Paul Cartwright is a director, and disputes resolution and litigation attorney based in our Johannesburg office. 

Paul's specialised focus lies in the litigation aspects of medical malpractice and aviation law.  He heads up the NRF Aviation team in South Africa, overseeing the team in litigation and regulatory matters, as well as insurance, leasing and registration instructions, and is currently developing the aircraft finance arm of the practice. 

In the medical negligence space, Paul has a long history in defending hospitals and doctors against negligence claims, having previously headed up the medico-legal Department of the office of the State Attorney, Johannesburg, for over 4 years.  Whilst having dealt primarily with birth related incidents such as cerebral palsy, Paul has vast experience in an array of injury claims from damaged feet and limbs, to botched circumcisions and other surgical interventions, and even to children negligently swapped at birth. 

Paul joined Norton Rose Fulbright in April 2020, having been heavily involved in several of the seminal medico-legal judgements in South Africa, as well as the ongoing development of the common law first established in the DZ judgement of the Constitutional Court. 

He has actively trained both attorneys and candidate attorneys within the firm on the specific practice and procedure of medical malpractice litigation. 

Paul has previously presented to both the MEC for Health, Gauteng, and the Minister of Health on the ballooning escalation of medico-legal claims against the State, and has also repeatedly presented to the IISA on the issue of damages and the provision of services in lieu of a lump sum payment arising from multiple judgements of the High Court, the SCA and the Constitutional Court. 

Currently, in terms of a major national contract, Paul is running a significant number of medico-legal matters, for one large provincial department.