Ashtons attend the SCIL Conference and Exhibition Day 2025

Ashtons’ Medical Negligence and Court of Protection teams enjoyed a successful day at the annual conference of the Society of Clinical Injury Lawyers (SCIL) last week.

The Conference was hosted on stage by Ashtons’ Partner Sharon Allison, who is proud to serve as the first female chair of SCIL, while Partner Natalie Cosgrove worked her magic in event organisation behind the scenes.

The Ashtons’ Court of Protection team exhibited on the day, with Partner Adrian Mundell, Head of the Court of Protection team, in attendance to speak in the panel discussion about interim payment applications in catastrophic injury cases.

SCIL represent the interests of over 80 specialist accredited medical negligence firms, of which Ashtons is one. The Conference was well-attended by over 200 delegates from across the country and 41 exhibitors, who arrived to connect and engage.

Particular highlights from a varied programme included an energetic and informative talk by Dr Nighat Arif on women’s health, and insight into the patient perspective offered by Cassidy Little, who shared his personal journey following a life-changing injury during service in the Royal Marines.

There was a real focus this year on the mutual benefits of developing a collaborative dialogue between Defendant and Claimant lawyers, for improved Claimant outcomes and reduced litigation costs. Deputy Director of Claims at NHS Resolution, Kamal Bedi, offered insight into how this progress reflects statistically, noting that over 80% of claims are now settled prior to issuing of Court proceedings.

A panel discussion continued the focus on cooperation, and it was valuable to hear Jo Easterbrook, Partner at Bevan Brittan, provide a Defendant panel solicitor perspective on how effective dialogue between opposing lawyers assists in the management of interim payment requests on high-value claims.

Sharon Allison, Chair of SCIL, comments:

“The SCIL conference goes from strength to strength every year, building on the ongoing work all year round between Claimant and Defendant firms to try to streamline cases and reduce unnecessary delay and cost.

It is a real testament of change in the litigation landscape that the parties have a genuine willingness to better understand how we can do things better. Long may that continue.”