Winn’s Paul Morpeth voted Secretary of APIL

Winn Solicitors is delighted to announce that Paul Morpeth, Head of Employers Liability, Public Liability and Technical RTA Claims, has been elected Secretary of the Association of Personal Injury Lawyers (APIL) for the North East region.

APIL has been fighting for the rights of injured people for over 25 years. A not-for-profit campaign organisation, APIL’s 3,300 member lawyers (mainly solicitors, barristers and legal executives) are dedicated to changing the law, protecting and enhancing access to justice, and improving the services provided for victims of personal injury. It provides a voice (as well as specialists) for injured people, represents them through political campaigns in Parliament and the press, and provides accreditation to the highest standard of personal injury lawyers.

Following his nomination by Winn Associate Director, and APIL member, Jo Amos, Paul was elected into the role by the other approximately 140 APIL members in the region, who all hail from Northumberland, County Durham, Teesside and Cumbria. In order to be selected, Paul had to demonstrate his commitment to the promotion of APIL’s work as ambassadors for personal injury claimants, as well as rely on his excellent reputation and resulting network.

As Secretary, Paul will be responsible for organising quarterly meetings, as well as supporting the APIL North East Regional Co-ordinator, Rebecca Maddock, in her continued provision of industry-leading information and expert speakers from the legal and medical world to APIL members.

Commenting on his new position, Paul said: “It is a privilege to assist APIL in its crucial work. What the association do, and the relevance to Winn Solicitors’ clients, means a lot to me. I admire the fact that they consider the impact which legal amendments have on claimants, and that they aim to reduce that impact. APIL represents the whole spectrum of personal injury claims, from relatively small cases to those involving serious and life changing injuries, resulting in large awards of damages which need to be invested wisely. The claimants represented by APIL members are from the full breadth of personal injury.

“I, with the full support of Winns, look forward to being a part of this process, during which we hope to raise the profile of Winns' own EL/PL and serious injury claim service to those who may not already know about it.”

Winn Solicitors has 4 APIL members in total, with Clint Milnes and David Burn accompanying Paul and Jo in their APIL membership.

APIL’s current campaign centres around the insurance industry-backed Civil Liability Bill, which, if passed as it stands at present, will drastically reduce compensation awards for those who suffer whiplash injuries in road traffic accidents, and remove the legal rights of millions of people in the UK by increasing the limits at which injured people can recover their legal costs from the other side if they are successful. In addition, the Government want to change the recent government-altered discount rate to one that is more favourable to claimants. This allows catastrophically injured people to invest their damages risk-free, as it often has to last them the rest of their life. The insurance industry is currently challenging this and, with the passing of the Bill, it may mean that the damages awarded may not cover everything required.

To find out more about APIL click here.

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