Coodes solicitor appointed to prestigious national panel

Coodes Solicitors Head of Clinical Negligence and Personal Injury has been appointed to the AvMA (Action against Medical Accidents) Specialist Clinical Negligence Panel in recognition of her expertise and commitment to representing and supporting clients who have suffered clinical negligence and making a real difference to their lives.

Rachel Pearce serves as the Head of Clinical Negligence and Personal Injury at Coodes, heading up the team who recently won Clinical Negligence Team of the Year at the 2024 national Personal Injury Awards. She has over 18 years of experience in the field and is ranked in the 2025 edition of Chambers and Partners. She was also Highly Commended as Leader of the Year at the Devon & Somerset Law Society Awards with the team winning Team of the Year at the Cornwall Law Society Awards. She is now one of only a handful of practitioners in Cornwall to sit on the prestigious national panel.

AvMA is the national charity for patient safety and justice. Their vision is simple, to ensure that people who suffer avoidable medical harm get the support and the outcomes they need. They believe that this will transform trust in the NHS and healthcare generally and significantly cut the cost – financial and human – which is incurred annually in settling legal claims as well as dealing with the human costs associated with traumatic medical injuries and death.

The AvMA Panel has come to represent an essential quality mark for those clinical negligence practitioners who place clients at the centre of their practice. The appointment of Rachel to the panel is an honour and represents her expertise in handling clinical negligence claims, commitment to client care and the real difference she makes to people’s lives.

Rachel said: “Being appointed to the prestigious AvMA Clinical Negligence Panel is a true badge of honour and a milestone in my professional journey. It represents the culmination of years of dedication to representing clients who have suffered from clinical negligence, and my unwavering commitment to achieving justice and meaningful answers for them and their families.

“This recognition is not just about technical expertise, though that is crucial; it is also a reflection of the passion and compassion I bring to each case. I am deeply committed to providing a voice to those who may feel unheard and ensuring that their experiences lead to accountability, understanding, and, where possible, change. To be acknowledged by such a highly respected organisation as AvMA is a profound privilege and inspires me to continue striving to make a real difference in people’s lives through my work.”

The Clinical Negligence Team are recognised in the Legal 500 directory and distinguished for their ‘excellent reputation’. The Chambers and Partners Guide 2025 ranks the Clinical Negligence Team as Band 3 for the third year running, recognising the team’s expertise in a range of claims and their ability to “explain the process in a jargon-free way”, their empathy and hard work to “leave no stone unturned when investigating”.