David heads up Switalskis' child abuse compensation claims team. He’s committed to improving the rights of survivors of child abuse and to changing child protection laws for the better.

David has helped literally thousands of abuse survivors pursue compensation claims and has advised many more on the best way to achieve justice. He advises on every stage of the process.

David has an interest and good knowledge of claims against church organisations, councils, exploitation cases and against abusers direct. He’s worked on various campaigns to improve the rights of survivors of child abuse such as avoiding fixed legal costs and retaining legal aid in these cases. David does his best to influence government to implement recommendations of the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA).

David is involved with a number of organisations aligned to his specialist child abuse compensation work including:

• Executive member of the Association of Child Abuse Lawyers (ACAL)
• Executive member of the support group Ministry and Clergy Sexual Abuse Survivors (MACSAS)
• Fellow of the Association of Personal Injury Lawyers (APIL)

APPROACH

David insists on a personal approach to helping survivors of child abuse. Building and maintaining trust is essential. This can only be done by meeting and talking through the issues and explaining what a survivor can expect when embarking on a case.

He’s worked on a number of high-profile cases, including many group actions. These have included the Rotherham grooming scandal, the Anglican and Catholic abuse cases, council care homes, Medomsley Detention Centre and the Lambeth Council cases.

David is a nationally recognised specialist in child abuse compensation claims. He appears regularly in the written, TV and radio press discussing the impact of child abuse on victims.

EXPERIENCE

• David’s tenacity in pursuing a case on time limits to the House of Lords in 2008 kept the door open for victims of child sex abuse to pursue their cases many years after the assaults. The case was A v Hoare [2008] UKHL 6
• David has helped expand the law on vicarious liability in child sexual abuse cases and in a wider context by pursuing cases against two Catholic institutions. The case was Various v Catholic Child Welfare Society [2012] UKSC 56.
• David and his team are currently trying to persuade the Supreme Court to overturn or re-interpret the case of Poole v GN [2019] UKSC 25 (a case restricting child abuse survivors from suing for negligent social work).
• David has been actively involved in campaigning for an Inquiry into child sexual abuse through the alliance he chaired, “Stop Church Child Abuse”, gathering support firstly from MPs, survivors, lawyers and media. Pressure built from 2014 and the Westminster scandal was the catalyst which led to Theresa May, then Home Secretary, to announce the opening of the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (“IICSA”) in 2015.
• IICSA was advised by David in its early days on institutions to be examined. He has presented numerous witnesses, speeches, and ideas for recommendations to the Inquiry. It is hoped that his ideas around a no fault compensation scheme, mandatory reporting and an end to time limits in these cases will be adopted. David represented 63 core participants, making a major contribution to the evidence presented.