Meet Kate Morris of Personal Injury Solicitors of Bolton

Kate Morris is a marketing manager for a UK firm of personal injury lawyers. She is based in Bolton, which is near the larger city of Manchester, and has been involved in legal marketing for over a decade. In this interview, she tells us about how she got involved in working with lawyers, and what her aspirations are for the future.

1. Could you give us a quick introduction to your current role and what you typical day looks like?

Sure! I am currently the marketing manager for Personal Injury Solicitors of Bolton. For your American readers, a solicitor is the English term for a lawyer. In simple terms, the company and law firm offer legal advice to people who have been involved in accidents where they need legal representation.

We are a team of no win no fee solicitors in Bolton. You can find out more about the mechanics of the company on our corporate website. No win no fee essentially means that we work on a client's behalf for free until successful completion of a personal injury claim, at which point we take a fee from their final compensation payment.

As the marketing manager, it's my responsibility to implement and grow strategies that bring more clients to our door. The no win no fee and personal injury market in the UK is very competitive, kind of like the US market as far as I am aware, and as such you need to be on top of your game to stand out.

2. So how exactly do you differentiate yourselves from the competition? If the accident claims industry is so competitive, this must be quite a challenge.

You are absolutely right. But we try really hard to be different. From the moment we get a call from someone who has requested accident claims advice, we try to put them at ease, listen to them, and treat them like a person, not a number with a financial figure placed on it.

So many accident claims companies, not just in Bolton but around the UK, are all about the bottom line. In other words, profit and revenues. I like to think that we are a little bit different in our approach to our clients, and our no win no fee solicitors are all selected on their personality as well as their expertise.

The reviews that we frequently get online should bear that up to scrutiny, so I hope that we continue to grow our business based on our reputation. It certainly seems to be working in the Bolton area at the moment, so I hope to grow that further.

3. What is the process when someone in Bolton calls you for accident claims advice? I see from your website that you are open 24 hours a day.

That's right. An accident can happen anytime and anyplace, so we think it's imperative that we are always available on call, so to speak. I believe, and as far as I know, we are the only no win no fee personal injury lawyers open 24 hours a day and 7 days a week in Bolton.

In terms of the process, when a person calls us, they will at first talk to one of our phone operators, rather than an actual personal injury lawyer. One of our team take some details about their accident and the circumstances and can quickly ascertain whether or not there is a case for a personal injury claim for compensation.

If there is, we will then arrange an appointment with a local Bolton personal injury solicitor. It's worth pointing out that this whole process is free, and the consultation over the phone is absolutely no obligation and no strings attached. That's how we like to work, and all cases are run through the no win no fee agreements in this manner.

4. It sounds like you're having lots of success. What are your plans for the future with the company and marketing strategies?

For me, I still have so much in mind that I want to achieve in Bolton. I think I am a year off completing our initial targets. After those are hit, it would be nice to see if we can roll our services out to the rest of the UK. But that's going to take a huge amount of work. But, if you don't aim high....

In terms of marketing, I know we still have a lot to do with our social media marketing. We want to get more active on Facebook, Twitter, and Google Plus as so many people now look for personal services in this way. We might have to recruit soon for a social media manager, so watch this space!

Thanks, Kate!

London Drivers for Sightseeing and Private Transfers

Followers of this blog might remember when I posted before about custom tours of Italy where you travel in a minivan. So here's another post about an inconspicuous way to travel abroad. Did you know that there are licensed private car services in and around London that can cost you 40% less than a taxi? If you need to get to an airport or a cruise ship port, or if you just want to do some sightseeing, you can hire a car for less.

For example, for a cab Manchester to London (or London to Manchester, of course), you can find an affordable transfer fare, especially if you book ahead of time. You can also choose from different types of cars, from an executive car that carries three passengers, up to a minibus which carries up to eight passengers.

The drivers are licensed professionals, and they can pick you up at all sorts of popular points in and around London. They have fixed prices for common journeys, so you know what to expect, and nobody will be playing any games with the meter! Submit the info about your journey using the "request quote" feature on the London Drivers site, and plan your travel budget accordingly.

Learn more about London Drivers on YouTube.

Meet KA Bedford, Personal Injury Solicitor

KA Bedford works as a personal injury solicitor in Manchester, United Kingdom. His website and firm specializes in helping people who have been in an accident and injured, claim compensation to help them with the recovery process.

1. Why did you decide to launch a website on the topic of personal injury law for people in Manchester?

With my legal background, and interest in internet marketing, it made sense to try to capitalize on both of those skills and interests. I could also see a gap in the market online where Manchester personal injury solicitors did not represent themselves particularly well online. I decided to get into the market and offer a unique service for clients in Manchester who are seeking the services of no win no fee and personal injury lawyers in the city. If your readers are interested, they can see the progress on our website (KABedford.com - Accident Solicitors in Manchester).

2. What is your own background / interest in personal injury law?

I studied law at university and graduated 15 years ago. I kind of fell into personal injury law due to a mentor I had at the time. Being a personal injury solicitor and lawyer has been very rewarding due to the difference you can make to people's lives. That's why I love this line of work, and being based in Manchester means I get to meet so many interesting and varied people.

3. Do you think that a lot of injured people don’t pursue personal injury cases because of a lack of knowledge or other reasons?

I think that certainly used to be the case ten years ago. However, these days with so many personal injury claims, management companies advertising in print and television, I think it would be very hard for a person to be injured and not immediately think of making a compensation claim--that's my experience from working as a personal injury claims specialist for all of these years now.

4. Is online research the best way for someone to start learning about their rights after an accident, or are there other resources you also suggest?

In today's world, most people turn to the internet first for research purposes. This is why it's very important for me to get the KA Bedford Personal Injury Solicitors website up and running and satisfying those kind of researchers. However, I still don't think you can truly beat good old fashioned personal recommendations from friends and family members.

5. What can people find on your website, and how are you planning to continue to build it over the next several months?

OK, so on the website there's a new section currently under development which I hope to launch fully very soon--you can see a rough draft of it in our accident claims section. In addition to that, I'm currently working with legal experts and web developers to draft up content for an online compensation quote calculator. If people want to make a personal injury claim in Manchester, then they will very easily be able to put their details into the system and get a real-time estimate back from us--it's very exciting times!

Thanks, KA!

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!