Articles From the Team

Redundancies Planned For National PI Firm

Personal injury giants Thompsons have announced that they are planning to close three of their offices, Derby, Wimbledon and Chelmsford which will inevitably mean redundancies for many lawyers and support staff.

Thompsons like many claimant firms are dealing with the aftermath of reforms, fixed fees, and portal claims which has reshaped the future of personal injury for now and the foreseeable future. Firms are trying to streamline their departments to make them more cost effective. New case management systems and lower value work means that a computer can do most of the work without having to pay for additional salaries. That’s not to say that the legal market place does not need skilled and trained solicitors, they do.

Redundancy can be of the most daunting prospects one might face, most people have financial responsibilities, a mortgage, a family to support or just meeting day to day living costs and the risk of losing your job can fill you with dread. As a specialist in personal injury recruitment I can reassure those faced with the prospect of redundancy that every cloud has a sliver lining and not all hope is lost. There are still many firms, albeit defendant personal injury firms that are welcoming, with open arms, claimant lawyers into their PI teams. Leading defendant firms have commented and acknowledged the value claimant personal injury solicitors/legal executives and paralegals bring to defendant practice.

I have personally placed claimant solicitors into international defendant firms to handle high value and technically complex RTA/EL/PL work and I am pleased to report that these placements have all been successful in their transition from claimant to defendant. Similarly claimant firms have also been recruiting into their PI teams and I know this first hand having placed experienced claimant lawyers with two leading national firms in Birmingham very recently.

If you are faced with the prospect of redundancy and are keen to secure your next career move please contact BCL Legal or call us on 0161 819 7475 for a private and confidential chat.