John plays an important role in the management and development of Thompsons’ multi-specialist personal injury team in Birmingham, comprising 30 lawyers and 11 support staff. The team undertakes personal injury work on behalf of private and trade union clients and provides services in Birmingham and the surrounding West Midlands area. The team includes lawyers in the fields of serious injury, asbestos, clinical negligence, disease and multi-track accidents. An experienced solicitor, John is also part of the client and marketing team for the West Midlands region.
John graduated in Law from the University of Northumbria before attending Chester College of Law. He passed the Law Society examinations before embarking on a training contract with a key firm of solicitors in 1986. Two years later, John qualified as a solicitor.
John was employed by two leading regional firms before joining Rowley Ashworth in 1995, a firm of solicitors which merged with Thompsons Solicitors in 2009. John has therefore worked for Thompsons for more than two decades, specialising in personal injury claims.
John has a wealth of experience in running claims based on the COSHH regulations, which cover the handling of hazardous chemicals. He has also successfully pursued numerous manual handling claims, in which injury has been caused by workers undertaking extensive and repeated manual handling operations during the course of their work. Other disease claims John has run have involved industrial noise-induced hearing loss and injuries caused by vibrating machinery and equipment. His case handling experience also extends to high-value “multi-track” cases where damages have been achieved in the range of between £500,000 to £750,000.
John’s cases involve a wide range of injury and illness, including those to the lungs, skin and multiple injuries. Some cases involve sight loss and others post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). John has also pursued fatal accidents claims where he has successfully pursued compensation for the families of those who have died through illness or serious injury.
John says that no other law firm has Thompsons’ proud record of exclusively representing those who have suffered through incompetence or negligence in the workplace, rather than those who are responsible for it.
For a number of years, John has focussed on the development and progression of his team and has a proven track record in people development in Thompsons.
Away from his demanding role with Thompsons, John enjoys playing and watching a variety of sports and attending a wide range of performance arts events.
John's case experience
- Played a lead role in a groundbreaking asthma case, Coxall v Goodyear, securing compensation for a client exposed to fumes while working for Goodyear Tyres and establishing the precedent that an employer does have the duty to dismiss a willing employee in certain circumstances.
- Secured around £350,000 in compensation for 45 Severn Trent Water employees who were exposed to harmful hydrogen sulphide during their work.
- Acted for six claimants in litigation against Aston Martin, securing more than £300,000 after the company failed to provide adequate protection and the workers were exposed to Betamate glue, which caused them to develop dermatitis.
Professional membership
John is a Law Society panel member.