Janice has a varied caseload of both clinical negligence and personal injury cases, but her main area of expertise is in infection, spinal injuries and brain injuries.

In her 30 years of practising as a clinical negligence and personal injury solicitor she has seen all manner of negligently acquired injuries and is unshockable. She has a huge amount of experience to bring to each case because of her experience and technical skills.

She has successfully won many cases at trial and never shies away from those cases at the more difficult end of the spectrum.

She is known for winning the unwinnable, and the great energy and dedication she brings to each case.

Janice Gardner at Russell-Cooke is a real fighter who stands her ground and gives realistic and proper advice to her clients in heavy duty cases. She is hugely experienced, has a lightness of touch and brings tactical nous to all her decisions.

Legal 500 (2023)

As now the most senior lawyer in her team, she focuses her energies on the cases that she thinks she can add most value to, namely those that are technically difficult or very high value. She also enjoys working on cases where she can push the legal boundaries and challenge bad law.

Janice has been at Russell-Cooke since 1999 and a partner since 2001. Previously she worked at a niche clinical negligence practice in Manchester, JMW and before that trained at Anthony Gold Solicitors in London where she remained following her qualification for a further four years.

She is ranked in Chambers and the Legal 500 for both her clinical negligence and personal injury work.

She loves the challenge of a new case and planning how she is going to take it forward. She enjoys working with other professionals and building the right team for each case.

• £5.25 million for Lesley Ash following a hospital acquired infection which was negligently misdiagnosed
• Multiple multimillion pound awards for catastrophically injured children damaged at birth
• £4 million award for a man whose anal abscess was overlooked which allowed it to progress to necrotising fasciitis, septic shock, and compartment syndrome and tissue necrosis resulting in multiple amputations of his leg, foot, toes and hands
• Multimillion pounds awarded for a wrongful birth claim where the ultra-sonographer missed a significant heart defect which would have led to a diagnosis of a chromosome disorder
• Multimillion pound award for a man who was involved in a road traffic accident in a car park during which he suffered a traumatic crush injury resulting in an above the knee amputation
• Multimillion pound awards for SCI client in road traffic collision
• Multimillion pound awards for SCI client involved in personal injury claim
• Maximum value award for SCI client following an assault by her partner

• Member of the Law Society Clinical Negligence Specialist Panel
• Member of APIL and AvMA
• Member of the Back-up Legal Panel
• Trustee of the Wormwood Scrubs Pony Centre (specialising in riding for disabled children)
• Volunteer and committee member of Hemel Hempstead Recreational Ski Group for disabled skiers