GIRLINGS PERSONAL INJURY CLAIMS LIMITED - Key Persons
Amanda qualified as a Fellow of the Association of Costs Draftsmen in 2007 and, following the introduction of the Costs Lawyer Qualification, went onto qualify as a Costs Lawyer in 2011. Amanda remained in the field of costs from 2001 to 2019 and, during this period, worked for one of the UK's largest costs firms. Whilst Amanda headed up the Legal Aid Department, her caseload was varied in nature including claims for costs in relation to Court of Protection, Immigration, Family, Inheritance, Children Act, Arbitration and, predominantly, clinical negligence at all levels up to and including the Supreme Court.
After making the decision to explore an alternative career avenue, Amanda joined Girlings Personal Injury Claim in 2019. In view of her previous experience, she had gained a good understanding of the law and the Court process and therefore initially assisted both the personal injury and clinical negligence departments before commencing her role as a Litigation Executive in the clinical negligence department.
Amanda's caseload includes a variety of clinical negligence matters including claims relating to delayed cancer diagnosis, infant death and also claims for orthopaedic and gynaecological injuries.
Amanda continues to practice as a Costs Lawyer and provides assistance to the team in relation to costs where necessary.
Chelsea is a Litigation Assistant acting on a variety of claims. She is currently assisting with both personal injury and clinical negligence claims.
Cheslea worked for a number of years as an Administration Assistant at a local secondary school before joining us in March 2020 as an Administration Assistant and has been promoted through to her current training position. Chelsea is also our Office Manager.
Chelsea is preparing for a Paralegal Apprenticeship and subsequently intends to progress to a Solicitor Apprenticeship to gain her Solicitor qualification.
Clare is our Clinical Negligence Partner and heads up our dedicated medical negligence department. She deals exclusively with medical negligence claims.
She qualified as a solicitor in 1997, specialising in both personal injury and clinical negligence litigation. Since qualifying, she gained a Higher Diploma in Personal Injury Law. She is also a member of APIL (Association of Personal Injury Lawyers) and holds The Law Society Accreditation for Clinical Negligence. This accreditation acknowledges Clare's proven competency and expertise in clinical negligence. Clare is listed in the Brain Injury Group Directory as a specialist solicitor in brain injury.
Clare has been involved in numerous high-value, complex cases which have attracted media attention. In particular, Clare assisted on the Porton Down case where ex-army personnel sued the Ministry of Defence for Sarin gas (nerve gas) poisoning at their Porton Down site. This is the largest multi-party personal injury action ever brought in the UK and was well documented in the media.
Clare also assisted on a group action case for the elderly and in some cases bereaved families of victims of the Maidstone C-difficile outbreak in 2008/2009. The C-difficile outbreak was subject to a Health Care Commission report in 2007. The Health Care Commission identified problems in the management at Maidstone Hospital. In pursuing this claim, Clare was able to bring particular attention to the inadequate nursing care she identified in her clients' medical records, coupled with expert advice from a microbiologist and nursing expert, she managed to secure an admission on liability where out-of-court settlements were reached in the 20 cases she handled. As a consequence of that case, the Maidstone & Tunbridge Wells Trust went on to make instrumental changes to procedures within the Trust, thereby preventing any further outbreaks.
Clare has a special interest in complex and high value brain injury cases, in particular those sustained by children at birth. Her caseload is made up of catastrophic injuries, many of which involve brain injury, whether that be by an acquired brain injury through a missed brain tumour and/or for example an injury caused at birth. Clare has recently settled a claim for a brain injured client who sustained a hypoxic brain injury due to a hospital's delay in treating a bowel obstruction which led to a cardiac arrest and subsequent brain injury. Following negotiations, she achieved a settlement in excess of £8 million and during the claim she was able to secure interim payments in order to fund rehabilitation in the form of physiotherapy and speech and language therapy. She also secured single level accommodation for the client as he was no longer able to manage and had his property adapted for his ongoing needs. She also secured the services of a brain injury case manager to oversee a team of carers.
Clare also has a special interest in cancer cases and one of her cases was recently reported on BBC South East News and BBC radio.
Clare excels at guiding injured clients and their families through a difficult time in order to achieve the right settlement and ensure that their future needs are met. Clare is described by her clients as sympathetic and approachable, but at the same time efficient and dedicated, ensuring that the claim is dealt with as expeditiously as possible.
Clare has successfully achieved compensation in excess of £10.2 million during the last 12 months on behalf of clients.
Clare is a AvMA specialist clinical negligence panel member . AvMA is an independent patient safety charity which provides advice and support to patients who may have been harmed as a result of poor medical treatment . On its website www.avma.org.uk AvMa explains what being a panel member involves-
Job Titles:
- Managing Director
- Managing Director of Girlings Personal Injury Claims Solicitors
Jonathan is Managing Director of Girlings Personal Injury Claims Solicitors. He qualified as a Solicitor in 1996, but has been practising Law since 1984 (specialising in personal injury work since the late 1980's). He has been on the Law Society's Personal Injury Panel (for lawyers with a proven track record in personal injury claims) since 1996. He is also a member of the Association of Personal Injury Lawyers, having achieved their "Senior Litigator" accreditation, and is on the Headway list of head-injury solicitors since 2014. In 2023, he was invited to join the Leaders Council of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
Jonathan was born and bred in East Kent. He worked in Ramsgate from 1984 to 1986, Margate from 1986 to 2000, Folkestone from 2000 to 2008, and Canterbury from 2008 to 2022. He is now based at our Sandwich branch.
He is experienced in dealing with a wide range of cases, including head injury, employers liability claims, road traffic claims, occupiers' liability (eg slips and trips) and criminal injuries claims. He has conducted claims and appeals in the County Court, High Court, and Court of Appeal (for claims worth thousands of pounds to millions of pounds).
His caseload now consists almost entirely of claims for compensation for serious brain injury, and claims on behalf of clients whose symptoms from hypermobility syndrome/ Ehlers Danlos Syndrome (EDS) have been triggered or aggravated as a result of an accident.
Jonathan places great emphasis on rehabilitation, especially in brain injury claims, so apart from seeking compensation for injuries, loss of earnings, care needs and out of pocket expenses, he also does everything possible to make sure that the insurance company pays for whatever private medical treatment may be necessary to help his clients make as full a recovery from their injuries as they can.
Areas of expertise:
Brain injury claims
Rabina is a solicitor who is part of our Personal Injury team.
Whilst working full time for a national law firm, in-house to a major Kent based insurance company, Rabina attended the University of Law part-time in order to complete the Legal Practice Course and LLM in Professional Legal Practice. At the start of 2023 she qualified as a Solicitor.
Rabina has extensive years of experience dealing with personal injury claims, both from a Claimant and Defendant perspective. She deals with all types of personal injury work including Road Traffic Accidents, CICA claims, Accidents at Work, Occupiers' Liability and Slips & Trips.
She can also speak fluent Nepali.
Areas of Expertise:
Road Traffic Accidents
Shantala is a Partner and Solicitor who deals exclusively with claimant medical negligence cases and has been ranked by the Legal 500 as a recommended lawyer.
She qualified as a solicitor in 2012 and joined Girlings in 2017. She was promoted to Senior Associate Solicitor within 11 months and was made Partner on 1 April 2020. Prior to qualifying she taught law at further and higher education levels and was an examiner, including Chief Examiner, for the Chartered Institute of Legal Executives (CILEX) for around 10 years.
Shantala has experience in acting for clients in a wide range of medical negligence claims, including issues in relation to brain injuries, birth injuries, cancer, DVT/PE, vascular, urology, orthopaedics and fatalities.
She also has an interest in psychiatric negligence claims leading to suicide or serious suicide attempts.
Shantala believes in highlighting issues of public interest in the media and has been in the newspaper, on BBC News and BBC Radio Kent. In January 2020 she was also on the Victoria Derbyshire show with the family of Tony Collins who died as a result of suicide following serious mental health failings. Her appearance and interviews can be found by clicking on the two images below:
Shantala's clients have described her as professional, tenacious, informative, easy to talk to and going the extra mile for her clients. Quotes from her clients include:
"…the service I have received & still receiving is absolutely outstanding! Nothing is too much trouble and she is always only an email or phone call away. Shantala always keeps me updated and advises me at every stage what's happening and what to expect next."
"I can honestly say Shantala is amazing at her job & also very understanding and sympathetic regarding the nature of my case, I would most definitely recommend Girlings Solicitors in particular Shantala Carr."
"Shantala has shown compassion and understanding, has always explained processes in full, and has also shown great consideration in protecting me from details that could bring about further trauma."
"I can't ever thank you enough for your hard work and expertise. You have made such a difference to our life. Not just the money, but also the satisfaction of a recognition by the NHS. We could never have got that without you"
Job Titles:
- Senior Associate
- Solicitor