I’m very proud to have been involved in working for the interests of individuals who have suffered injury for more than 20 years now. I will never understand why personal injury lawyers get such a bad press because what we do is incredibly important, something which is always borne out by those we are privileged to help and support.
I have been a partner at Irwin Mitchell for over 10 years and am today the Technical Director with particular focus on the government’s seemingly never ending law reform agenda.
I am also currently a member of the Civil Justice Committee at the Law Society.
I have been a member of APIL for many years and a member of the Executive Committee since 2018, serving as Vice President since 2020. During that time I have represented APIL on various working parties of the Civil Justice Council (CJC), Her Majesty’s Court & Tribunal Service (HMCTS) and Ministry of Justice (MoJ).
A particular focus over the last two years has been working with the Ministry of Justice (as well as the Motor Insurers Bureau and the Civil Procedure Rules Committee) around the implementation of the Civil Liability Act 2018. Whilst this legislation was aimed specifically at lower value injuries arising from Road Traffic Accidents, it was also an attack on fundamental principles such as full and individual compensation for pain, suffering and loss of amenity and the idea that claimants are best served by being represented by a skilled lawyer. Don’t get me wrong, this Act erodes the rights of injured people, but it would have been much worse had it not been for the influence of APIL and other like-minded organisations in how it was shaped and implemented. The next job in this regard is to do all we can to influence the extension of Fixed Recoverable Costs.