Joanne Francis > BLM > Liverpool, England > Lawyer Profile
BLM Offices
CASTLE CHAMBERS
43 CASTLE STREET
LIVERPOOL
L2 9SU
England
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Joanne Francis
Work Department
Personal injury.
Position
Joanne specialises in the full range of personal injury litigation, including employers’ liability, public liability and motor claims, with a particular focus on the transport, construction and retail sectors. She is head of BLM’s Liverpool office and manages its casualty team and clients on a day to day basis, working with insurer and corporate clients. She manages the relationship with clients and other key contractual partners, including captive insurers. She is responsible for operational processes and ensuring that the team provides a high-quality technical and robust service. Joanne leads BLM’s practice group, claims management service (CMS). This is a lawyer-led service which handles claims from pre-litigation through to litigation. It is an end to end claims management service focusing on minimising claims spend, claims analysis, claims rick management and strategically working with clients, primarily corporates, to look at best practice and innovative ideas to tackle the ever increasing burden of claims and claimant behaviours. Joanne works with a number of well-known and FTSE 100 companies that operate across the UK and Ireland. Joanne supports BLM’s insurance, retail, transport and construction section clients in identifying cost-effective dispute resolution strategies and the provision of risk management advice on all types of claims risks with a view to reducing litigation and leakage control. Joanne works with BLM partners to support clients across the business, being a member of the corporate and broker sector steering groups. She is also a member of AIRMIC.
Career
Joined BLM in 1993 as a legal executive; qualified as a solicitor in 2000 and made partner in 2002.
Languages
French, German.
Memberships
Law Society; FILEX (Fellow of the Institute of Legal Executives); Liverpool Chamber of Commerce; FOIL; AIRMIC.
Education
West Kirby Grammar School for Girls; Institute of Legal Executives (LLB; PGDip Legal Practice (distinction)).
Leisure
Sports (cycling, walking, tennis, swimming), travel, camping, reading, DIY, gardening, cinema.
Lawyer Rankings
North West > Insurance > Personal injury and clinical negligence: defendant
BLM‘s defendant clinical negligence practice is known for its expertise in delay of diagnosis of cancer claims, surgical claims (particularly neurosurgery), wrongful birth, brain injury claims, dental negligence and ophthalmic treatments. Sarah Woodwark heads the practice. Chris Dexter is particularly recommended for claims in a prison healthcare context. The firm’s personal injury department handles occupational disease claims, catastrophic injury, abuse claims, and employers’ liability claims. The department has a dedicated motor practice. Jonathan Clay, Joanne Francis, Simon Jones and Stuart Furniss head the team, which also includes Ruth Graham, Andrew Kerr, David Spencer and Lauren Gosnell, as well as ‘thorough and clever‘ associate Nicola Overmire.
Lawyer Rankings
Top Tier Firm Rankings
Firm Rankings
- Public sector > Local government
- Private client > Personal tax, trusts and probate
- Real estate > Social housing
- Transport
- Dispute resolution > Commercial litigation: Manchester
- Real estate > Commercial property: Manchester
- Employment > Employment
- Corporate and commercial > Corporate and commercial: Manchester
- Real estate > Construction
- Insurance > Personal injury and clinical negligence: defendant