It is important to us that our clients get to know more about who we are and why we do what we do.Over the next few months we will be sharing a series of Q&A articles about our day-to-day lives in the medical negligence team. This week, it’s the turn of Ben Ireland, the newest solicitor on the team who joined us in August 2020. He tells us what it was like joining the team remotely during a global pandemic and why he finds medical negligence work so rewarding.A bit about Ben…Ben qualified as a solicitor in 2017. Having begun his career working for injured claimants in personal injury cases, Ben has now returned to representing claimants having gained over seven years’ experience working exclusively in medical negligence for a leading defendant firm. Ben has gained experience in managing a variety of cases involving serious, life-changing injuries arising from obstetric, neurological, orthopaedic, ophthalmic, cardiac, respiratory, oncological, urological and endocrine treatment. Ben is respected by his clients for his compassion and professionalism as well as being commended by his opponents for his creativity and forthrightness in resolving the most challenging of cases.Ben, what made you choose a career in medical negligence?When I was studying law, I always knew that I wanted to use my legal qualification in a role that would help people. I thought that medical negligence was the most human area of law you could go into. I worked as a hospital porter whilst studying law, and my mum has a nursing background, so I’ve always been interested in the medical side of things. Now that I’m here, I find that this role is both challenging and rewarding on a daily basis.Which personal skills does it take to succeed at this type of work?Whilst you need professional skills such as good time management, organisation and communication, to me, being able to understand the human side, by being empathetic and compassionate, is really important. You might be the first person that someone has spoken to about a traumatic event that has happened. Their opportunity to talk it through can be a big release for them, so being able to listen and understand where they are coming from is vital.What is the most rewarding part of your work?The people that we work for have often been through life-changing circumstances with no answers as to why. I think that being in a position to give them those answers, that they so desperately need and which will help them begin to move forward, is incredibly worthwhile. Also, being able to secure compensation which will help them to have a better quality of life is extremely rewarding.How do you think that your experience of defending medical negligence claims helps with your current work for injured claimants?I think that it gives me an extremely helpful basis for my current work. It has helped me understand better where both the patient and the healthcare provider are coming from and their objectives in bringing or defending the claim. It also enables me to predict certain pitfalls in the way the defendant may conduct a case, so that hopefully I can navigate around them, as well as enabling me to foresee at an early stage what their argument might be so that I can help my client overcome it.What has been your experience of starting a new role during a global pandemic, and how are you finding remote working?There are, undoubtedly, challenges when you are unable to meet your colleagues face to face and work alongside them. I have missed working in that environment as I would have inevitably absorbed a lot of information and knowledge, but I have found everyone at Boyes Turner to be phenomenal at helping me settle in and that is a great testament to my new colleagues. I think that remote working has enormous advantages, in terms of productivity and flexibility between work and home life. There is no doubt that technology has allowed us to bridge most of the gaps that appear from not working in an office alongside my colleagues, but I believe there will always be a place for face-to-face contact and interaction, with colleagues but especially with our injured clients.If you have suffered serious injury as a result of medical negligence and would like to find out more about making a claim, contact us by email at mednegclaims@boyesturner.com.
