The Aston Knight Difference

Why Aston Knight?

Exceptional client care and getting the best results for our clients are the cornerstone of our practice and we are proud of our commitment to offer a professional, sensitive and personal service.

You can also be certain that our firm is audited and inspected to the highest standards. We currently hold the Lexcel quality mark which emphasises excellence in legal practice management and client care.

There are approximately 11,000 practising law firms in England and Wales. Choosing the right firm for your circumstances isn’t always easy.

The Personal Touch

We are purposely a small team of experienced personal injury solicitors. We believe this is important as we can offer you a personal service from a team who are all familiar with your case. You can be confident that you will always have an experienced and specialist solicitor dealing with your case who knows every detail, and the importance of every detail, as opposed to dealing with different people each time which we appreciate can cause further worry that your case is not given 100% at all times by a dedicated specialist solicitor.

Experts in Our Field

At Aston Knight Solicitors we only practise in Personal Injury law and Civil Litigation, which means that you have access to the best advice and the most experienced team. You can be absolutely certain that you are being represented by someone who specialises in these areas of law.

You can also be absolutely assured at all times that whether it is a case of simply helping you take the appropriate steps to negotiate a settlement by agreement, or whether Court proceedings are necessary to bring matters to a satisfactory conclusion, we have the experience and expertise to ensure that your case is dealt with properly and efficiently.

We are experts in our field, but sometimes your case may mean that we need access to experts in other related areas too, for example in relation to complicated care or rehabilitation needs or perhaps financial investment advice at the settlement of the case. We have developed a select team of tried and trusted experts who are on hand to assist where necessary and who we can reassure will work with the same ethics and level of service that we offer you.

Where Our Work Comes From

We are proud that the vast majority of our work is either repeat business from satisfied clients, recommendations from satisfied clients, or referrals from other professionals including barristers and other solicitors.

Our Clients

Many of our clients are individuals from the local community based in: Bury, Bolton, Oldham, Rochdale, Rossendale and Greater Manchester.

We also work with clients from all over England and Wales, due to our effective communications network. Meetings can be arranged via telephone or video call – whatever suits you best. We also make home visits when and where necessary, regardless of where you are based.

What is the Aston Knight Difference?

The Aston Knight Difference – this is what sets us apart from other personal injury law firms. We have a proven track record of succeeding where other law firms have failed. To put it simple “we win the cases the other firms can’t”. This is what we term the Aston Knight Difference (AKD).

We are proud of the way we have been able to get great results for clients whose cases had been rejected or failed by other law firms. Unlike our competitors we don’t give up on cases, or simply “go through the motions”. We fight every single case as hard as possible, big or small, and are very
proud of our outstanding success record.

Every case matters and every client matters.  We recognise that if a client has chosen to instruct us we owe them a duty of care, to represent them to the best of our ability, irrespective of the value of the case, and irrespective of the difficulty or complexity of the case.

Better Solicitors. Better Results

To put it simply we believe having better solicitors gets better results! We are more passionate, more driven. We have the expertise of, and employ only exclusively senior solicitors, all with outstanding case success records; we don’t pass cases to junior staff members. We are not here to be just another law firm – we are here to be the very best.  We find the way to win, very often when the so-called most prestigious solicitors and the barristers in the country cannot do so. Any firm can advertise as being a top or specialist firm but very few can back it up with real- world results.

Our results matter and that they speak for themselves.  The table below shows a few recent examples of when switching to Aston Knight Solicitors has made a real difference:

Other Law Firms vs Aston Knight Result

Other Law Firms	Aston Knight Result
Rejected after 3 years of litigation	£5.7million
Rejected and alleged dishonesty	£51,000
The case will not succeed	£10,000
Impossible to continue	£36,000
Other law firm would not offer no win no fee	£2,000
Rejected by 2 other law firms	£45,000
Any settlement will be small	£149,000
Accept £50,000	£215,000
No prospects and rejected by 32 other law firms	£105,000
Turned away by local firm	£130,000

 

£5.7m for injured soldier told by two national firms and two senior barristers that he didn’t have a case

The client suffered a lifting injury whilst working in a military hangar. Despite strong recommendations from the military doctor, his chain of command failed to make suitable adjustments for him in order to allow him to recover and, instead, increased his workload causing him to deteriorate substantially over the following year until he was, regrettably, left very heavily disabled.

He originally instructed a large national personal injury firm (Setfords) who profess to specialise in claims for injured soldiers. After pursuing the case for a number of years, including obtaining advices from two senior barristers, they informed him that he did not have a case and they closed their file.

He then tried approaching one of the largest personal injury firms in the country (Irwin Mitchell) to see whether they would take his case on, but, following review, they also rejected his case. Thankfully for him, an acquaintance recommended our firm and our Mr Khan spoke to the client and agreed to do a free of charge independent review of the case papers.

Following that review we identified a number of lines of enquiry that had not been followed up and we believe that, with the right tactics, the case could in fact be won.  Both of those firms, and both senior barristers, had failed to pick up on certain pieces of evidence that we believe could be used to turn the case around. We were ultimately proven correct and were able to negotiate a final overall settlement of £5.7 million which will enable the client to obtain a specially adapted home and to pay for specialist private care in order to improve his quality of life.

The senior barrister that we appointed, being one of the leading personal injury barristers in the country, commented after the case that if it was not for the hard work we had put into the case then the client would not have recovered compensation. This was therefore an extremely rewarding case for us to be a part of and we are very proud to have made a difference in the life of this severely disabled client who had been left with no hope.

£51,000 overall settlement in the case of an injured passenger let down by a local Bury firm

The client suffered a shoulder injury whilst a passenger in a car accident. He initially instructed Russell and Russell, a local Bury firm who advertise heavily in the Bury area for personal injury work.

When the defendant solicitors denied the case and alleged that the client had been dishonest, they quickly closed their file, refusing to listen to the client’s version of events, leaving him stranded in court proceedings.

Following a review of the case by two of our senior solicitors Mr James Winterbottom and Mrs Emma Pearce, and a face to face meeting with the client, our view was that the case could in fact be won. Whilst his previous firm had left the case in a very poor state, and their abandonment of him had boosted the confidence of the defendant solicitors, we eventually managed to turn the case around and secured an overall settlement of £51,000 to include his legal costs.

£10,000 for injured gym user who was told he did not have a case

Mr A was using a gym when the machine failed, causing him to fall to the floor and strain his neck and back. He used another firm of solicitors first who investigated but, when the gym denied responsibility, they advised him he did not have a case and so closed their file.

He approached Aston Knight Solicitors for a second opinion. Managing Director and Solicitor Mr Khan spoke to the client and reviewed the case and was of the opinion the case did have reasonable prospects of success. After taking his case on an admission of liability was obtained and then settlement was negotiated at £10,000.

£36,000 for injured lady told she did not have a case

Ms M injured her shoulder and knee when she slipped outside her house on some wood left there by her landlord. Initially she went to another, large, national law firm who after investigating her case advised her they could not proceed any further. She then made contact with Aston Knight Solicitors who took the case on. After securing an admission of liability from the Defendant and then obtaining specialist medical expert evidence a period of negotiations took place during which an excellent settlement figure of £36,000 was agreed.

£2,000 for cyclist told he did not have a case

Mr G was cycling when he encountered mud that had leaked onto the road from a nearby construction site, causing his bicycle wheel to slip, resulting in him falling and suffering injury.

Whilst the construction site owners fiercely denied the case, and another firm refused to take the case on a no-win-no-fee basis as they did not believe it could be won, Aston Knight Solicitors proceeded with the case and issued court proceedings against the construction site owners.

Following issuing court proceedings a settlement offer of £2,000 was made, which Mr G was pleased to accept.

£45,000 for dental negligence injuries, client rejected by two previous law firms

A negligent dentist left the client with significant dental issues. He initially approached a large national dental negligence firm who profess to be the leading dental negligence firm in the country.

Following review they declined to take on his case as they did not believe he would succeed.

He then tried a local Bury firm who also rejected his case on the basis they did not believe he could succeed. Thankfully for him he also approached our firm and following review we formed the view that his case did in fact have good prospects of success. We therefore accepted his case and ultimately secured a strong settlement of £45,000.

£149,000 for Mum Who Suffered Psychological Injuries After Tragic Loss of Her Baby

Ms H suffered significant psychological injuries when her baby sadly passed away as a result of the Hospital failing to give her the whooping cough vaccine whilst she was pregnant. Aston Knight Solicitors first represented Ms H at a four day inquest before a coroner and then brought a claim for
negligence. Liability was admitted quickly but the Hospital’s solicitors continued to make low settlement offers. Aston Knight Solicitors threatened to take the matter to a trial before a Judge and following that further negotiations took place which resulted in a settlement of £149,000.

What made this result even more special was that before choosing Aston Knight Solicitors Ms H had spoken to a number of other law firms who all advised her that she did not have a case and any settlement would be low!

£215,000 for business interruption losses (client advised by previous firm to accept £50,000)

A water leak caused extensive damage to a large country house used as a hotel and wedding venue resulting in a significant business interruption losses claim.

The client had instructed a local firm of solicitors but was unhappy for several reasons, including their approach to the claim and being advised to accept an offer of £50,000 which was only a fraction of the business losses incurred as a result of the damage. The client contacted Aston Knight Solicitors and following a brief conversation instructed us to take over the case.

Aston Knight immediately created a clear case plan; collating and sifting through all the available evidence and obtaining further evidence as necessary. It was clear the current offer was not at all reasonable. Despite the previous solicitors having already instructed a barrister, Aston Knight instructed their own experienced and reputable barrister to represent the client in mediation. Armed with all the evidence a much more favourable settlement was achieved in the sum of £215,000 which the client was very pleased to accept.

£105,000 for client rejected by national personal injury firm and then 32 other law firms

The client suffered a back injury when an unsecured wagon door blew shut in the wind, striking his back. As he was a member of a trade union he was initially referred to the largest personal injury firm in the country (Slater and Gordon) who undertake a large amount of trade union work. After proceeding for a number of years they ultimately advised him that they could not prove his case. They obtained the advice of an internal barrister who advised that his prospects of success were around 30%.

Rejected by that firm he made numerous enquiries with other law firms to see if anyone else would take his case on. In total, 32 law firms reviewed and declined his case on the basis they did not believe he could succeed.

However, when he approached us our initial case review identified a number of useful points that the other law firms had missed. We managed to obtain useful witness statement evidence to prove his claim and ultimately negotiated a settlement of £105,000.

£130,000 Settlement for medical negligence victim rejected by local firm

Whilst it is always very rewarding to obtain a high settlement for a client, the reward is greater when that client has been turned away by another firm first. This was the situation Mr K found himself in before he came to Aston Knight Solicitors.

Mr K suffered serious complications as a result of an significant medical condition not being tested for a year earlier, despite him attending hospital a year earlier with symptoms common for that condition.  The result of his condition being missed was that he ended up deteriorating substantially including ending up in a coma.  Although he recovered from his coma he was left with breathlessness issues due to lung damage as well as kidney damage.

Following being turned away by a local firm, he sought a second opinion from Aston Knight.  Solicitor James Winterbottom reviewed the case and advised that there was a case and agreed to work on a no-win-no-fee basis.

First an admission of liability was secured and then specialist medical evidence to evidence the nature of Mr K’s ongoing injuries.  A settlement meeting was set up and following negotiations a favourable settlement of £130,000 was reached, which Mr K was delighted to accept. Mr K was delighted with the result, awarding full marks in our client satisfaction questionnaire and commenting:

“They were very professional in all their handling of the complete case” Solicitor James Winterbottom commented: “Cases like this highlight the importance of seeking a second, or even third, opinion if you feel you have a case despite receiving negative advice from another firm.  Many firms these days are delegating new case assessment to junior and/or non- specialist solicitors, who fail to see how cases can be won.  Always ensure you seek out a specialist firm with a proven success record in cases like yours.”