Trevor Ward, the new chief assessor of the Law Society’s clinical negligence specialist panel, reveals the role that short-sightedness has played in his career with NLJ
What was your route into the profession?
It was by accident. My elder brother wanted to be a lawyer; I wanted to be a pilot. I used to read the student Law Society Gazette that my brother used to receive and got vaguely interested in the subject of law. This coincided with my eyesight failing at the age of 16 to the extent that I became rapidly shortsighted. A career as a pilot was then out of the question and when I chose academic subjects for A-level, the law seemed to be a natural progression. I studied both my degree and solicitor exams in Manchester and obtained a contract for article clerkship at a Manchester-broad-based firm. My brother became a banker!
What has been your biggest career challenge so far?
Every day is a bit of a challenge in some respects. However, in the late 1990s/early 2000s I became involved in the coordination of the post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) military litigation against the Ministry of Defence. I was appointed the lead solicitor on behalf of the claimant’s group of about 2000 individuals. The case covered, in essence, post-traumatic stress conditions arising out of combat and covered the period from the Falklands to Bosnia. The case involved a number of international experts, a considerable amount of documentation and a six-month trial in London. Unsocial hours were worked and there was a great deal of pressure in organising witnesses, experts, documents and keeping all the relevant client group informed and advised. It was an invaluable experience but not necessarily one I wish to repeat.
Which person within the legal profession inspires you most?
I have had the pleasure of working with a number of extremely bright and capable leading counsel on my cases and it would be unfair to name anyone in particular. On the PTSD group litigation I had a pleasure of working with Stephen Irwin QC (now Lord Justice Irwin) which was inspiring in terms of the work ethic and the amount of material that had to be mastered. Other leading cases I have dealt with have involved equally capable counsel. As a clinical negligence practitioner, I was always impressed by the late Mr Roger Wicks, the first clinical negligence panel chief assessor who invited me to be an assessor at the time of inception, and who developed the process of quality assured assessment from the beginning.
If you weren’t a lawyer, what would you choose as an alternate career?
As I have said, I wanted to be a pilot. My wife will say I’m not particularly good at anything else. I would like to think I could have made a professional career out of a sport of some description, whether it be rugby—which I used to play at a reasonably high level some years back—or golf, which I currently play at a very low level!
If I won the lottery I would probably become a landscape gardener or something to do with the outdoors. I understand it to be mentally relaxing.
Who is your favourite fictional lawyer?
I have two: Kavanagh QC—a Northern lad who appeared to always make the right judgments and right decisions; and—showing my age—Harry Hamlin who used to play Michael Kuzak, a lawyer in the LA Law programme involving the fictional firm McKenzie, Brackman, Chaney and Kuzak which regularly dealt with the burning issues of the day on human rights and the like. Splendid stuff!
What change would you make to the profession?
Without a doubt some aspects of LASPO (Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012) I still cannot agree with; particularly avoiding the principle of polluter pays in tortious wrongdoing. The idea of reducing a person’s entitlement to just compensation—compensation which is not by any means generous in this country and is calculated very precisely—is unfortunate. There were better ways of avoiding the perception of excessive costs in the pre-2013 consultation process which were not adopted.
How do you relax?
Drink, shooting (clay pigeons) and attempting to play golf on occasions.
Trevor Ward is a senior solicitor with Fletchers Solicitors and the new chief assessor of the Law Society’s clinical negligence specialist panel
