A LAW firm which specialises in multi-million pound serious injury settlements is celebrating its 25th anniversary.

Serious Law, in Chorley Street, Bolton, was founded by senior partner John Sherrington in 1989.

The firm, which boasts four other partners - Matthew Dixon, Timothy Walters, Matthew Heap and Ben Priestley – has evolved into one which is recognised by the prestigious Legal 500, dealing with serious injury cases involving millions of pounds across the UK.

“We are Bolton-based and proud of it,” said former Bolton School pupil Mr Sherrington, aged 55. “But we have facilities nationwide to handle what are very high value cases.

“We act for people in very serious cases which take a long time to come to fruition.

“We put a lot of investment into them. It is necessary for us to have a court of protection department.

“This is because we are dealing with people suffering injuries like brain damage. It is all about trust, integrity and caring.

“We’ve built up relationships with many types of clients which will last for the rest of their lives. For this reason, stability is very important.”

However, Mr Sherrington and his fellow partners have become concerned about the recent activities of some law firms who do not have the experience and know how in their field.

“One of our concerns is that there are some firms out there which are accepting cases which they are not equipped to handle,” he said. “As a result, there are likely to be a lot of negligence actions.

“They are accepting instructions to act but they not qualified enough to do it.

“Nationally, people came into the personal injury market to deal with low level cases.

“But the government has restricted what they can do in that area – PPI and clinical negligence.

“They are geared up to deal with volume cases – not high value.

“The man in the street needs to be selective when a very serious accident occurs as to which solicitors they instruct.

“We have to get involved in their whole future. We try to find the way to rebuild lives.”

Mr Sherrington said the firm employs a staff of about 60 and staff turnover is very low.

The firm received a major boost recently when, against stiff competition from other larger firms, it was selected by leading European insurer Allianz to create an Alternative Business Structure (ABS), ALP Law.

It is a joint venture between Serious Law and Allianz which deals with non-fault accident and insurance claims from the private motor policies of all Allianz customers, including car manufacturers Ford, BMW and Volkswagen.