Profiles

Anthony graduated from Sheffield University with an LLB (Hons) and has worked with a number of leading Manchester law firms, becoming a partner in 1995 and a Managing Partner in 2001. He has specialised in high value insurance matters arising from road traffic accidents, accidents at work and health and safety issues. He also has expertise in fatal accidents including a criminal element in terms of dangerous driving and death by dangerous driving. Anthony is an active member of the local business community and in 2004 was invited to join the Board of Preston North End Football Club where he continues as a non-executive director. Anthony is a member of the Executive Committee of leading lobby organisation the Forum of Insurance Lawyers (FOIL). Anthony joined Horwich Farrelly as Chief Executive in May 2009.

Catherine qualified in 1992 at a large law firm in Sheffield, where she became an associate one year later, specialising in employers’ liability cases (accident and disease), fatal claims, public liability claims and inquest work. In 2008 Catherine joined another Sheffield firm to carry out large loss and catastrophic injury work, becoming a partner and Head of the Defendant Insurance team in May 2008. In March 2010 Catherine joined Horwich Farrelly as a partner at its Sheffield office and continues to advise on large loss civil claims.

Mark heads the Fraud team and is responsible for maintaining an extremely high quality of work from the nationally recognised solicitors working in the department. He is a member of the Forum of Insurance Lawyers and specialises in fraud, staged accidents and credit hire.

Nicola joined the firm in 1994 as a trainee solicitor in the Insurance Litigation Department and began specialising in defendant personal injury and credit hire. Then with the advent of the Woolf reforms in 1999 and the introduction of conditional fee agreements, she recognised the opportunity to develop a niche practice in the area of costs. Since its inception in 2001 the department has grown exponentially and now employs over 30 legal advisers with specialist knowledge of costs law. Nicola counts some of the country’s largest insurers amongst her clients and she has personally undertaken some significant test litigation on their behalf in relation to strategic costs issues such as the appropriate level of recoverability for additional liabilities as well as providing advice to insurers on matters such as the MRO agreement. Nicola is a member of the Forum of Insurance Lawyers and Manchester Court Users Committee.

Patrick was made a partner in January 2009, having joined the firm in August 2001 as a trainee solicitor and has been involved in the Costs, Fraud and Insurance Litigation Departments, working for a number of insurers. Patrick is routinely instructed in cases involving technical points on the interpretation of the Civil Procedure Rules (at first instance, on appeal and in test litigation). Patrick established and leads a team of lawyers specialising in this area, dealing with such issues as the premature issue of proceedings and the application of Lamont v Burton. Patrick is a member of the Forum of Insurance Lawyers and the Rules Special Interest Group.

Paul has worked at Horwich Farrelly since 1996 and became a partner in 2008 after qualifying as a solicitor in 2003. He has a further four years’ experience in the claims department of a leading national insurer. Paul leads a team of lawyers specialising in both opportunist fraud and organised fraud rings.

Philip has acted for private individuals in catastrophic large value cases and for the major legal expenses companies operating in the UK together with a number of the top insurance companies. As an experienced and forward thinking personal injury lawyer Philip established the Third Party Injury Capture Scheme in conjunction with a number of insurance companies and is fully compliant with Law Society regulations. Claims savings under the scheme can be achieved in excess of 50% compared to a predictable costs referral. The issue of third party capture is now an established work source within the insurance industry and the working methods of our scheme are substantially mirrored in the New Claims Process for personal injury claims effective from 2010. Philip was also responsible for establishing the brand name “Aventura Insurance Solutions” in conjunction with a major claims service provider, able to provide “cradle to grave” full first notification of loss, service and personal injury recovery services.

Rob is a partner with over twenty years’ experience in handling high value road traffic claims for insurers, such as Aviva, Admiral, HSBC and Tradex. He is a strong supporter of Alternative Dispute Resolution and has been involved in numerous mediations on behalf of insurers. He is a member of the Forum of Insurance Lawyers.

Ronan joined Horwich Farrelly in June 2002 and has specialised in fraud ever since. He has been heavily involved in low impact litigation and was the solicitor instructed in both Kearsley v Klarfeld [2005] EWCA Civ 1510 and Casey v Cartwright [2006] EWCA Civ 1280 – the leading Court of Appeal authorities on the procedure for the conduct of low impact litigation. He was invited to join the partnership in January 2010 and his attention is now focused on leading a team of lawyers and dealing with higher value fraud including fraud rings.

Simon has worked at Horwich Farrelly since 2004. In addition to managing a large caseload of litigated and pre-litigated files, Simon supervises both the Claims Handling Department and the Infant Approval Team. Prior to joining Horwich Farrelly Simon worked as a claims investigator and claims handler for a leading insurer.

Stephen is a member of the Forum of Insurance Lawyers and Manchester Law Society. He deals exclusively with defendant insurance litigation, arising out of motor accidents as well as employers’ liability and public liability incidents on behalf of insurers including Sabre and HSBC. Stephen has particular expertise in terms of accidents of the utmost severity and advising insurers on policy wording issues.

Stuart has been a partner at Horwich Farrelly since 1989. He handles higher value, insurance-related litigation including fire claims, indemnity disputes, commercial disputes, employers’ liability claims (including industrial diseases), public liability claims and road traffic cases. He acts for insurance companies including Brit and Chaucer, Lloyds syndicates as well as several (non-insurance) national companies, advising on their public and employer liability claims.

Suzanne specialises in insurance litigation and advises a range of leading insurers, including Jubilee and Sabre, in relation to motor, employment and public liability cases. She studied at the University of Birmingham and Chester Law School, where she achieved a distinction on the Solicitors’ Final course. In addition, Suzanne is also a member of the Forum of Insurance Lawyers.