About us


About us

The Association of Personal Injury Lawyers (APIL) exists to help its members fight for the rights of injured people. Founded in April 1990 by a group of barristers and solicitors who wished to improve the services provided for victims of personal injury, today APIL has grown to become the trusted organisation in the promotion, encouragement and development of expertise in personal injury law. APIL has created networks, forged links and uses its 4,700 strong voice to promote the rights of injured people and fight to ensure access to justice.

In everything we do, APIL aims to:

Promote full and just compensation for all types of personal injury
Promote and develop expertise in the practice of personal injury law
Promote wider redress for personal injury in the legal system
Campaign for improvements in personal injury law
Promote safety standards and alert the public to hazards
Provide a communication network for its members

Our head office, at Nottingham’s Castle Quay, is home to over 30 dedicated full time staff reporting to APIL’s elected officers, a team which works together to provide an excellent service to our members and their clients. APIL is a completely independent, not-for-profit and proactive association; we are extremely proud of our exceptional reputation for improving standards in personal injury legal services.

Organisation structure (hover the mouse over the boxes for further details)

Chief Executive

Denise Kitchener

Head of Legal Affairs

Abi Jennings

Head of Membership Services

Marlene Lord

Head of Business Support Services

Ted Parsons

Head of Communications

Lorraine Gwinnutt

Working for us

Our success as a not-for-profit organisation means we are continually growing, and as a consequence we are always looking out for dynamic, enthusiastic, highly capable and motivated people to join our staff team.

Find out more about working for APIL

Our legal affairs team is responsible for:

Developing APIL legal policy in conjunction with our executive committee.
Responding to consultation papers from key government departments and other appropriate bodies.
Meeting with government officials and other key stakeholders on areas of legal policy and practice.
Providing a professional support and enquiry system to APIL members through our information service.
Producing PI Focus.
Conducting research of our members on key practice issues along with preparing analysis of research conducted by other key organisations.

Our membership team is responsible for:

Membership recruitment and retention
Advice, administration and monitoring of the accreditation scheme
Regional, membership, and special interest groups
National programme of courses and conferences, including in-house
Residential conferences and special events
Working with experts and advertisers
Promotion of services and activities, including APIL’s public information campaign and use of the APIL accredited logo
www.apil.org.uk - is dynamic and thoroughly up-to-date

Our business support services team is responsible for:

Provision of core services to all APIL departments
The provision of the full range of financial services including budgeting, monthly management accounts and preparation of accounts for audit
The management of all HR functions including staff recruitment, policies and procedures, employment legislation, payroll, pension and benefit matters
Facilities management
All aspects of health and safety
Contract management

Our communications team is responsible for:

Dissemination of APIL's key messages to the public, press, Parliament and other interested parties
Helping to prevent avoidable injury by alerting people to hazards, wherever they arise
Lobbying for reform of the law to help people injured through the negligence of others
Correcting misconceptions about the compensation system, through the press and Parliament