Strata Solicitors

Author – Ravinder Johal, Head of Litigation While the phrase 'time is money' might underpin many legal firms' billing structures, our team of solicitors has turned this approach on its head to drive growth. Strata Solicitors — A Gallagher Bassett Company — has applied its extensive experience in motor and liability claims to offer clients a results focused service, instead of being motivated by billable hours. This model, in addition to key hires, has enabled Gallagher Bassett 's in-house legal firm to expand its commercial fleet litigation capabilities and accelerate its growth in the industry. Ravinder Johal, Head of Litigation at Strata, joined the company in September 2024. He brought with him 20 years of expertise working in-house for two of the largest UK insurers as well as being a partner at a Top 50 Firm. In his role, Ravinder adopts a hands-on method by personally advising on matters of policy coverage and indemnity, conducting site visits and liability investigations, and negotiating high-value settlements and using various forms of ADR. Since joining, he has used his extensive experience to uplift Gallagher Bassett's commercial fleet litigation capabilities, which has been a staple of the firm's business model. "Strata has a history of delivering superior outcomes in the motor liability space, particularly for commercial fleets," Ravinder said. "Despite being a smaller firm, we have a number of operational advantages that make our offering best in class. My focus since joining has been to amplify our fleet litigation service in three key aspects." The first and most practical point-of-difference that Ravinder identified was the firm's flexible fee model. "While other major players in the industry generally only offer hourly rates or fixed fees, we allow our clients to choose what works best for them and their circumstances." Secondly, fundamental to the decision to be flexible with fees is an unwavering client-focus. "Our team is committed to understanding our client's core needs and goals, which enables us to apply our expertise to a client's instructions more effectively. Whether we are defending liability, quantum or other bases, we pursue the right outcome for each case for a faster resolution," said Ravinder. "Securing the best possible outcome for our clients is at the core of every decision we make. This is why our targets are built around results, not hours." Lastly, Ravinder emphasised the unique advantage regarding data afforded by Strata's backing as part of leading claims management provider Gallagher Bassett: "In today's landscape, data is paramount. Through Gallagher Bassett, Strata can provide clients with unequalled access to comprehensive data, insights and trend analysis. While competitors may only focus on individual case successes, Strata is seeing the broader picture." He concluded, "Our data-driven approach offers insights into claims patterns, average costs and even opponent strategies. With such a wealth of data, we offer client-specific insights, helping our clients understand their risks and challenges better, and ultimately make better informed decisions."

Following yesterday's announcement on the Discount Rate, Ravinder Johal, Head of Litigation at Strata Solicitors, GB's In-House Law Firm provides an update on what this means. The Lord Chancellor, Shabana Mahmood, has today announced that the Personal Injury Discount rate (PIDR) will increase to 0.5%, as required by the Civil Liability Act 2018. The PIDR has been set at -0.25% since August 2019 and the increase brings the UK rate in line with that of Scotland and Northern Ireland. Injured parties who sustain serious personal injuries, may be awarded lump sums for future losses. These cash amounts are intended to provide injured parties with full and fair financial compensation for all expected losses and costs caused by their injuries. Where future losses are settled as a cash amount, the lump sum is calculated allowing for the period over which losses and costs are expected to be met, and an assumed investment return that a claimant expects to earn on the lump sum award. As a very basic example for illustrative purposes only, a 25-year-old female who was earning 25,000 per annum and planned to retire at 70, but can now never work again, would be entitled to claim 1.15m under the old 2019 rate. As a result of the change in PIDR, her future loss of earnings claim is now limited to 976,250. The announcement will be welcomed by the Defendant Insurance industry, although such an increase has been widely expected for some months and most insurers and/or practitioners will have already factored the anticipated increase in to their financial modelling. For those that have yet to do so, reserves will need to be looked at re-assessed, as well as consideration to any live offers made or received, involving future losses. The decision will be effective from 11th January 2025.

The legal profession has undergone a transformation with the introduction of the Solicitors Qualifying Examination (SQE) in September 2021. This new pathway to becoming a solicitor aims to modernise the qualification process for those qualifying in England and Wales. What is the SQE? The SQE is an assessment for all prospective solicitors, regardless of their background and degree. It is no longer a requirement that you need to have completed a law degree or postgraduate conversion course in law. The SQE replaces the traditional Legal Practice Course (LPC) and training contract. Under the new system trainee solicitors must: hold a degree or equivalent qualification in any subject; pass stages 1 and 2 of the SQE; complete two years qualifying work experience (QWE); and meet the SRA's character and suitability requirements. The SQE consists of two parts: SQE1 is a multiple-choice exam focusing on legal knowledge, while SQE2 considers practical legal skills such as advocacy, legal research, and writing. Alongside the SQE exams, a two-year period of qualifying work experience (QWE) must be completed prior to qualification. This will need to be signed off by a solicitor. This is effectively replacing the old-style training contract, which has been notoriously difficult to secure. Benefits of the SQE There are many benefits to the introduction of the SQE: Broadening of Talent: The SQE opens the legal profession to a wider range of candidates, bringing fresh perspectives and skills to law firms. Standardisation of Qualification: The SQE ensures a consistent standard of qualification across all new solicitors. They will have met the same rigorous standards, enhancing the overall quality of the legal profession. Flexibility in Training: Firms can tailor their training programs to suit their specific needs and areas of specialisation, allowing for more targeted and efficient training. Being a Trainee at Strata Solicitors We currently have 3 Trainees at Strata Solicitors, the legal division of Gallagher Bassett Charley Heath, Charlie Marklew and David Walton, who are due to qualify in 2025. Our Trainees have the opportunity to develop their technical legal skills through a mixture of training and hands on experience. Aside from technical expertise they will be able to develop wider skills, for example commercial awareness, client care and the other soft skills required of a Solicitor. Our Trainees take on extra responsibility from an early stage and have the opportunity to support the wider business in projects, research, and training. All Trainees are appointed a Trainee Supervisor who will support them with getting the most out of their training and providing guidance along the way. They will be required to keep a Training Diary throughout the Programme and will meet with their Trainee supervisor monthly to review and track their progress. Our Trainees will then qualify into their preferred area of practice within Strata Solicitors. The SQE provides a more flexible, cost-effective way to enter the profession compared to the Legal Practice Course/Training Contract route, which will undoubtedly offer a refreshing change to the legal industry. With these changes in place, we hope to see a more diversified legal profession with more opportunities for those wishing to pursue a career in law.

Author – Ravinder Johal, Head of Litigation In December last year, it was announced that the Personal Injury Discount Rate (PIDR) would increase to 0.5%, as required by the Civil Liability Act 2018. The change came into effect earlier this month on January 11th. Whilst the discount had been widely anticipated by insurers/practitioners, and many would have already factored the expected increase into their financial modelling prior to the announcement, there are several important considerations to take into account when doing so to ensure a seamless transition for ongoing claims and accurate reserves in future. Below Ravinder Johal, Head of Litigation — Strata Solicitors, GB's In-House Law Firm, illustrates some of the key considerations to ensure you are making the correct calculations and maximising the potential of the increased discount. Updating Your Financial Modelling to Reflect the Changes Claimant Gender The rate change will have a slightly greater impact on female claimants than male. For example, under the old -0.25% rate, a multiplier for loss of earnings to pension age 65, for a 20-year-old female was 46.95 and is now 39.78 — a difference of 7.17, however the same multipliers for males were 46.53 under the old rate and 39.45, now — a difference of 7.08 Loss of Pension Claims There will be a significant impact on multipliers for loss of pension claims. For example, a 30-year-old female claiming pension from 24.2 to 16.84. On a purely illustrative basis, a 20,000 per annum pension loss would reduce from 484,000 to 336,800. Lifetime Multipliers Lifetime multipliers will take careful consideration. The impact will be greater, as the period of loss increases. For example, a 20-year-old male claimant's multiplier will reduce from 72.46 to 56.15. Getting Your Reserves Right Reserves should be reducing If your reserves are not reducing, then you need to double check the Claimant's schedule of loss — did they plead the correct multipliers in the first place — what is the claimant's expected age at trial, has trial now been listed? Applying the correct multiplier This is a good opportunity to familiarise yourself with the Ogden tables again and just double check that the correct figures have been used. There are so many lines and columns that make it easy to choose the wrong figure, which can alter a reserve by several thousand pounds. Ensuring You Have the Expertise to Be Agile with Your Live Cases When adjusting to any kind of broad industry change, there can be significant work required, rapidly, to make certain that your live cases stay ahead of the curve. Having the right partner to help you scale and adjust quickly is a simple strategy to ensure that you can make the important immediate adjustments whilst also focusing on the bigger picture affects of the changes for pipeline cases. Having adequate resources and dedicated expertise on hand can ensure important aspects such as cases where Part 36 offers have been made, but not yet accepted, are not overlooked. The right experts can help you make important decisions such as whether to withdraw or vary offers that now over value cases. A dedicated partner can also help you handle cases where future losses have been pleaded and/or reserved. Now is the time to make sure that you have employed all the new calculations correctly and factored in all the relevant variables that go along with them.

Leading claims and risk management provider Gallagher Bassett's recent acquisition of Caytons Law LLP (Caytons) has expanded its litigation offering, complementing the existing services provided by Gallagher Bassett's in-house law firm, Strata Solicitors. Together, the two legal firms bring decades of litigation experience in the UK, and being part of the Gallagher Bassett family allows them to leverage the extensive claims management expertise and resources available to them. With this latest addition, Gallagher Bassett now offers a holistic portfolio of legal services, including recovery and subrogation, coverage, niche and complex pre-and-post defence litigation services available to clients including corporates, captives, carriers, and managing general agents (MGAs). Sam Moore, managing partner of Caytons and Chris Sturridge-Packer, director of Strata Solicitors sat down to discuss their career journeys, what Gallagher Bassett's expanded legal solutions will mean for the market and what they plan to achieve in 2025. Q: Can you share your experience in the legal claims industry? Sam: I've worked in the insurance industry for about 15 years, getting my start in a niche professional indemnity firm as a claims handler. I then moved to Caytons, where I trained to become a qualified solicitor and eventually the managing partner. Chris: I had a very similar career journey as Sam. I also started off in claims handling with another law firm who specialised in corporate motor and liability claims following a period of work experience. I joined Strata Solicitors in 2011, where I became a qualified solicitor and have worked in several operational roles since. Both Sam and I were the first trainee solicitors at our firms. Q: What do you find most interesting about the legal claims management industry? Sam: I enjoy professional indemnity litigation because every case is different. Whether I'm working on claims from architects, engineers, building contractors, solicitors, or insurance brokers, each insured client and their insurer have their own unique needs and ways of interacting with us. Chris: Coming from a background of motor claims, with motor vehicles everywhere and high volumes of claims, you think it's the centre of the insurance world. But after joining Gallagher Bassett, I realised there's a huge insurance world out there with many complex, diverse areas, and it was — still is — fascinating to get that exposure daily. Q: From your perspective, what matters most to clients? Sam: Our clients expect service excellence, and in joining the Gallagher Bassett team, we will have access to the resources and knowledge to continue to deliver outcomes that matter most. This acquisition is an exciting time for our continued growth, and we're proud to be backed by a stable, expert partner with a strong presence in the UK market. Chris: The key thing clients are looking for from us is deep expertise in their chosen area. They want us to understand the nuance of their business and really get into the detail with them, so that we can provide them customised solutions that fit their priorities. Q: What advice would you give to early career professionals? Sam: As a trainee solicitor or young legal professional looking to become a solicitor, a career in the insurance market will offer you many opportunities. Insurance claims is an exciting and constantly growing industry. It's important to develop your career somewhere that gives you real responsibility from day one. If you've had that real responsibility dealing with claims during your development then, once you're qualified, you're already a specialist. That is the opportunity we give to people. Chris: This is something Sam and I agree won't change following the acquisition. I'm a big believer in giving responsibility to new starters as soon as they're comfortable and empowering our people to make decisions. If you're in your early career, you need to seek out an environment that's going to give you that exposure, but also have the right supervision and controls in place so you're in a position to reach your aspirations. Q: Following the recent expansion of Gallagher Bassett's legal solutions, what are you planning to achieve in 2025? Sam: The Caytons team has felt very welcomed from day one, genuinely. I think we can learn a lot from each other, lean on our different areas of expertise, and enhance our service offering. Gallagher Bassett is a growth business — forward thinking and entrepreneurial — and I'm excited to see Caytons continue to grow as 'A Gallagher Bassett Company'. Chris: We're always looking for where we can deliver greater value and outcomes to our clients, and the expansion of Gallagher Bassett's legal solutions is an exciting step for the range of what we can deliver. The goal is to always provide excellent service, claim after claim, year after year. In 2025, we're set to go beyond the standard our clients expect.