstances surrounding someone's death. The aim is to answer key questions about the person's death: who they were, how they died and other key details. When the death happened while the person was in state detention, or may have been caused by negligence, any inquest held will usually involve representatives of the organisations concerned, and these parties should seek legal advice.
At JMW, our team can help organisations and other interested parties to a coroner’s inquest in several practical and procedural ways. While we act as legal representatives during the process, your solicitor’s role during an inquest begins before any hearing takes place.
Our legal support includes:
- Preparing evidence and witness statements
- Reviewing disclosure and managing your relationship to the investigation
- Representation at hearings and, in some cases, asking questions of witnesses
- Protecting the client’s position in related legal proceedings
- Advising on conclusions and prevention of future deaths reports
If you are not an interested person but believe you have a contribution to make to the proceedings, we can help you to obtain or manage interested person status, which offers you additional rights during the process. At all stages, we will work to uphold your rights and advance your interests in these proceedings.
FAQs About the Coroner's Court
How long does an inquest take?
If there is going to be an inquest after a person's death, it should take place within six months. However, each inquest will be carried out by a local coroner and, as such, the process may be subject to delays in different parts of the country. The specialist team at JMW Solicitors can let you know what to expect as the inquest process unfolds and make sure you understand what is happening and how long it might take.
Can your inquest solicitors help if criminal proceedings arise?
Before inquest hearings take place, or while the process is underway, the police might charge someone with causing the person's death. In these cases, the inquest is normally postponed whilst the evidence is heard and examined by the criminal courts. At the conclusion of the criminal case, the coroner will look at the matter again and may decide that there is no need to continue with the inquest. Alternatively, the coroner may wish to resume the inquest but will normally do so in accordance with the findings of fact in the criminal matter.
JMW can advise on the implications of criminal proceedings in the inquest process and can make representations to the coroner. As a full service law firm, we can work closely with our criminal defence solicitors to offer expert advice about your legal position.
What outcomes can an inquest result in?
At the end of the inquest process, the coroner decides on a ruling as to how the death occurred.
Any of the following outcomes may be chosen:
- Natural causes
- Accident
- Unlawful or lawful killing
- Suicide
- Industrial disease
Alternatively, the coroner might reach an open verdict, which means that there is not enough evidence about the wider circumstances surrounding the death to make a ruling. These cases will be left open in case further evidence should later come to light.
When will I be notified about an inquest?
If you are a witness, an interested party or someone who may need to attend for another reason, you should be notified about an upcoming inquest at least 14 days before it takes place. This will give you time to seek legal advice and secure inquest representation. It can also enable you to review the evidence that will be used during the process. However, very short notice is sometimes given and JMW can advise on whether there should be an application to adjourn. Alternatively, JMW can help ensure representations and other matters are properly considered on a client’s behalf in the event that an adjournment is not an option.
What evidence can I request to review?
Interested parties to an inquest have the right to request documents or evidence held by the coroner. In turn, the coroner will disclose documents they consider relevant to the process, and you can also submit evidence of your own if you believe it is relevant to the inquest but has not been requested.
Your legal team can manage this process on your behalf and can gather or review the evidence for you. This can be helpful not only in terms of your solicitor's knowledge of coronial law. This evidence can contain distressing details about the circumstances of someone's death, and your solicitor can help you deal with the burden of having to consider sensitive facts.
Can I request an adjournment?
Interested persons can request to adjourn the inquest for one of a number of legally valid reasons. Some reasons why an adjournment may be legitimately granted (or directed by the coroner themselves) include:
- You wish to submit further written evidence that the coroner agrees is needed
- You think the scope of the inquest should change and the coroner agrees
- Evidence that is going to be used was provided too late to review it properly
- You were not given enough time to choose a lawyer or seek legal advice
- You did not have enough time to apply for Legal Aid funding (if available)
- The coroner wants to call certain experts (such as a particular medical professional) or witnesses
- The coroner requires further investigations or enquiries to be carried out
Experienced inquest solicitors can advise you on managing the timeline for an inquest and help to request an adjournment if there are legal grounds to do so.
What are pre-inquest reviews?
A pre-inquest review or pre-inquest hearing may be held if an inquest is expected to be complicated or involves quite a few interested persons. It is a type of hearing that allows the coroner to make practical arrangements about the inquest, or to resolve legal arguments. The coroner may set directions obliging interested persons or witnesses to provide additional evidence by a particular date, or the coroner may invite additional written argument in relation to matters of law. JMW can help manage this process and make the appropriate representations.
All of the interested persons (or their representatives) will usually attend. Some review hearings can take a few minutes, whilst others can take an hour or more.
Talk to Us
If you require the legal services of our solicitors in a Coroner’s Court case, get in touch by calling us on 0345 872 6666 or by filling in our online enquiry form to let us know you would like to hear from us.