Impact of pro bono: working for justice for a grieving family

What did the work entail?

Harry Dunn was killed in a road accident involving the wife of a member of the US mission stationed at RAF Croughton in Northamptonshire, who was driving on the wrong side of the road.

The initial legal proceedings involved a judicial review of the decision that she enjoyed diplomatic immunity.

A&O Shearman had overall control of the case and became involved when the judicial review went to the Court of Appeal.

They led the subsequent coroner’s inquiry with Patrick Gibbs KC as lead counsel.

The inquest concluded that Harry died as a result of a road accident and made recommendations in three reports on how to prevent future deaths.

Two of the recommendations were addressed to the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, focusing on the issue of ambulance response times and the ability of paramedics to provide certain types of pain relief.

The third was to British authorities working with American personnel on military bases in Britain to recommend that more driving and road safety training be provided.

What was the impact?

The work helped obtain an outcome for the Dunn family, which went some way toward their goal of ensuring that what happened to Harry would not happen again.

The inquest, together with the family’s media campaign, has ensured that the issue of road safety and driver training for US drivers operating outside RAF bases was closely scrutinized by authorities.

The Department for Transport has carried out a comprehensive road safety review outside US bases in Britain and it is hoped further action will be taken.