Hilary Meredith Newsletter 2017

2017 at a glance National Expansion Legal Awards Hilary Meredith appointed as Visiting Professor Freedom of the City of London Army veteran’s new role Record performance in legal directories

@hmhelpforforces

Welcome to our review of 2017, a year in which Hilary Meredith Solicitors has cemented its reputation as a national market leader and extended our influence at the top levels of government, policy and law making.

During the course of the year, we have enjoyed many successes with hugely important cases settling for record amounts.

We’ve been involved in parliamentary debates, influenced the closure of IHAT, forced the MoD to put a framework of support in place for those members of the armed forces facing judicial process and taken them to task on corporate responsibility. We’ve also continued to broaden our service offering and welcomed a number of quality new people on board.

We hope you enjoy the read. Please contact us if you have any questions regarding anything we have included in this review or if you would like further information on a topic we haven’t covered. Your views are always important to us and we welcome your feedback.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you all.

Hilary Meredith

National Expansion In addition to her legal practice, Sinead has been heavily involved in community projects in Wythenshawe, including a project for young people to get them into education, as well as being a founder member of the first community credit union in Manchester, set up in Wythenshawe.

Hilary Meredith, Clare Stevens and Kris Inskip

The firm significantly strengthened its Wilmslow and London offices with a range of senior hires and appointments during 2017.

Earlier this year, clinical negligence specialist Kris Inskip joined as a partner and Head of Clinical Negligence.

Kris began his legal career at Pannone as a trainee solicitor, qualifying into the Clinical Negligence team in 2000 before becoming Partner in 2006. He joined Slater and Gordon in February 2014 and later became their National Head of Clinical Negligence.

In a further boost to our Wilmslow office, we have also Sinead Cartwright welcomed Dianne Yates as a partner. Dianne joins from Birchall Blackburn where she headed up the catastrophic injury team. With over 25 years experience as a personal injury solicitor, Dianne specialises in catastrophic injury, predominantly brain injury, spinal injury, polytrauma and amputation. She also has specialist knowledge of industrial diseases, notably asbestos-related conditions.

Also strengthening the Wilmslow team is solicitor, Susan Healey, who joins from Coops Law. We have also bolstered our London office with two senior hires.

Replacing Sinead Cartwright as head of the London office is partner, Gary Tierney. Gary joins from Simpson Millar and specialises in complex personal injury claims including military accident claims, multi-track EL/PL, serious RTA and fatal accident claims.

Kris handles a large variety of complex medical litigation cases including serious injury actions for adults and children.

Expanding the head office in Wilmslow and returning to the North West after five years as head of our London office is partner Sinead Cartwright.

Sinead, who joins the firm’s Main Board on her return to the Wilmslow office, deals with a wide range of high value claims for military personnel.

After leaving school at 16, Sinead’s first job was as an office junior in a solicitor’s office in Wilmslow. She studied for her A levels at night school before eventually qualifying as a solicitor in 1999.

Gary Tierney

Also joining from Simpson Millar, as a Senior Associate, is medical negligence specialist Justin Glenister, who is heading up our Lariam action.

Manchester Legal Awards Hilary Meredith wins Outstanding Achievement of the Year Award Hilary Meredith collected the Outstanding Achievement of The Year Award at the Personal Injury Awards 2017.

Over the last twelve months, Hilary has secured major, life-saving policy changes from the UK government in a substantial but often misunderstood area of personal injury service personnel and veterans battling Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and other psychological injuries as result of their service in Iraq.

Unlike our troops, Hilary’s campaign has not taken place on the streets of Baghdad, Al Anbar or Salah Ad Din. Instead it has been waged at the Houses of Parliament and the Ministry of Defence.

Hilary’s efforts have been instrumental on a range of levels: - They have led to the closure of the Iraq Historic Allegations Team (IHAT), an investigative body which resulted in entirely innocent service personnel and veterans “losing their sanity”.

Clare Stevens collecting the award

Hilary Meredith Solicitors was named as Personal Injury / Clinical Negligence Team of the Year at the 2017 Manchester Legal Awards.

The awards, now in their eighth year, took place at the Midland Hotel in Manchester. Organised by Manchester Law Society, the evening was attended by over 650 guests from Greater Manchester and beyond.

Clare Stevens was interviewed by the panel of judges in January and collected the award on behalf of the firm at the ceremony.

Said Clare: “The Manchester Legal Awards are hugely competitive with the judges receiving entries from hundreds of law firms. To collect the award on behalf of everyone is a real career highlight for me.”

Closure of IHAT Our longstanding lobbying and campaigning played a hugely influential role in the Select Defence Committee’s decision to recommend the immediate closure of the Iraq Historic Allegations Team (IHAT).

- They have led to the introduction of long overdue support measures for service personnel and veterans facing judicial process but suffering from PTSD and other psychological injuries - never again will they be “hung out to dry” with their mental health “frazzled”.

For over a year, we have been providing evidence, meeting with MPs and Government officials and lobbying the Government in television and radio interviews.

- They have helped to break down the stigma surrounding mental health as a personal injury in the military community (we are also working with hundreds of former service personnel suffering mental illness after being given anti-malaria drug, Lariam).

“Funded by the Ministry of Defence (MoD), this flawed, incompetent and repugnant organisation has cost the taxpayer over £35 million and left a trail of destruction in its wake. Careers, relationship, families and ultimately lives have all been destroyed.”

Commenting on the recommendation, which has since been implemented, Hilary said:

Commenting on the award, Hilary Meredith said: “I’m absolutely thrilled to collect this award. It is a great credit to the whole team.

“Our work has influenced the very top levels of UK government, helping to achieve great change. Never again will our service personnel and veterans be forced to suffer in silence.”

At last year’s Personal Injury Awards, Hilary also collected the Claimant Solicitor of the Year award for the second time.

@hmhelpforforces

Hilary Meredith Freedom of the appointed as City of London Visiting Professor

by University of Chester

Earlier this year, Hilary received the Freedom of the City of London.

The Freedom of the City of London began in 1237 and is one of the oldest surviving traditional ceremonies still in existence today.

Hilary Meredith has been appointed as Visiting Professor of Law and Veterans’ Affairs by the University of Chester.

Winston Churchill, Princess Diana, and Nelson Mandela are former recipients.

The University of Chester, founded in 1893, is one of the oldest higher education institutions in the country. In her role as Visiting Professor, Hilary will primarily support the outputs of the Westminster Centre for Research and Innovation in Veterans’ Wellbeing. Commenting on her appointment, Hilary said:

The Times Newspaper covered Hilary’s appointment and also tweeted it to over 73,000 followers.

“I am honoured and delighted to take up the post of Visiting Professor. I look forward to further strengthening my ties with the University by continuing to share my knowledge and experience in any way I can. The Westminster Centre has a hugely positive impact on veterans’ health and healthcare and I am proud to play my part.”

Said Alan Finnegan, Director of the Westminster Centre for Research & Innovation in Veterans’ Wellbeing: “The team at the Westminster Centre is delighted that Hilary has been appointed as a Visiting Professor at the University of Chester. Hilary is outstanding in her support to the Armed Forces Community, and we are very fortunate to have her commitment, dedication and drive in supporting the Centre’s work to improve the wellbeing of military veterans and their families.”

Fundraising for Broughton House The firm has focused its fundraising efforts on official charity, Broughton House, over the last 12 months.

Based in Salford, Broughton House is the sole independent provider of nursing and residential care for veterans of the armed forces and merchant navy in the North West.

Broughton House was formed in 1916 by Colonel Sir William Coates of the East Lancashire Red Cross, a Manchester GP. The charity is proud to have served those who have served their country and is currently planning developments that will safeguard the future of caring for veterans for another century as well as expanding services to cater for modern veteran needs.

Lariam action – over 3000 enquiries Lariam is a brand name for the anti-malarial drug, Mefloquine, prescribed as a prophylaxis against Plasmodium Falciparum, a virulent strain of malaria common in many parts of Africa and South East Asia.

Army veteran’s new role

Having been developed in the US following the Vietnam War, Lariam was made available in the UK in 1989 and was quickly adopted by the British Armed Forces as its antimalarial of choice.

Consumers of Lariam, both inside and outside the Armed Services, soon reported adverse effects of a neuropsychiatric nature and a number of medical publications and anecdotal reports led to regulatory intervention at the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) and the British National Formulary (BNF), warning that: • Mefloquine is associated with serious neuropsychiatric effects and should not be prescribed to patients with a history of neuropsychiatric disturbance or even a family history of certain disorders; and

• Where it is reasonable to prescribe it, patients should be informed of the association with those effects and should be advised that, if they do experience any side effects, they should seek medical advice before taking another dose; Regardless of whether the prescribing practitioner is a civilian GP or the Ministry of Defence, it is clear that a stringent prescription regime has been required.

We have now received over 3,000 enquiries from serving and ex-serving personnel with allegations of a substandard prescription of Lariam whilst in service and we are currently investigating over 400 cases in which it appears that injuries, often serious and life-changing, may have been inflicted as a result. The firm has launched a dedicated Lariam Team headed up by clinical negligence specialist Justin Glenister.

During the course of the year we have been delighted to work closely with army veteran, triple amputee and author Andy Reid, appointing him as a community ambassador for the firm.

In 2009, serving in the 3rd Battalion the Yorkshire Regiment, Andy had only 10 days left in the Middle East when he stood on an improvised explosive device (IED). His injuries were such that he lost both legs, one above the knee and his right arm. While he admits there were times when he wished ‘the Taliban bomber had been better at his job and finished me off completely’, Andy has since gone on to forge a successful career as an author, businessman, key note speaker and fundraiser for military charities.

Andy published his award-winning book, Standing Tall, in 2014. The book tells two stories. One is of Corporal Reid, an infantry-section commander with Burma Company, 3rd Battalion the Yorkshire Regiment. The other tells of Andy Reid, triple-amputee skydiver, cyclist, charity fundraiser, husband and father. Together, they tell a tale of astounding courage; not just the courage to face the enemy under fire, day after day, in often appalling conditions, but also what Napoleon called ‘three-o’clock-in-the-morning courage’, the ability to respond to disaster and to overcome the inner demons and to overcome the inner demons that accompany it.

Record performance in legal directories The firm received its best ever record rankings in this year’s legal directories. The write-ups were as follows: Legal 500 Hilary Meredith Solicitors is an ‘excellent firm for claimant personal injury and related work such as inquests. It is a specialist firm when it comes to military claims’. Hilary Meredith is described as the ‘most tenacious personal injury lawyer, who is absolutely dedicated to her clients; she is constantly striving to get the best resolution of her clients’ claims’. Clare Stevens is ‘fantastic with clients and is excellent at guiding them through the complexities of personal injury litigation and inquests’. Both are ‘enormously experienced on military claims and can handle the most demanding of clients really well’. The team has long-established links with UK servicemen and women and the armed forces community, as well as a number of associated charities.

Chambers UK Kris Inskip of Hilary Meredith Solicitors has a varied clinical negligence practice, which includes complex failure to diagnose cases and reduced life expectancies. Sources see him as “really meticulous in his preparation and very capable,” noting: “His analysis and preparation is always first-class and cuts through the peripheral to the heart of the issues.” An impressed client adds: “Kris’s approach is very soothing and calming in the face of adversity.”

www.hmsolicitors.co.uk

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