Paul Breen > JMW Solicitors LLP > Manchester, England > Lawyer Profile

Paul Breen

0161 838 2731 paul.breen@jmw.co.uk

Work Department

Personal Injury

Position

Paul is head of JMW’s catastrophic injury team. He handles a varied caseload of high value, complex personal injury matters, along with the rest of his team.  Paul also spearheads the department’s relationship with several key referes, which inclues several spinal injuries charities. 

He has developed a distinctive style over his career that places client care at the heart of every case, building strong relationships not only with his clients, but their families too, in order to ensure that he secures a settlement that will best meet his clients’ needs post accident.

Paul’s many past client success stories include his client of M; a 24 year old lady who had attended a friend’s wedding and was on the way home. Her sister was driving and unfortunately lost control of the car and crashed. M was unrestrained in the rear of the car and sustained a very serious and high level injury to her spinal cord rendering her tetraplegic. Initially she was ventilated in hospital however was subsequently weaned of this.  Following liability investigations Paul established fault against the driver despite the fact that M got into a car knowing the driver was under the influence of alcohol and additionally was not wearing a seatbelt.  Paul engaged the services of a case manager, who in turn and in conjunction with the legal team, identified a property which was suitable to purchase and adapt for a full time wheelchair user, which included the provision of disabled bathroom facilities, a hydrotherapy pool, as well as employing a full time care team and arranging for the relevant aids to be provided. In addition an extensive package of assistive technology was purchased and implemented for the benefit of the client, all paid for by the other sides insurance company. The case subsequently settled for a figure in excess of £5 million.

Paul was also successful in securing an extensive settlement for his client of J; a City worker who was involved in a cycling collision on his way to work that led to his sustaining serious head injuries that left him in a coma for several weeks. Following his recovery from coma, it was identified that he had significant left sided hemiplegia, loss of his ability to speak, significant cognitive and violent tendencies which made looking after him very difficult. He was also deemed to lack mental capacity and a professional deputy was appointed by the court of protection. Following extensive inpatient rehabilitation he was discharged back to his previous home, which had been adapted and was provided with an extensive team of support workers. The case settled just before trial on a part lump sum and periodical payment basis to provide for care, loss of income and case management going forward for the rest of J’s life. If the case had been capitalised it would have been worth £12 million pounds.

Career

Began career with niche personal injury practice 34 years ago, when he began building his career within a team dealing with the wider world of personal injury claims.  After two years he began to develop a niche catastrophic injury team with one of the Partners, dealing with cases involving injuries to the spinal cord resulting in paraplegia and tetraplegia, and to the brain, in both adults and children. 

Paul joined JMW in 2016 to head up and develop the firm’s existing catastrophic injury practice into a nationally renowned team. 

Education

St Bede’s RC High School, Ormskirk

John Rigby 6^th Form College

Leisure

Active member of Ormskirk golf club, used to play off very low handicap but age now catching up with me!