Browne Jacobson partner appointed as new president of FOIL
The Forum of Insurance Lawyers (FOIL) has elected Browne Jacobson partner Nick Parsons as its new president for the coming 12 months.
Nick heads the insurance and public risk department at Browne Jacobson, having qualified as a solicitor at the firm, becoming partner in 1994. At FOIL he moves up from vice president and succeeds David Johnson, large loss litigation specialist at Weightmans.
Nick specialises in defending EL/PL claims against local authorities, with particular expertise in large scale child abuse, and is an experienced clinical negligence litigator. He has represented local authorities and NHS clients at several public inquiries.
In his presidential year, Nick intends to champion FOIL’s aims of growing its membership beyond the personal injury arena to the wider insurance sector; to develop education and training opportunities especially for the next generation of insurance lawyers and to continue in collaboration between FOIL and claimant organisations on issues of common concern.
Whiplash reform is currently on the agenda. FOIL is involved in the working party collaborating with medics, claimant groups and others to secure random allocation of cases and ensuring that MROs are still part of the picture, with the accreditation of experts an important piece in the jigsaw.
Nick says: “The insurance sector has seen a huge level of reform in the last couple of years. Regardless of the outcome of the next election, I do not anticipate that coming to a halt. At the same time, there have been irrevocable changes in the legal services sector both in terms of ownership and the way in which legal services are provided.
“I believe FOIL has an important role to play in helping its members, their insurer clients and the wider claims community work together in this environment to achieve sensible outcomes which benefit all concerned.
“It’s an exciting time to be taking up the reins of FOIL and working with others at FOIL to influence and effect positive progress.”
CEO of FOIL Laurence Besemer says: “Nick's depth of legal and insurance market experience and his long involvement with FOIL will be invaluable assets as we push on with our long-term strategy to widen the scope of FOIL membership and invest in developing tomorrow's defendant insurance lawyers. I also want to thank our outgoing President, David Johnson, for his tireless personal commitment over the past 12 months.”
