Meet Edward Barker, Personal Injury Solicitor

Edward Barker is a senior partners at Personal Injury Claims Manchester, a group of personal injury solicitors who specialize in helping people who live and work in Manchester in making injury and accident claims. He and his colleagues at their firm work on a no win no fee basis.

1. What first inspired you to pursue a career in the legal field, working as a personal injury solicitor in Manchester (UK)?

My father worked as a lawyer (solicitor) here in the UK, so I was exposed to the world of law from quite an early age. Whilst he never pushed me down this path, he was there to offer encouragement and helped me to finance my way through Manchester University. I studied law there, and when I left decided to go into the personal injury side of things. I now run a firm of personal injury solicitors in Manchester and have never looked back (your readers can visit my personal injury website here). It's in my blood I guess, and is something that I've always wanted to do and think I always will.

2. Why did you decide to focus on personal injury law?

Whilst at Manchester University I was involved in a few charity projects. I've always been interested in helping people, so a natural progression for my law career was the personal injury and accident claims side of things. After leaving university I spent a couple of years working as a personal injury solicitor in some local injury and accident claims companies and then set-up in business myself a couple of years later--this was only once I was 100% certain that I would be able to offer a professional and experienced service to people living and working in Manchester who needed to make a personal injury claim.

3. What are some common types of accidents and injuries that you help clients with in your practice?

Some of the most common are road traffic accidents. They happen daily in Manchester due to the sheer size of the city. We also help clients who have been injured at work, or simply just in their day to day life whilst out in public. Accidents can happen anywhere at any time, and so it's my job to make sure that our clients are advised correctly and can get the help and compensation that they deserve if they have had an accident or injury that wasn't their fault. I think we are fast becoming one of the best personal injury solicitors firms in Manchester due to our friendly and reputable approach.

4. Do you find that people have any misconceptions when it comes to personal injury law?

I think some people do because there has been a lot of bad press over the last few years about spurious personal injury claims. Admittedly there can be a large amount of money involved in personal injury law, so by its very nature you do get people trying to make a personal injury claim where perhaps it's not entirely ethical. My company only ever progresses ethical accident claims and are very careful to validate the clients and claims that we deal with.

5. If someone has been injured or in an accident and is unsure if he or she needs a lawyer, what would your suggestion be?

The first thing they need to do, at the point of the injury or accident is to see if there were any witnesses to the accident, and record everything that happened. After that, search out for a reputable personal injury claims company or see if a friend can recommend a good solicitor of lawyer near to you. When you call the lawyer or solicitor, they will take you through the entire process and in truth this means you don't have to have any stress or undue worry. Many personal injury solicitors work on a no win no fee basis which can take the financial worry out of the equation for most people too which can be very important when making a personal injury claim.

Thanks, Edward!