Clinical negligence solicitor, Richard Follis appointed new Birmingham Law Society President
26/04/2005
Thank you for all your time and excellent work and rest assured that if myself or family or friends require any legal help in the future I will refer them to yourselves.
Michael, Crawley
He took his first steps onto the legal ladder in the 1970's as an outdoor clerk for a local practice. This year he plans to make larger strides as Birmingham Law Society President 2005-2006.
Solihull solicitor Richard Follis, Partner at national leading health law firm Alexander Harris, established and built his 20 year legal career from trainee to Partner in the Midlands. He is now recognised as a leading clinical negligence solicitor who represents claimants across the UK.
He takes up the presidency post today (26th April) from Steven Jonas whom he served with as Vice President last year.
Born in Edgbaston in 1956, Richard grew up in Smethwick and Halesowen where he attended Halesowen Grammer School. Richard's father worked as an apprentice in a furnace making company on the shop floor and rose through the ranks to Director by his retirement.
Richard graduated from University College Cardiff Law School in 1979 and trained and qualified with Challinors (now known as Challinors Lyon Clarke) where he dealt with family, employment, personal injury and some clinical negligence cases. In 1990 Richard began to specialise in clinical negligence cases and formed and led a successful clinical negligence team. He left Challinors in 1999 and became Partner at Birmingham based solicitors Irwin Mitchell.
In 2002 Richard was made a Partner at Alexander Harris and opened their third UK office in Solihull. He manages the office on Warwick Road which houses 23 staff. He was joined in 2004 by former Challinors team member Louise Hunt, travel litigation expert Simon Taylor from Irwin Mitchell's and more recently personal injury specialist Hilary Pickup, also from Irwin Mitchell's in Birmingham.
Richard acts for clinical negligence claimants particularly in cases involving birth injury, surgical errors and fatal accident cases. He has successfully brought to conclusion a number of cases of maximum severity which have settled for seven figure sums including, cerebral palsy arising from birth trauma and brain damage from failure to diagnose paediatric condition. He has strong advocacy expertise and is well known for inquest representation.
Richard holds significant posts in the clinical negligence arena: Long time Member of the AVMA Clinical Negligence Referral Panel and of the Law Society Clinical Negligence Panel. Member of APIL; the Professional Negligence Lawyers Association; ATLA (Association of Trial Lawyers of America); the Law Society's Negligence Panel Advice Scheme. He is a course reviewer for the Law Society and regularly lectures on medico legal matters, particularly in relation to the training of doctors as expert witnesses.
Birmingham Law Society represents the largest legal community outside London, with more than 2,500 members, including solicitors, barristers, judges and legal support staff.
In his year in office Richard aims to encourage greater diversity within the profession:
"The potential contribution of lawyers to the future economic development of the West Midlands is well recognised. The profession is more diverse and consequently stronger than ever before. The range of work carried out by lawyers has never been broader. Some specialise in work types that did not even exist when they qualified. Law firms vary enormously according to their size, the nature of the client base they serve and the geographical sphere across which they operate. We have gained strength in the number of women entering the profession and our record of recruiting people from ethnic minorities has seen significant improvement. More needs to be done, but at least the numbers are growing. This spectrum of increased diversity is a key strength and is something to be proud of. The Birmingham Law Society will continue to play its part by holding up good practice whether in law or in matters such as diversity as an example to be followed by others. The local Profession, and the level of service to our clients, will be all the better as a result." - Richard Follis, Birmingham Law Society President and Partner at Alexander Harris solicitors.
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