Matthew Tuff, president of the Association of Personal Injury Lawyers (APIL), discusses his long-held fascination for personal injury law, the need for greater accessibility & his adventures off the beaten track with NLJ
What was your route into the profession?
I had a fairly traditional path into the profession. I did an English Literature degree, before taking a Law Conversion course at the College of Law (now the University of Law) in Guildford and doing a training contract. I qualified in 1999 (in the last millennium), which makes me feel old!
I decided at law college that personal injury was the area I wanted to specialise in. It seemed more personal and had more human interest than some other areas of practice. I was so interested in personal injury that I spent about three quarters of my training contract doing personal injury work!
What has been your biggest career challenge so far?
I deal largely with catastrophic injuries, so each case is quite different and most weeks bring a new challenge. One career challenge that sticks in the memory quite prominently is acting for victims of the Croydon Tram Crash. I acted for the widow of one of the deceased victims of the crash. It was an incredibly sad case. It was in connection with that case that I gave my first television interview.
If you weren’t a lawyer, what would you choose as an alternate career?
Although it may sound like a cheesy answer, I love what I do and it is difficult to see myself doing anything else. But I am fascinated by history and would have liked to work as a historian (and in my younger years I did dream of playing for Arsenal, which somehow didn’t quite happen!).
Who is your favourite fictional lawyer?
Probably Atticus Finch, in To Kill a Mockingbird. It’s a great book, although I still haven’t seen the film. Atticus is a very inspiring figure—a great lawyer, who is courageous and full of integrity and empathy.
What change would you make to the profession?
I think that any change that makes the profession more accessible, particularly to those from less privileged backgrounds, is a very good thing. Level 7 apprenticeships have been an important way for aspiring lawyers to enter the profession; however, sadly the government has announced that funding for this will stop. APIL has been campaigning to try to persuade the government to reverse this funding decision. The cost of obtaining a university degree can be prohibitive for people who want to pursue a legal career, making level 7 apprenticeships the only viable option for them. We have told the government that with the removal of level 7 apprenticeships, it is likely that the percentage of people entering the profession from lower socio-economic backgrounds and state schools, or those whose parents did not attend university, will decrease.
There are a number of areas of personal injury law where I would like to see change. Where someone has lost a loved one due to the negligence of another, they might be entitled to claim ‘bereavement damages’; however, not only is the amount of bereavement damages, in my opinion, insulting low (£15,120) for the loss of a human life, but the categories of people that can claim is very restricted. The system is massively out of step with modern society. For example, bereavement damages are not payable to the father of an illegitimate child. This ignores the fact that around half of children now are born to parents who are not married.
How do you relax?
I find running a really good way to get rid of stress. I practise meditation. Reading a good book also helps me relax—I am currently working my way through a novel called Vanity Fair. I also love travelling to very off-the-beaten-track places—some of my more unusual destinations have included North Korea, Ukraine, Turkmenistan and Somalia.
Matthew Tuff is president of the Association of Personal Injury Lawyers (APIL). He has specialised in catastrophic injury law for more than 25 years and is legal director at Moore Barlow.
