Judges

  • Don Clarke

    Keoghs

    Don has specialised in defendant personal injury litigation since 1987 and has experience of dealing with catastrophic injury claims arising from employers' liability, public liability and motor policies.        

    In 2002 he moved into the counter-fraud arena and has extensive experience in working with clients in relation to their counter-fraud strategies.

    More recently, Don has worked closely with a number of insurers in relation to defining and maintaining a sensible strategy towards the credit hire market.  This includes helping them to develop processes and procedures geared towards equitable settlements.

    Don is an active member of the firm's strategy team and has additional responsibilities in relation to sales, new service development and client relationship management.  As director of Technical Claims Services, which deals with non-routine insurance claims, he is responsible for the strategic development of this division.

  • Rob Rowe

    Central Law Training

    Rob qualified as a Solicitor in 1986 and spent a number of years in private practice (handling predominantly private client work) before taking up a full time tutoring position on the Legal Practice Course.  Rob joined Central Law Training International in 2001 with substantial legal and training experience and as Course Director has responsibility for the delivery of the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners (STEP) Diploma programmes, nationally and internationally. These certificated professional training programmes have become the benchmark industry qualification for those working in the estate, probate and fiduciary arenas.

  • Jonathan Gulliford

    Co-Op Legal Services

    Jonathan Gulliford is one of the founding directors of The Co-operative Legal Services which, in just three years, is already successfully established as a major force to be reckoned with in the personal injury and probate sectors of the industry.

    For the last ten years Jonathan has been at the forefront of the drive to introduce alternative business structures and has been described as “one of the most outspoken advocates for change in the profession”. With a passion for consumer choice and service excellence, both he and The Co-operative will be instrumental in leading the charge as the legal industry evolves during what can only be described as a momentous period of time for legal services.

    Outside of the office Jonathan is an outdoor enthusiast and has climbed extensively in South America, Asia and New Zealand as well as closer to home.

  • Joe Pendle

    ISO (Insurance Services Office)

    Joe Pendle joined Insurance Services Office (ISO) in February 2004. He is responsible for ISO's Claims Services operation in the UK.  Joe was formerly Group Operations Manager at the Motor Insurers' Bureau (MIB).  At MIB he was responsible for bringing personal injury claims in-house and managing MIB's 120 claims handlers and 75,000 claims per annum.  Joe was involved with the set up of the Motor Insurers' Information Centre (MIIC) and has a good knowledge of the Motor Insurance Database (MID).  He has over 28 years of experience in general insurance claims since starting with the Federated Insurance Company in 1980.  Joe has been responsible for handling personal injury claims for many of the companies that he has subsequently worked for.  Joe was also instrumental in setting up MIB's anti-fraud strategy and Special Investigation Unit.

  • Andrew Twambley

    Andrew is a claimant personal injury lawyer. He was responsible for bringing such leading cases as Callery v Gray, Sarwar v Alam and lead the successful fight to rid the industry of "costs muppets". At the height of the so called "costs war" he would say anything to anyone to gain a headline, but age has now persuaded him to be a little more conservative and a little less adversarial....occasionally. In 2005 he starred in BBC TV series "No Win No Fee". Andrew has semi retired from the headlines and spends his time looking after Amelans and injurylawyers4u.

  • Alan Nesbit

    ARC (assoc. of Regulated Claims Management companies)

    Alan Nesbit set up Nesbit & Co Solicitors in Bury in May 2003. He has worked in the industry since 1996 and qualified as a Solicitor in 1999, and is an APIL Accredited Lawyer at Senior Litigator Level. He has worked on both the Claimant and Defendant Insurance side with various practices both large and small. He now spends his time concentrating on managing and driving forward the practice, now named Nesbit Law Group LLP, which has since opened offices in London, Luton and Leeds as well as Bury, and focuses on developing the sources of work at a corporate level. He has separate specialisations in Compliance and Hire, and earlier in his career, he was heavily involved in dealing with credit hire, both on the Claimant and Defendant side, where he assisted Credit Hire Companies with joining the ABI GTA when it first started and has continued to monitor developments in the industry and assist hire companies at all levels of their operations. He has ensured that Nesbit Law Group is now a member of MASS, an APIL accredited firm and an Associate Member of NACHO.

    Alan has also been actively involved in ensuring that Claims Management Companies are given the correct advice to fit in with both their own regulations through the MOJ and the Solicitors Rules of Conduct which affect the referral of claims. Earlier in 2009, he set up ARC (Association of Regulated Claims Management Companies), which is a trade association representing small to medium sized claims management businesses, providing them with support and guidance and building clear paths of communication between the Regulator and ARC's members.

  • Eddie Phillips

    Equity Red Star

    Eddie Phillips has contributed over 30 years to the Claims market, during which period the business has moved from being entirely paper based, to entirely technology based. He has been involved in three system implementations/conversions during that time in his role as Head of Claims for award winning Equity Insurance Group, Eddie understands the potential in the market to use improvements in technology to deliver improvements in results to both the customer and the insurer.

  • Nicholas Bevan - Bond Pearce LLP

    Nicholas is a highly experienced insurance and personal injury practitioner.  He has a senior counsel role to both the Insurance and Personal Injury Departments of Bond Pearce LLP. He writes regularly for the New Law Journal and the Journal of Personal Injury Law.  He is the author of Future Loss in Practice and of Division VIII of Butterworths Personal Injury Litigation Service.  Nicholas is currently working on a complete revision of Division I on Damages. He is on the editorial board of three different legal publishers. Nicholas is a well recognised legal commentator, lecturer, trainer and presenter and winner of the Personal Injury Awards 2008 ‘Outstanding Achievement Award’.

  • Paul Kitson

    Russell Jones & Walker

    Paul Kitson is a claimant personal injury specialist with particular expertise in serious injury claims, including brain and spinal cord  injuries and fatal accident claims . Most of Paul`s clients are cyclists.

    Paul has handled many multi million pound complex personal injury claims, including those resulting in settlement on a periodical payment basis. He has acted in several landmark cases, including 2 of the 3 House of Lords "multiplier cases" Wells v Wells and Page v Sheerness Steel.

    He has been a Partner at Russell Jones & Walker since 1992, Managing Partner of the London Personal Injury department since 1998 and joint head of the national Personal Injury team since 2005.

    A current member of the Association of Personal Injury Lawyers (APIL) and past committee member of British Association for Sport & Law (1995-1998), Paul is rated as one of the leading London claimant Personal Injury solicitors by both the Legal 500 and Chambers and Partners.