Partner
Chris joined Bell Lax on qualification in 1998 and became Partner in charge of the Personal Injury Department in 2006.
Chris came late to law after a career as a Firefighter with the West Yorkshire Fire and Civil Defence Authority. He has found that his experience of working in a practical occupation has proved invaluable in enabling him to quickly understand systems of work and how workplace accidents occur.
Chris mainly acts for claimants but has experience of acting for insurers in cases worth in excess of £500,000. This has given him a keen appreciation of the tactics employed by insurers and he uses this to achieve consistently excellent settlements for his clients.
Chris has a particular interest in workplace accidents and has successfully acted in a number of cases in excess of £100,000. He has acted for employees injured by chain saws and milling machines as well as a young worker whose back was broken by materials falling from a lorry.
He has successfully concluded cases involving clinical negligence, defective products and undertaking sporting pastimes such as trampolining.
Chris has also won a number of cases involving accidents abroad including a holiday maker who broke her neck on a water slide in Spain.
He successfully acted on behalf of a victim of the Hillsborough disaster who suffered severe psychological injury. The case was notable as the claimant only sought legal advice 10 years after the tragic disaster which was 7 years outside the statutory limitation period. An application was made for permission to bring the claim out of time and substantial settlement was achieved.
A keen cyclist, Chris he enjoys acting on behalf of cyclists who need assistance. One of his memorable cases involved winning a trial against the odds for an elderly cyclist who had no recollection of the accident at all.
