Profile

Paula is a partner in our Manchester office who specialises in claims and litigation arising in the transport, manufacturing, hospitality and care sectors, and handles matters from pre-litigation through to trial or alternative dispute resolution. She deals with employers' liability, public liability, product liability and disease cases.

She acts for a range of clients including self- insured corporate clients, insurers and loss adjusters.

Paula specialises in rail liability work and acts for a number of train operators. Her cases often involve high value and politically sensitive litigation, including claims brought under the claims allocation and handling agreement (CAHA).

She has a varied caseload involving polytrauma, amputation, fatal accident claims, chronic pain and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). She also has experience in disease work including mesothelioma, vibration white finger, noise induced hearing loss, repetitive injury claims and cancer.

Paula is ranked as a Recommended Lawyer in The Legal 500 UK 2017.

She frequently delivers training to clients and is a member of the Forum of Insurance Lawyers.

Qualifications

  • Qualified in England and Wales in 1998.

Market recognition

  • Recommended lawyer for 'Personal injury: defendant (London)'
    The Legal 500 UK 2021

Work highlights

  • Advised a train operating company in relation to strategy and procedure to be adopted following a derailment which led to passenger injuries.
  • Successfully defended a claim pleaded in excess of £750,000 by a driver who alleged that the ergonomic design of his seat and cab caused him chronic back injuries that prevented him from working. The client’s full costs were recovered from the claimant.
  • Managed a claim against a care home by an employee who claimed she was assaulted at work causing her serious orthopaedic injuries. Her claim was pleaded in excess of £800,000 and, via medical evidence and surveillance which demonstrated exaggeration on the claimant’s behalf, the case settled for £75,000.
  • Significantly reduced damages exposure in an employers' liability claim via proving that the claimants working life would have been curtailed in any event due to an unrelated medical condition.