Bevan Brittan—James Manning

Bevan Brittan has welcomed large loss specialist James Manning to its London office as a senior associate.

James has moved to Bevan Brittan from Lyons Davidsons, where he acted as large loss partner for almost two years. He has more than 16 years of experience, and specialises in defending local authorities and insurers in litigation for personal injury and large losses.

James commented: ‘I am delighted to be joining Bevan Brittan. The firm has a reputation for the high quality of its legal advice and is extremely well-respected in the market. I very much look forward to working with both insurance and local authority clients.

‘We are seeing increasing numbers of large injury claims being brought, primarily because of the introduction of the fast-track fixed costs regime and also the pending fixed damages and costs tariff system for 'whiplash' injuries under the Civil Liability Bill. Litigants and their legal representatives are tending to look to increase the value of their case through ‘claims displacement’ – changing the nature of their claim such as by contending that whiplash has resulted in chronic pain syndrome. These claims can often be brought months or even years after an incident. I will be helping clients defend themselves against unreasonable claims.’

Head of insurance Paul Taverner added: ‘We are very pleased to strengthen our team with James’ appointment. He has specialised in personal injury and large loss claims for a number of years and worked on some important cases. He will be a great fit for our clients across both the insurance sector and the local authority market.’