The first time I secured a settlement in a brain injury case was in the late 1990s.  It was a claim for a child who suffered from cerebral palsy following medical negligence in the first few days of his life. He was left with catastrophic injuries. He has no speech and no independent movement but is otherwise as intelligent as anybody. We secured a settlement of just over £2m. As is often the case, I…

There has been a lot of poorly informed comment from politicians and the media in relation to the decision to issue a summons against Boris Johnson following his famous £350m statements during the EU Referendum Campaign. The most popular criticism is that the court is not the right place for discussion of political issues. Some of the comments have bordered on the hysterical. Bob Seely MP tweeted ‘This stupid, muddle-headed judge has made a fool…

Let’s get one thing clear. People who have the benefit of legal aid are not given a hand-out. They are not ‘given’ anything. The purpose of legal aid is, or was, to ensure that each party to a dispute have equal access to legal representation. Legal Aid, as we know it, was introduced in 1949 by the post war Labour government. Its stated purpose at the time was – “to provide legal advice for those…

Did anyone else watch the jaw dropping documentary on BBC about the millionaire landlord Fergus Wilson who is carrying out mass evictions of his tenants so that he can retire? He has previously hit the headlines for refusing to accept tenants on benefits, single parents and anyone on zero hours contracts. He became unstuck in 2017 when a court granted an injunction against his refusal to let to Asian tenants – because of the curry…