Vicki Unsworth

Director

Litigation. Strategy. Advocacy.

Vicki is a highly experienced Manx Advocate whose practice is centred on complex civil and commercial litigation, personal injury, clinical negligence and substantial contentious matters.

Commissioned in 2007, she has almost two decades of litigation experience and regularly deals with cases involving difficult evidence, complex legal issues, significant financial consequences and strategic decisions that extend beyond the immediate litigation.

Vicki’s approach is analytical and pragmatic. She focuses first on understanding what the client actually needs to achieve and then on identifying the most effective route to that outcome.

Understand the problem. Identify what matters. Decide what to do about it.

Commercial & civil litigation

Vicki has extensive experience conducting civil and commercial litigation before the Isle of Man Courts.

Her practice encompasses complex contractual and commercial disputes, professional negligence, company and shareholder issues, insurance litigation, urgent and interim applications and substantial civil claims.

She acts for individuals, businesses, professionals, insurers and organisations, including clients and professional advisers based outside the Isle of Man where proceedings or assets have a Manx connection.

Her cases frequently involve extensive documentary evidence, competing expert evidence, difficult questions of causation or loss and strategic issues extending beyond the immediate legal claim.  Vicki’s starting point is not simply whether an argument can be made.  She considers what can be proved, what the litigation will cost, what can realistically be recovered and whether the eventual result will achieve the client’s underlying objective.

A legally arguable case is not necessarily a sensible case to pursue.

Personal injury & clinical negligence

Personal injury and clinical negligence have formed a significant part of Vicki’s practice throughout her career.

She has substantial experience of serious and complex injury claims, including cases involving contested medical evidence, difficult causation issues, long-term disability and significant past and future financial loss.

Her clinical negligence work requires detailed analysis of medical records and expert evidence to distinguish an adverse outcome from actionable negligence and, critically, to determine whether any breach actually caused the injury or loss alleged.

In serious injury cases, the legal claim is only part of the picture.  Vicki works with medical and other experts to understand the practical consequences of an injury for the individual’s work, care, independence and future, ensuring that the evidence properly reflects the impact of what has happened.

She acts for both claimants and defendants, including insurers, giving her experience of how serious injury litigation is analysed and valued from both sides.

Insurance litigation

Vicki regularly acts in litigation involving insurers and works with insurers and English solicitors where proceedings require Isle of Man representation.

Her experience includes liability disputes, serious personal injury claims, road traffic and other accident litigation and cases involving complex questions of evidence, causation and quantum.

Working on both claimant and defendant litigation gives Vicki a useful perspective when assessing how an opponent is likely to approach the evidence, valuation and settlement.

Appeals & complex proceedings

Vicki’s practice includes substantial interlocutory proceedings, trials and appeals before the Isle of Man Courts.

Appellate work requires a different discipline from first-instance litigation.  The issue is no longer simply what happened, but whether the court below made an error capable of justifying appellate intervention.

Vicki’s experience of both trial and appellate litigation allows her to consider that distinction when advising on the merits and proportionality of pursuing or defending an appeal.

Where a case requires specialist expertise, she regularly works alongside King’s Counsel, external counsel and experts from outside the Isle of Man, while remaining responsible for the Manx litigation and its strategic direction.

Advocacy

Know the case before you argue it.

As a Manx Advocate, Vicki undertakes both the preparation of litigation and courtroom advocacy.

Her experience includes contested applications, trials, appeals, examination and cross-examination of witnesses, expert evidence and substantial legal submissions.

That fused role is important to the way she approaches litigation.

Advocacy is not something that begins when the case reaches court. The arguments that can ultimately be made depend upon decisions taken much earlier about evidence, disclosure, experts, witnesses and case strategy.

Vicki therefore approaches preparation with the eventual hearing in mind, even where the objective is to resolve the case without one.  The strongest settlement position is often a case that has been properly prepared to go to court.

Mediation & dispute resolution

Vicki is a qualified and accredited civil and commercial mediator and accepts appointments to act independently as mediator.

She also represents clients in mediation and negotiated dispute resolution.  Her experience as a litigator informs both roles.

She understands what continuing litigation may involve, but also recognises that obtaining a judgment is not always the best measure of success.  Commercial relationships, cost, delay, uncertainty, enforceability and the personal impact of proceedings may all matter.

Winning an argument is not necessarily the same as achieving the right outcome.

Professional leadership

Vicki has played a substantial role in the Isle of Man legal profession alongside her practice as an Advocate.

After serving on the Education Committee of the Isle of Man Law Society for 8 years, Vicki then served for 10 years as an elected member of the Council of the Isle of Man Law Society, including two years as Vice-President and two years as President.  At all times following her election to the Council, Vicki chaired the Education Committee alongside a number of other Committees.

During her time on Council, Vicki was closely involved in the development of the Manx profession and led substantial reforms to the education and training of trainee Advocates.  That work included the reorganisation of the training and qualification process and significant changes to the Manx Bar examinations, which is very much a legacy and testament to her passion and commitment to positive change.

Her interest in professional development continues within Advocates Smith Taubitz Unsworth Ltd, where she is closely involved in the supervision and development of the firm’s junior lawyers and trainee Advocates.

Working with Vicki

Vicki’s style is direct, strategic and practical.

She believes clients should understand the strengths and weaknesses of their case, the risks they face and the likely consequences of the available options.  That sometimes means challenging a client’s initial view of the dispute.  It also means being prepared to recommend negotiation or mediation where that is the better course — and being equally prepared to litigate where it is not.

Complex litigation inevitably involves difficult law and evidence.  The advice does not need to be equally difficult.

Clear advice does not mean simplistic advice. It means making the complicated understandable.