England - Yorkshire And The Humber • Insurance
Irwin Mitchell
Irwin Mitchell retains its eminent reputation through the combination of its large team of personal injury experts, its track record of securing excellent rehabilitation, and its strong and established local and national presence. Adrian Budgen leads the practice in Sheffield, specialising in asbestos and workplace illness, while Sion Kingston heads the team in Leeds and focusses on a range of catastrophic injuries. The significant depth of the wider team is illustrated by the preponderance of seasoned experts, including Louise Jenkins, who specialises in brain injuries; Carolyn Heaton, who leads on neurotrauma; Rachael Aram, who manages work in serious injury; Ian Toft, who works on life-limiting disease; Claire Newstead, who is in charge of polytrauma matters; and David Johnston-Keay, who focusses on occupational disease claims. David Withers works on high severity claims and has advocacy experience before inquests and trials.
Legal 500 Editorial commentary
Testimonials
Collated independently by Legal 500 research team.
‘I have worked with the team for a number of years now, and in each case I have been involved in, regardless of who is handling the file, I have found the firm to be extremely diligent, forward thinking, and tenacious in their pursuit of justice for their clients.'
‘The individuals I have worked with from this team have all been diligent, honest, flexible, firm but fair, highly motivated, compassionate, sensitive and empathetic, and have operated with the highest level of integrity.'
‘The whole team were amazing and worked so well together. All were so helpful and understanding.’
‘Irwin Mitchell in my opinion are first class at personal injury claims. I would recommend this firm to anyone who needed their help.’
‘This is an excellent team that is pound for pound as good as any in the country. Exceptionally hard-working and well-prepared, very committed to clients, deep knowledge and experience, and excellently led.’
‘Carolyn Heaton is among the very best litigators and leaders of a team. She has outstanding ability. She is extremely ably assisted by Hema Rana (a very hard-working and caring lawyer who carries the heaviest of cases).’
‘The Sheffield and Leeds' offices offer the perfect combination of a national reputation but local knowledge and regional pricing. Quality people, and great organisation.’
'The quality of the team is maintained by frequent experience of difficult claims and difficult defendants and in-house training. I work with a number of other firms and, while they may have good individuals, they lack the overall quality, support and depth of expertise that IM are able to offer.'
Work highlights
- Represented the claimant in a case relating to his exposure to asbestos during a limited 5/6 day period in 1987, with the defendant conceding liability.
- Representing the family of Mrs Begum in a novel attempt to establish civil liability for the Smart Motorway network operators for her death on that network.
- Secured a settlement for a PPO equivalent to a lump sum valued at 72.5% of £17.9m for a nine-year-old claimant pedestrian who suffered catastrophic brain injuries.
Lawyers
Leading individuals
Irwin Mitchell
PartnerHas a special interest in asbestos-related disease cases, particularly mesothelioma, and has written and lectured widely on the subject of asbestos disease and personal injury litigation. Represented June Hancock in the Armley environmental asbestos case and also achieved what was, at the time, the highest award for an industrial disease/fatal injury case, of £4.37m.
Irwin Mitchell
Louise is a Partner in the Sheffield office and leads the Serious Injury team comprising of over 50 team members. She has more than 20 years of experience in acting for clients who have sustained serious brain and spinal cord injury and other complex injuries, having joined Irwin Mitchell in 1997. Louise’s cases have won the Post Magazine’s Rehabilitation First Award on a number of occasions (claimant’s solicitor category), demonstrating Louise’s strong ethos of maximising client recovery and prioritising rehabilitation and quality of life in every case. She has been part of legal teams tackling complex and ground breaking issues. These include appearances in the Court of Appeal in relation to securing substantial interim payments, Statutory Services funding, life expectancy, periodical payments and the interaction of legislation regarding Statutory Services provision with damages recovery. Louise has also been involved in a significant number of highly complex, multi-million pound settlements. Alongside her considerable technical expertise, Louise is known for her profoundly caring and compassionate approach with clients, helping them to rebuild lives positively after serious injury.
Irwin Mitchell
Ian Toft is Head of the Asbestos Disease Team in Leeds and became a Partner in May 2017. He was named as Partner of the Year at the Yorkshire Legal Awards 2018. At the Eclipse Proclaim Personal Injury Awards Ian’s work in securing client’s access to future treatment was recognised and he was presented with the Outstanding Case of the Year award 2018. He is recognized by APIL as a Senior Litigator and an Asbestos Accredited Specialist.
Next Generation Partners
Practice head
The lawyer(s) leading their teams.
Sion Kingston, Adrian Budgen