Flint Bishop crowned 'Defendant Team of the Year' 2021

This flagship awards ceremony, which took place on 23 November 2021, celebrates the excellence and high standards of individuals and organisations across the entire personal injury sector throughout the UK.

To be crowned winners of this award, Flint Bishop fought off competition from national firms, successfully demonstrating exemplary performance, successes and client care, supported by effective and innovative management and real teamwork.

Judges for the award commented:

“This was a very tough category to call, but the winning team stands out for their impressive work in counter fraud, particularly their use of voice analysis technology to identify perpetrators. A very worthy winner.”

The firm made significant investment in its defendant personal injury practice during 2020/21, particularly its Counter Fraud team, attracting a Partner, Associate and several other lawyers from an international law firm.

Flint Bishop has also developed an in-house intelligence capability investing in new talent, systems and processes to support their insurer clients with their counter fraud strategies and has also partnered with clients on several counter fraud strategies both for UK and overseas insurers.

Following the triple hire of Partner and Head of Insurance Litigation, Anthony Carrington; Associate, Paul Large; and Solicitor, Jonathan Cox; from DAC Beachcroft, the firm continues to have ambitious objectives for its insurance litigation department over the next 12 months. The plans include a projected growth in headcount to over 40 lawyers, attracting further talent from national competitors and significant investment across its operations in Birmingham and Derby.

Currently handling the full range of defendant insurance work, majoring in those areas of particular importance to the firm’s insurer clients including credit hire, fraud, recoveries and large/catastrophic loss, the team is also looking to enhance its capabilities in indemnity and cross-border work in addition to developing a number of new client opportunities in 2022.

Anthony Carrington commented:

“To be recognised as the best defendant personal injury law firm at these awards is a fitting testament to the service and results that we consistently deliver for insurers and self-insureds.

“Our philosophy is to work with our clients creating seamless strategies from pre-litigation, deployed in-house through to robust litigation strategies. As a strategic partner for several clients, we are well-placed to be an extension of our clients.”

Chief Executive Qamer Ghafoor added:

“Winning this award is a fantastic and very well deserved achievement, especially in light of the tough competition from the national firms the team was up against in this category.

“In the last 12 months, our insurance litigation department has seen significant growth due to the expansion of the portfolio of high-quality complex work that we undertake. We continue to attract and nurture fantastic talent in the defendant insurance market, which puts us in good stead for future growth plans targeting the Gibraltar market.”

Despite the pandemic, the firm posted a record turnover of £15.8m (FY April 2021), an increase of 1.8% on the previous year with profits also rising over the same period. This financial year, Flint Bishop is set to achieve forecasted turnover of £16.3m, a rise of 24.4% since Ghafoor took over as Chief Executive in 2018.