Lawyers At Irwin Mitchell Among Those Honoured For Services With The Royal British Legion Solicitors Group

Military law experts from Irwin Mitchell were among those taking home The Claims Innovation Award for Legal Service Team of the Year for their pro bono work within The Royal British Legion Solicitors Group (TRBLSG).

Partner Geraldine McCool based in the Irwin Mitchell Manchester office, consultant Paul Harrington, and his son, partner Simon Harrington, both based in the Irwin Mitchell Cambridge office, are all expert military lawyers who have worked on many high profile cases on behalf of servicemen, and are all members of TRBLSG.

The Claims Innovation Awards celebrate how firms, teams and individuals from across the legal services, claims management and associated industries’ landscape constantly find new ways of raising standards, growing business and improving access to justice.

TRBLSG were honoured last night for their pro bono work amounting to hundreds of thousands of pounds for injured military service personnel and their families. Over the years, they have covered incidents from Northern Ireland to Bosnia, Gulf War 1, Iraq and Afghanistan and also accidents on manoeuvres from jungle training in Belize to South China, Hong Kong, Kenya, Cyprus, Germany and Canada.

Geraldine McCool, military expert at Irwin Mitchell, said:

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“Paul, Simon and I are delighted to be recognised for our specialist work for service personnel over 29 years. The group is about long term collaboration with other devoted lawyers and sharing information under the constant support of The Royal British Legion.

“The award highlights in particular the pro bono work at military inquests and campaigns for change to the rights of members of HM Armed Forces. This area of law is new, with immunity being removed in 1987 and it has been a privilege to serve these clients and the Legion over that time.” Geraldine McCool - Consultant

TRBLSG was established in 1989 by a group of likeminded solicitors from law firms across the country to represent the Armed Forces and their families by providing the best legal advice, and also to assist injured service personnel regain their quality of life post-injury.

The group also provides extensive training to The Royal British Legion (TRBL) staff and Defence Medical Rehabilitation Centre Headley Court, recently on matters relating to the Court of Protection.

Members have also had a key input to a number of Select Defence Committee meetings; for example, by providing evidence to the committee on the difficulty in obtaining information from the Ministry of Defence, and members have also worked with Pukka films on the film Kajaki about Mark Wright GC, a client of Geraldine and Paul’s. David Elliot won a Bafta for his role and the film raised funds for four charities, including the RBL.

Irwin Mitchell is a member of the Pro Help scheme, facilitated by Business in the Community, which enables pro bono work to be at the heart of Irwin Mitchell’s philosophy. The firm’s legal teams around the country provide free legal advice to communities and organisations that need it most.