Partner, Personal Injury
Solicitor
Paul is a partner in the Personal Injury Department, undertaking difficult, complex and high-value claims and is a specialist in brain, spine and catastrophic injury cases. Paul has a strong focus on rehabilitation to help maximise quality of life for the injured person, and the family, and has strong motivation to help victims of accidents obtain justice. Aiming always to put the injured person and his or her family at ease, and to provide advice and support in an empathetic, straightforward and unfussy way, Paul works closely with rehabilitation professionals to ensure that all support is “working” and is not afraid to gently “shake things up” in the legal process to make sure rehabilitation has maximum chance of success. In an above-elbow amputation case, Paul was able to coordinate access to, and funding of, cutting-edge prosthetic limbs, which have greatly improved the client’s quality of life. Other awards include:
Where personal injury claimants have failed to receive adequate damages as a result of another adviser’s negligence, Paul is able to act on their behalf. For example, Paul has settled a case for a client whose previous lawyers had negligently valued his brain injury at £100,000. Paul was able to secure an extra £800,000 in compensation from the negligent lawyer’s insurers for George Ide’s client. Paul qualified as a solicitor at Blake Lapthorn in 1990, and since then has worked on a great variety of cases including professional negligence, clinical negligence, personal injury claims for victims of sexual abuse, claims against the police, claims against the Ministry of Defence (including a sailor, shot in a case of accidental discharge of a weapon). Paul has also been involved in a number of Group Actions relating to abuse at children’s care homes. Having had a great deal of success in recent years in face-to-face settlement of high-value cases, at round table meetings with the defendants and insurers and at mediations, Paul prides himself on forging working relationships based upon mutual respect and good humour and is particularly aware that honest and straightforward communication is what will bring a case to a fair conclusion. However, he possesses a tenacious approach to evidence gathering and is not afraid of driving the legal process forward using a robust legal approach. Chambers Legal Directory recognises Paul as a leading practitioner in the South of England and in 2010 described him as “having an incredibly effective, down-to-earth approach” and, in 2011 Chambers said, “Paul Fretwell continues to impress clients, and has recently been active in a number of high value brain injury cases”. In 2012 Chambers remarked that Paul is “very thorough and hard working”, “will fight cases tooth and nail where others would not dare”, has “excellent interpersonal skills” and has “an ability to interpret emotional responses into more useful instructions”.
To read more about Paul’s work, please click on the links below: Paul Fretwell – Road accident case study (C v M) Paul Fretwell – Motorcyclist road traffic accident (KG) Paul Fretwell – Catastrophic injuries claim – Mr CG v MOD Paul Fretwell – Untraced Driver Claim (AS) Paul Fretwell – Pedestrian road accident (H v K) Paul Fretwell – Hip and knee injury (B v S)
Law Society Personal Injury Panel Member 1994 onwards. Senior Litigator APIL.
2010 to Present: Partner, George Ide LLP, Chichester 2003 to 2010: Solicitor, George Ide LLP, Chichester 2000 to 2003: Partner, Blake Lapthorn, Portsmouth 1990 to 2000: Solicitor, Blake Lapthorn, Portsmouth
1987 to 1988: College of Law, Guildford 1984 to 1987: Bristol University, LLB 1977 to 1984: King Edward VI Grammar School, Stratford upon Avon
Office: Chichester Contact Telephone Number: 01243 812405 Email Address: paul.fretwell@georgeide.co.uk
