About Dawn Treloar
Dawn acts for adult and child Claimants who have been injured by medical accidents across all fields of care. Her clients have often sustained catastrophic injury. Dawn’s previous career as a Registered Nurse greatly assists her legal practice, and she has a particular interest in brain and spinal injury claims, having specialised in neurosurgery and trauma intensive care as a nurse, and sepsis claims. She enjoys dealing with challenging and complex claims.
Dawn is an excellent litigator who strives to achieve the best outcome for her clients, to help them to rebuild their lives. She is an accredited member of the Law Society Clinical Negligence Panel, and the AvMA Clinical Negligence Panel. She is ranked in The Legal 500 and Chambers UK.
"Dawn had the perfect balance of experience, professionalism, patience, understanding and honesty while she expertly guided us through this process." - Chambers 2025
"Dawn Treloar is extremely experienced and very easy to work with. Has a great judgement and an eye for detail." - Legal 500, 2025
Notable Cases
- Fatal claim, concerning psychiatric community care provision for a young male who took his own life. Liability denied but the claim settled for near full value.
- Birth injury claim, mum sustained a 4th degree tear and the child a cervical spine injury due to obstetric negligence. Liability not admitted but settled for child’s claim at an early stage, allowing early intervention in terms of care and therapies. Mum’s claim settled in full with a good result.
- Claim against the Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust for negligent oncology care, resulting in severe pelvic radiation disease in a young woman whose quality of life was very severely affected by the injury she sustained.
- Surgical claim for negligently performed cholecystecomy which necessitated 2 further operations, brought against 3 defendants. Liability denied and the claim was settled shortly before trial for £700,000.
- Birth injury cerebral palsy claim against Croydon Health Services NHS Trust, liability not admitted but settled reached at an early stage. The child is benefitting from interim payment of damages as the quantum claim is investigated.
- Claim against a GP for negligent clinical assessment of vascular compromise which resulted in a below-elbow amputation. Liability denied, settled shortly before trial.
- Delayed diagnosis of spinal TB in an adult protected party. Limited admissions but claim settled with an excellent result.
- Chloe Rideout: claim against University Hospitals Plymouth NHS Trust for negligent care post appendicectomy resulting in the death of a 20 year old from sepsis. At the inquest the Coroner found that neglect was a contributing factor to the death. The Trust made changes to the surgical cover in place at the time of Chloe’s death to ensure better continuity of care for patients. There was also a GMC investigation.
- Birth injury shoulder dystocia claim for mum and child. This was a Montgomery consent case, liability was fiercely contested but settlement achieved.
- Claim against Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust for delayed diagnosis of Hepatitis C. Causation contested but the claim settled shortly before trial with a good outcome.
- Sebastian Hibberd: claim against 5 defendants, including GPs, the ambulance service and NHS Digital, for negligent care resulting in the death of a 6 year old from sepsis. The inquest heard that Sebastian died after a catalogue of errors in which ‘numerous opportunities’ to save him were missed, and the Coroner made a Prevention of Future Deaths report to NHS England and NHS Digital to review the systems and protocols in place to assist in particular parents seeking assistance for ill children. Media attention (including a radio interview) was utilised to draw attention to signs of sepsis and inadequate NHS 111 Pathways for 111 handlers.
- Claim against a hospital Trust for negligently performed minor breast surgery, which caused the Claimant to suffer chronic fatigue syndrome and a significant psychiatric injury. The claim settled for £1.4m.
- Claim against a hospital Trust for wrongful birth.
- Claim against 5 defendants, including GPs and the ambulance service, for missed opportunities to recognise signs of sepsis in a 2 year old, resulting in the child’s tragic death. Secondary victim claims brought too.
- Claim against a GP for failure to recognise neurological signs resulting in delayed diagnosis of herpes encephalitis, causing brain injury to a young man. Substantial award.
- Claim against a hospital Trust for a urological injury caused by urinary catheterisation during orthopaedic surgery. Liability was denied and the claim settled on the day of trial. The Claimant was a protected party and in addition to securing substantial damages for the injury the Claimant was awarded provisional damages.
- 2 separate claims where the deceased both died after having interventional radiology procedures and those caring for them failed to recognise that they were haemorrhaging. I was interviewed on BBC Radio Kent regarding one case.
- Claim against a hospital Trust for abdominal surgery, following which the Claimant suffered a significant brain injury. Liability was denied but the case settled shortly before the liability trial with an excellent result.
- Claim against a hospital Trust for a 17 year old female who suffered anaesthetic awareness during chest drain insertion, causing a severe psychiatric injury. Loss of earnings/career delay claimed, excellent result.
- Claim against a hospital Trust for misdiagnosis and subsequent surgery on the wheelchair-dependent Claimant’s arm. The Claimant suffered malunion in his arm with weakness and loss of function, with a consequent significant loss of independence. The claim settled for substantial damages.
- Claim against a hospital Trust for the death of a 7 month old child who had been given a fatal overdose of anti-convulsants. The Coroner returned a verdict of accidental death to which neglect contributed to natural disease. The Coroner made a report to the National Patient Safety Agency highlighting concerns over sub-optimal prescribing issues nationally for junior doctors and nurses. A GMC investigation also took place. The claim settled for damages alongside conditions to be met by the Trust in respect of implementing a National Patient Safety Agency Rapid Response Alert, auditing this and reporting back to the Claimants.
Client Comments
- My solicitor, Dawn Treloar is very knowledgeable and guided me throughout the litigation process. She is happy to explain legal matters multiple times when asked for. She kept us up to date about our case. She also helped us win our case. I highly recommend Dawn for clinical negligence case. Dawn knows what she does and also knows what her client wants. She always respects our opinions and suggestions and also advices what is good for us . I am so very happy with her job.
- “You have always treated us with compassion, understanding and patience. You will always have a place in our hearts, not just because of how hard you worked on our behalf but because of the feeling of quiet confidence you exude.”
- “It’s clear to me that she wouldn’t have managed this at all without your unending advice, support and obviously genuine care and consideration for her wellbeing. I recognise that you might brush it off as a natural part of your role but I can’t imagine that other partners across the sector would display the calm patient compassion that you do. There have been moments when X has said “I can’t do this!” and then a call with you has very clearly soothed and fortified her. I can’t thank you enough Dawn.”
- “You are a real warrior woman!”
- “Thank you for all that you have done for me and X which wouldn’t of been possible without your very professional help and empathy that went with it … you have been amazing assisting me through this such difficult time and representing me at the Inquest with the best outcome there was in such a tragic case and getting justice.”
- “We want to thank you and HJA for all the hard work and effort you have put in on our behalf. You have been a great help and a credit to your profession.
- “I can’t thank you and your team enough for all your efforts. It was never really about the money, mum just wanted to make sure another family didn’t have to go through what we did. I know mum would of been very appreciative for all your hard work too.”
- “Thank you dawn for all your hard work in helping with this case and getting it settled for us we can now put it to bed and move on and finally grieve the loss of our dad …”
- “I want to say firstly thank you for literally everything you’ve done for X and myself. If there was any other women that fought for my son other than his mama it has been you. My beautiful boy went through so much during his birth and all his struggles afterward was a testimony of how strong and amazing he will always be. I miss him everyday and the hurt is excruciating … You have stood by us both and been such a huge support and comfort throughout the whole process. Always patient, accommodating and confident. Thank you from the bottom of my heart.”
Professional Comments
- “Well done to you. I think the client owes you a great deal of gratitude for all your effort and skill.”
- “Your hard work and attention to detail is evident in both your output and outcomes.”
"Exceptional. Brilliant with clients but at the same time incredibly thorough and has great analytical skills." - Legal 500
Memberships & Appointments
- AvMA Specialist Clinical Negligence Panel
- Law Society Clinical Negligence Accreditation Scheme member
- Association of Personal Injury Solicitors
- Society of Clinical Injury Lawyers
- Inquest Lawyers Group
Career & Personal Interests
Career
- Partner, Hodge Jones & Allen, 2016 – present
- Senior Associate, Hodge Jones & Allen, 2014 – 2016
- Associate, Hodge Jones & Allen, 2011 – 2014
- Solicitor, Hodge Jones & Allen, 2009 – 2011
- Trainee solicitor, TV Edwards LLP, 2006 – 2008
- Paralegal, TV Edwards LLP, 2004 – 2006
- 13 years of NHS nursing (1988 – 2004), specialising in Neurosurgical/Intensive Care Nursing. Dawn was a Sister in Intensive Care in a major trauma centre in London before embarking on her legal career.
Education
- College of Law, London – Legal Practice Course with Commendation, 2004
- University of Westminster – Graduate Diploma in Law with Commendation, 2003
- University of Plymouth – BSc (Hons) Nursing (Post registration), 2001
- Registered Nurse 1991, specialist clinical courses in Neuroscience Nursing and General Intensive Care Nursing completed thereafter
Personal Interests
Dawn enjoys keeping fit through military training sessions and yoga. Dawn is an avid supporter of her young son’s sporting and musical interests (particularly rugby and choir).
Medical Negligence 
Opinion
