About Alan Collins
Alan specialises in serious personal injury cases including head and spinal injury claims, but primarily child abuse cases.
Alan is part of number of specialist teams at Hugh James which includes serious injury solicitors, asbestos solicitors, abuse solicitors and medical negligence solicitors.
He acts for a wide range of individuals in this country and overseas, and these include those who have suffered serious head and spinal injuries, victims of sexual and physical abuse and assaults, whether as children or adults.
He has represented clients in very high profile cases arising from allegations of sexual abuse.
In addition, Alan has appeared before the Independent Jersey Care Inquiry as the advocate representing survivors of child abuse. He currently represents survivors before the IICSA.
In addition to winning multi-million pound awards for clients (for example an approved award valued at over £5million for a young girl who suffered brain damage at birth) he has acted in many high profile cases particularly for victims of child abuse.
Best career moment: Acting for the victims of sexual abuse at a children’s home in Berkshire called Green Field House during the 1960s. Considered to have been one of the worse cases ever to have come to public notice it was proved as result of the investigatory work undertaken by me that the home had been the centre of what was a paedophile ring. All the victims that I acted for were compensated for the considerable harm they had suffered.
Notable cases include:
• The Haut de la Garenne cases – Alan acted for victims of the Haut de la Garenne abuse case
• The Independent Jersey Care Inquiry - Alan represented the care leavers at the inquiry into child abuse
• The Anglemoss and Derek Slade cases – acting for a number of victims who were abused whilst pupils at Duncan Hall and St. George’s Schools
• The Green Field House abuse case. There were three tranches of cases arising from sexual abuse and exploitation of boys during the 1960s
• Cyntwell High School for Boys – a group case arising out of the sexual abuse of pupils at this Cardiff school during the 1960
• The Heron case – acting for the victims of a music teacher who had sexually abused them. He fled to the Philippines to avoid justice and was extradited. Alan successfully obtained a freezing order to prevent dissipation of assets.
• The Portsmouth Cottage Homes cases – successfully acting for group of survivors of abuse from the 1940s and 1950s.
Alan is a Fellow of the Association of Personal Injury Lawyers (APIL), and a member of the Solicitors Regulation Authority personal injury accreditation scheme (Law Society Personal Injury Panels).
Alan regularly appears on radio and television in relation to many of his cases, including BBC and ITV national news, Radio 4 ‘Today’, and local radio and television both in the UK and Australia.
Alan is a solicitor-advocate and mediator. He also gives talks and lectures on legal issues, and in 2007 addressed the Australian Lawyers Association’s annual conference in Hobart.
Alan assisted pro bono Portsmouth Mediation Service which is a charitable organisation assisting local people who are trying to resolve their disputes through mediation.
Alan qualified as a solicitor in 1990, qualified as a solicitor-advocate in 2006 and joined Hugh James as a partner in December 2014.