[1]Claire Howard, partner in the personal injury team
Leading law firm Irwin Mitchell [2] is strengthening its south coast legal team with the appointment of an experienced partner and associate solicitor to its market leading personal injury team.
The top 20 law firm, which opened in Southampton in April this year and recently moved to new permanent premises at Ocean Village, offers a wide range of legal services from its south coast base and has signalled its intent to grow quickly with the latest senior hires.
Claire Howard has joined as a partner in the personal injury team having formerly been head of personal injury at Blake Lapthorn, specialising in all aspects of personal injury work with a particular expertise in accidents at work, industrial disease and serious brain injury.
She is described as ‘excellent’ by the independent Legal 500 guide and is a recognised specialist on the Law Society personal injury panel and a headway-recommended solicitor.
Claire is also a member of the Association of Personal Injury Lawyers (APIL) and has been appointed as an assessor of their brain injury specialist accreditation scheme.
Joining Irwin Mitchell alongside Claire is personal injury associate Ruth Johnson who deals with accidents at work, product liability and road traffic accident cases
Guy Darlaston, office managing partner at Irwin Mitchell in Southampton, said: “These hires signal our intent to ensure that we have a very high quality offering across many areas of law for our clients across the south coast. We are growing our presence quickly in the South of England and bringing in two experienced lawyers with such a strong reputation can only help take us further forward.
“Both Claire and Ruth are specialists in helping people who have suffered serious injuries and we are delighted to their expertise on board. They are well known and regarded across the South and both share our ethos and values in ensuring that our clients receive the best possible legal service which is the most important aspect of our work.”
The Southampton office, based at Tagus House at Ocean Village, also has specialist lawyers in family and divorce law, asbestos-related disease, armed forces claims and clinical negligence work. The firm also intends to expand into other legal services in the near future.