Ralli People

My Job Title: Solicitor

Date I Joined Ralli: June 2009 

Admitted as a solicitor: May 1985  

Professional Qualifications:  LLB (Hons)  Law Society Final Examinations

What do I do at work?

Solicitor in the Personal Injury department.

What have I done?

I went to school in Johannesburg South Africa. I started at university of Witwatersrand Johannesburg, studying for a BA degree for a year, before my family moved back to the UK. Following returning to the UK I gained my LLB degree from the university of Leicester. I then did my solicitors final examinations at the College of Law, Chester. I did my training a small firm of solicitors outside Leeds and finished off my training at a sole practitioner in Rochdale. This firm then merged with four other firms in Rochdale, and shortly after this I left and had my second child. Following this I returned to work for a two partner practice in Bury, where I became a salaried partner, and remained for almost nine years. I then worked for a short time at a city centre firm. From there I moved to a Tameside firm, working at a branch office in Sale. I was made a salaried partner there in April 2005. Following leaving this firm, I worked as a locum at a general high street practice in Sale for almost eleven months, before starting at Ralli in June 2009.

My most memorable case was a little girl who had been born with cerebral palsy. This was a potentially difficult case on the issue of liability, as the difference in the timing that it would have taken to carry out an emergency caesarean section and when the baby was actually born was very fine. An offer of settlement was made at a very early stage, and following a conference with counsel and the various other medical experts involved, upon counsel's advice, it was sought to accept the offer. At the same time, the defendant made a cross application to reduce their offer, on the basis that the client had made better than expected progress, and it appeared that she was going to be able to live a relatively independent life in future, with the appropriate support and assistance in place. Our application was successful, and the claimant's litigation friend was granted permission to accept the defendant's payment into court of £1.9 million.

Over the years I have gained extensive experience in dealing with all types of personal injury claims – Employers Liability, Public Liability, Occupier's Liability and RTA – Fast Track and Multi Track, from high value to modest claims. Over the last ten years I have concentrated solely on various personal injury claims. Of note was a claim for a twenty year old male claimant who had fallen off a ladder in the course of employment, sustaining a wage fracture to his T12 vertebrae, and a 52 year old male claimant who suffered an electric shock in the course of his employment, causing nerve damage to his left hand, which was left in a claw like state as a result of this.

I have extensive experience in dealing with various types of clinical negligence claims, including orthopaedics, gynaecology and obstetrics and general surgery. In particular I dealt with a claim for a male claimant who was referred for physiotherapy involving lifting a heavy medicine bowl, before the fracture to his upper arm had united properly! 
 
                                              
What do I like?

I love travelling. While at university I spent a summer travelling across the United States by Greyhound. I travelled some nine thousand miles in all, all for the cost of a $200 Greyhound ticket.

I enjoy swimming and tennis. I am an avid cinema goer and love reading, although I do not get as much time as I would like to devote to reading. I have a family of sons aged 16 and 19, two cats and a husband to care for. I have been married to my husband for longer than I care to remember. He is a teacher and teaches technology at BRGS in Rossendale.

Memberships:

Previously Law Society's Personal Injury Panel, APIL (not currently).