Irwin Mitchell Court Of Protection Team Expands Staff and Services
Irwin Mitchell Bristol’s Court of Protection (COP) legal team is hoping 2013 will beat the great successes of last year that saw them grow to become a significant presence in the South West specialising in managing personal injury and clinical negligence damages.
Irwin Mitchell is now the only law firm in the top tier across the whole of the UK for Court of Protection work as ranked by the independent Chambers Directory and the Legal 500.
The Court of Protection team in Bristol manage settlements for clients who are unable to manage money themselves after suffering a head injury. It ensures funds are used to help with specialist rehabilitation, support and necessary adaptations to an individual’s home.
The Bristol expansion, led by Partner and COP specialist Michael Knott, reflects Irwin Mitchell’s commitment to being a full service law firm that can help clients with all areas of their claim.
The department has become a specialist hub to give advice to injured professional sports men and women who are left needing a lifetime of care – believed to be the first of its kind in the South West.
Charlotte Prew, who joined Irwin Mitchell Bristol as a COP solicitor shortly after it opened in May 2010 has recently been promoted to an Associate and this reflects her passion and commitment to getting the best results for her clients.
Solicitor Louisa Chadwick joined in 2012 from a national firm where she specialised in COP work to further strengthen the team with new paralegal appointments planned through 2013.
Michael Knott, Irwin Mitchell Partner, said: “The past 12 months have seen Irwin Mitchell’s Court of Protection team in Bristol go from strength to strength. Other law firms trust and appreciate the excellent service we provide and regularly refer their clients to us when they cannot offer a COP service.
“The Court of Protection is having a higher profile in raising the standard of scrutiny for avoiding health and social care and financial abuse of vulnerable people who lack the capacity to make a decision – so it is vital that the teams appointed to make decisions on behalf of others are well respected.
“We’re delighted to promote Charlotte to Associate and to welcome Louisa to the Bristol team in 2012. She joined with a wealth of experience and shares the firm’s attitude of going above and beyond for our clients to get the best possible results.
“It’s also an exciting time as we develop our advice centre to give support to professional, injured sports men and women and we hope it will become an invaluable service across the South West and beyond.
“We’re looking forward to another busy and successful year that we hope will see us remain ranked as the number 1 firm throughout the UK for COP services.”
Nationally there are 72 members staff in the COP team with around 1400 ongoing cases.
Over the past year the team has regularly taken on many cases with settlement values in excess of £10m. These settlements are carefully calculated and the job of the team is ensure that this provides the lifetime of care and support as well as pay for the necessary equipment the clients need.