Nicola Critchley—Civil Justice Council

Nicola Critchley, Head of Costs at specialist insurance industry law firm, Horwich Farrelly, has been appointed by the Lord Chancellor to the Civil Justice Council (CJC). The remit of the role, which runs for a three-year term, is to represent the specific interests of the insurance industry.

The CJC is an advisory public body whose function is to oversee the civil justice system and to recommend reforms to government. The 19 members, who include judges, legal practitioners, civil servants and consumer affairs experts, meet regularly to discuss matters referred to the CJC in order to advise the Lord Chancellor, the judiciary and the Civil Procedure Rule committee.

Nicola’s career to date, spanning more than two decades, has been spent entirely within the insurance legal services sector. A Senior Partner at Horwich Farrelly for the last 14 years, she has worked with and advised a wide variety of organisations, insurers and clients on a broad spectrum of subjects from unreasonable medical fees to After the Event insurance premiums. She founded Horwich Farrelly’s dedicated costs department in 2001 which has grown to become the largest dedicated team of its type in the insurance legal services sector, having dealt with over 525,000 costs matters in the past ten years.

Nicola has personally undertaken significant test litigation in relation to strategic costs issues and it is this experience which she believes will assist the CJC in understanding the challenges facing the insurance industry. Commenting on her announcement she said: “I am delighted and honoured to be appointed to the CJC and look forward to using my expertise to benefit the civil justice system as a whole. I believe my extensive experience in costs will be a great asset to the Council, providing a unique insight into the issues facing the industry. For example, how the civil justice reforms of the past 15 years have seen costs disputes emerge as the predominant arena for both defendants and claimants to seek rule clarification and change.”