Personal Injury: 5 at 5 – Mark Hambling
During this week’s Injury Awareness Week, our Marketing Manager Louis Hilldrup-Boorman persuaded our Personal Injury Team of lawyers to sit down over a coffee at the end of the day to answer 5 quick fire questions on their practice, in order to gain an insight behind what brought them to the law and personal injury litigation together with some interesting facts. Hopefully these answers provide an interesting insight behind the lawyer, their experience and their drive to succeed…
Mark Hambling – Solicitor, Director and Senior Litigator, Accredited with the Association of Personal Injury Lawyers.
How did you enter the legal profession?
Well, for those old enough to remember “O levels”, the predecessor of GCSE’s, I achieved O level law at school, I think Grade A. I was probably not driven at the time to go to university so I did what a lot of school leavers did on leaving school and joined Norwich Union. I knew the law was for me and when Philip Rogers was advertising for article clerks, I applied and suggested that he give a school leaver the chance to qualify, whilst gaining on the job experience. Little did I know at the time, but that was the exact same route Phillip had used to enter the law and he was keen to support my progression. Having joined R&N in December 1988, ten years later via evening and weekend study of ILEX examinations and subsequently the Legal Practice Course, I qualified as a solicitor on the 1st October 1998. Better still, I am still at R&N.
Why do you practice personal injury law?
To a degree, I fell (excuse the pun) into this area of law, after a very short spell assisting the conveyancing team at R&N. We secured work from 3 or 4 legal expense insurers who provided cover for victims suffering injuries in road traffic accidents and I was asked to undertake this work under the supervision of a partner in the practice. After a few years of experience I realised I loved the challenge of the work and making a difference. The size of the cases varied but each case meant that I was making a difference to someone who had suffered a loss and that in a small way I was helping improve their life. To this day, whilst the value of my cases have become larger, it gives me the same satisfaction knowing that my work has made a difference and rebuilt a life often seriously changed by another parties negligence. To know I can help in a small way and make a difference drives me to continue to practice this important area of law.
What has changed in the world of personal injury law?
In my career I have practiced personal injury law through an ever-changing environment of reform. The Lord Woolf reforms of the late 1990’s saw the implementation of what we now know as the Civil Procedure Rules. No Win No Fee agreements have arrived, and we have progressed from a scenario of clients being able to recover as costs their success fee to clients paying their success fees and an increase in damages under Simmonds v Castle [2012], to the advent of the various changes brought in force seeking to reduce costs in Personal Injury claims. From my perspective I use these changes and the updating case law we manage every week to remind myself and clients that personal injury law is complicated, that at the heart of the claim is an injured individual and the client deserves the expert representation of an experienced lawyer.
Rehabilitation is now an important part of my practice and has become a greater focus over the years. Whilst cases can often take many years to resolve, I am focussed on assessing what rehabilitation opportunities may be funded early by insurers, to ensure at the earliest stage rehabilitation in the form of medical treatment and day to day help can assist a client. An initial assessment of rehabilitation needs is now an early focus of my initial case plan.
Tell me about an interesting case?
Whilst not the most valuable case in monetary terms, to me one of the most interesting was a claim against Glastonbury festivals for injuries sustained on what we alleged was defective temporary roadways. The disclosure was fantastic for a lawyer who loves music and festivals, including a significant volume of risk assessments, contracts in relation to the fencing and footways and the most amazing overhead photography of the site. To this day my client retains the photography we obtained.
How about an interesting or strange moment in your practice?
I acted for a client in an accident at work. He was based in London at the time and as I was in the city I agreed to meet him at his flat to discuss the case. I arrived and the client invited me in and as we sat down, his girlfriend was introduced to me who then made me a cup of tea. It was only when she had to leave for work that my client pointed out to me that the tea had just been made for me by a very famous recording artist and star of the west end. I never realised, perhaps I was too focussed on the job. My wife and I have subsequently been invited backstage after a show though.
I am convinced I must become very focussed in client interviews as only this year I was interviewing a client in a motor dealership, oblivious to the fact that outside the glass fronted room I was working in sat Jeremy Clarkson. Dedicated to the task in hand, Louis!
And a bonus question, how do you unwind?
At weekends and during time off you will regularly find me on my road bike on the roads of Norfolk or North Suffolk. Cycling is an important hobby but also has become part of my case management strategy. I will regularly ride with clients and encourage them in their rehabilitation. There really is no better way to be on a parallel level with an injured client, than being able to go for a cycle and discuss the case. I am fortunate to have acted for many clients who see cycling as an important aspect of their life and many barristers who also enjoy cycling too.
If not on the roads cycling, I love live music and enjoy exploring a new band at a small venue to attending large shows and festivals. You will regularly see me at my son’s gigs supporting the band, although I am too old for the mosh pit!