Our People

Samantha Moss

Samantha is a Director of Bond Turner. She graduated from the University of Manchester with a degree in law and accountancy, joining our team shortly after graduation. Samantha is vastly experienced in both a fee earning and managerial capacity and is a specialist solicitor in clinical/professional negligence and civil litigation including personal injury and credit hire claims.

Samantha also deals with regulatory compliance, client care, complex claims, staff supervision, complaints handling and compliance, and works extensively to ensure the best interests of clients and staff are protected.

In her spare time, she enjoys spending time with her family, keeping fit and competitive show jumping.

Alan Sellers

Alan practised as a solicitor in private practice until 1991. He was called to the Bar at Gray’s Inn in 1991 and has practised as a barrister since that date.

He has vast experience in dealing with civil litigation including personal injury, credit hire claims, clinical negligence and professional negligence.

He is an experienced, effective and practical advocate. In his spare time he is a keen cyclist, and particularly enjoys cycling in the high mountains of France, Tenerife and Spain.

Dawn O’Brien

Dawn graduated in 2004 having obtained a degree in law at Liverpool University.

She originally embarked upon a career as a barrister and was called to the Bar Middle Temple 2006. She developed a keen interest in costs litigation from an early stage and joined Bond Turner later that year, heading the Costs department. She was appointed CEO in 2009 and like other Directors is vastly experienced from both a fee earning and managerial perspective. Having headed the Costs department, her experience has given her invaluable insight into the issues the firm and its clients encounter in litigation. In addition to her expertise in the field of costs she has also dealt with appeals and complex claims on behalf of the firm.

Her costs background lends itself to her role as COFA and her supervisory role in respect of the firm’s accounts team. She has an excellent working knowledge of the Solicitors Accounts Rules and works tirelessly to safeguard the interest of clients and ensure the firm’s compliance.

In her spare time Dawn enjoys spending time with her family, travelling and interior design.

Rachael Wong

Rachael joined Bond Turner in 2015 and is a qualified barrister who has a variety of other responsibilities within the firm. She regularly attends interlocutory hearings and trials on behalf of clients, ensuring she maintains a constant and personable network of communication with colleagues, clients and peers alike.

Rachael has an excellent understanding of the demands on clients and takes a commercial and client-friendly approach to litigation. Specialising in all aspects of civil litigation including contractual disputes, consumer credit, debt recovery, personal injury, motoring disputes, historical and professional negligence, Rachael has particular knowledge and expertise in credit hire cases. She also has vast experience in dealing with appeals, having been heavily involved in the Autofocus Credit Hire case. In addition, Rachael is often called upon to help sift through the thousands of cases affected by dishonest rates evidence, and thereafter dealing with test cases arising from that litigation. She also assisted with the successful application in the Divisional Court to bring committal proceedings for contempt of court against seven former Autofocus rates surveyors (Accident Exchange Limited v George-Broom & ors).

Notable cases Rachael has been involved in include:

• Accident Exchange v Autofocus Limited [2010] EWCA Civ 788
• Seatory v Oliver et al [2011] EWCA Civ 1374
• Verley v O’Neill et al [2013] EWCA Civ 36
• Bent v Highways & Utilities Construction Limited and Another [2010] EWCA Civ 292 (‘Bent 1’)
• Bent v Highways & Utilities Construction Limited and Another [2011] EWCA Civ 1384 (‘Bent 2’)
• Walker v Veolia Environmental Services (UK) PLC EWHC 2020
• Mendes v Hochtief (UK) Construction Limited [2016] EWHC 976 (QB)
• Cameron v Hussain & LV Insurance [2017] EWCA Civ 366
• Irving v Morgan Sindall Plc [2018] EWHC 1147 (QB)

Generous to a fault, Rachael spends her free time attempting to satisfy her wanderlust by taking regular holidays to warmer climes with her friends and family.

Sara Stanger

Sara is a qualified solicitor and Head of the Liverpool Clinical Negligence Department at Bond Turner Solicitors. She has over 15 years’ experience in this complex area of law. Her high level of knowledge, skill, and experience has meant her being accredited by the Law Society for her specialism in Clinical Negligence. She has also been a Senior Litigator of APIL for eight years.

Sara was Head of Medical Negligence at a leading medical negligence practice for nine years which at its height was a team of 38. She trained in large and respected claimant clinical negligence firm and has also worked for a large national defendant firm which gives her a unique perspective into defendant practices and the ability to assess cases from both sides.

The Legal 500 has recommended Sara in their lawyer rankings every year since 2016. 2017 – “for her work on cases arising from a delay in diagnosis of cancer and orthopaedic matters including brachial plexus and Erbs palsy injuries”. 2018 her team was mentioned as a “very knowledgeable team that has a wonderful touch with clients”.

Sara has been ranked as Band 2 in the prestigious Chambers and Partners guide since 2017. In 2019 Chambers and Partners Sara Stanger was recognised for possessing “a broad clinical negligence practice, with particular experience in obstetric injury and amputation cases, as well as fatal claims”. In Chambers and Partners 2021 Sara Stanger was recognised for acting “on behalf of claimants on delayed diagnosis of cancer and surgical negligence cases”.

Testimonials

The clinical negligence team at Your Legal Friend was described by Chambers 2017 as “very responsive and on the ball”.

An impressed client praises her for her “good knowledge and understanding of the case,” while sources add that she is “very driven, passionate and fantastic at bringing everything together”. – Chambers and Partners Guide 2019.

“A pleasure to work with Sara Stanger is incisive, to the point, very experienced and works with great common sense”. – Chambers and Partners Guide 2020.

“She is considered to be a fantastic solicitor who has a great grasp of cases”. – Chambers and Partners Guide 2021.

Sara Stanger is “efficient, resolute and perceptive”. Sara has experience in running a wide range of cases and has recovered millions of pounds for her clients. – Legal 500

Tony Oliver

Tony qualified as a solicitor in London in 1994.

For most of his career, Tony has specialised in high value personal injury claims on behalf of both Claimants and Defendants. He firmly believes working on both sides of the litigation divide brings real benefits for his clients, because of the insight provided.

Most Tony’s claims fall into the ‘serious injury’ category, (they are worth in or above £250,000), but Tony regularly deals with claims in excess of £1million, including brain and spinal cord injury matters, traumatic amputation claim, and fatal accident litigation.

He was most recently in the Court of Appeal (Palmer v Kitley) which involved a calculation of a Blamire award and application of the Froom v Butcher principles.

Tony also has experience of dealing with injury claims in foreign jurisdictions.

In his spare time Tony enjoys reading law and the classics

Hamida Khatun

Hamida is the Head of the Large Loss Department at Bond Turner, based at our Bolton Office.

Hamida qualified as a solicitor in 2003 and has worked at highly regarded firms in Manchester and Bolton. After qualification, Hamida specialised in large loss personal injury, with a particular specialism in complex brain and spinal injuries. Thereafter, Hamida specialised in complex fraud and strategic litigation for over 10 years.

Hamida handles all types of serious and catastrophic injury cases including brain, spinal, complex upper and lower limb injuries as well as pain and psychiatric injuries. Throughout her legal career, Hamida has handled complex, high value, and high-profile cases and has represented both claimants and defendants in the Court of Appeal and the High Court.

Hamida works closely with the brain injury charity Headway and was recognised for her work in brain injuries and other complex injuries in the Legal 500. Hamida is dedicated to securing the best outcomes for her clients, who often face life-changing injuries, regularly securing early interim payments, and assisting clients with access to early rehabilitation.

Hamida is recognised throughout the legal field as a formidable advocate; she has a fine legal mind with a highly client-focused and down-to-earth approach. She has also trained and mentored many junior lawyers over the years.

In her spare time, Hamida enjoys spending time with her family, travelling, gardening, DIY, and keeping abreast of legal developments as well as current affairs. She has also attended as guest speaker at universities, inspiring the next generation of lawyers.

Elizabeth Saunders

Elizabeth qualified in 1997 and has been working solely for claimants sustaining personal injury for over 20 years. She specialises in higher value and complex personal injury claims and has secured compensation for clients who have suffered from serious injury including spinal, brain and multiple trauma.

Recognising her experience, she has been a member of the Law Society personal injury panel since 2001. Her experience extends to all accidents involving personal injury including accidents at work, occupier’s liability and road traffic accidents including claims for drivers, pedestrians, cyclists and motorcyclists.

Elizabeth has always fought for the highest compensation for her clients and is completely dedicated to her role and position. She has been with Bond Turner since 2013 and is currently the team leader of the Large Loss department.

In her spare time, she devotes her remaining energy to her two growing children and enjoys travelling with them as much as she can. In between there is just enough time to run the department’s book club and to arrange as many weekends away as work commitments and weather will permit.

Joanne McEvoy

Joanne qualified as a solicitor in 1990 and joined Bond Turner in 2014. She has worked exclusively as a claimant personal injury solicitor for over 25 years, and has a wealth of experience in dealing with complex and serious injury motor accident claims.

She is committed to supporting and assisting those who have suffered serious injuries and achieving the best possible outcome for her clients.

When not in the office she likes to attend her local gym to keep fit and enjoys evenings spent with friends at a book club.

Chantal Rabbetts

Chantal Rabbetts is part of the large loss/catastrophic injuries team headed by Tony Oliver, and routinely deals with complex orthopaedic injuries, traumatic brain injuries and fatalities.

Chantal joined Bond Turner in 2019 and has over 20 years’ experience. Chantal possesses great determination and is a fearless advocate for her clients.

Chantal has a resolute focus on providing the best level of support for our clients. Due to the severity of the cases, good communication with the clients and their families is imperative. Chantal’s empathetic nature, and her ability to explain complex legal terms in a more digestible way, help to ease our clients’ worries about the legal process.

Chantal’s clients often have life altering injuries and she is acutely aware of the treatments our clients require. This provides Chantal with great motivation in her efforts to fight for rehabilitation costs.

Chantal previously worked in defendant law; this experience is invaluable in understanding her opponents’ approach and the tactics they may use. Chantal uses this experience to overcome the opposition and achieve the best outcome for our clients. Chantal has the vital ability to ‘read the room’: understanding which approach is best suited to achieve the best outcome for the case.

Chantal enjoys her role and finds it incredibly rewarding, as she is able to support her clients into a position where they are able to move forward with their lives.

Chantal leads on all of the serious injury cases involving children. Chantal’s empathetic nature helps our young clients and their parents understand the legal process, and reassures them that Chantal will work tirelessly to achieve a positive outcome.

Beginning her career as a paralegal, Chantal understands how difficult it can be to establish a career in the legal profession. Chantal is part of the Training Task Force and one of the leads for the Apprenticeship Scheme. This initiative was set up to support those looking to embark on a career within a law firm. Chantal uses her own experiences to support staff and provides structured guidance on how they can develop and progress in their roles.

Outside of the office Chantal enjoys spending time with her family, enjoying fun-filled activities with her young children.

Rebecca Earl

Rebecca joined Bond Turner in 2016 and qualified as a solicitor in 2022. From an early stage Rebecca was assigned significant responsibility in handling serious injury cases.

This early experience has helped to guide her approach as a lawyer. Rebecca is a driven and determined lawyer who enjoys the rigorous challenges of the cases she handles, and thrives under pressure. Rebecca has shown great adaptability and has developed a legal maturity from navigating a range of cases with their individual complexities.

Rebecca has a very professional approach and understands the importance of frequent communication with a client.  Rebecca believes it is vital to be a good listener, especially at the early stages of interaction with a client; this is a skill she has honed throughout her career. 

Rebecca has a client-focused approach and is determined to achieve the necessary outcome, may that be treatment, rehabilitation or compensation. Rebecca’s goal is to get her clients back to a position where they once were to allow them to get on with their lives, or to provide the support they need in their new circumstances. 

Despite being in a relatively early stage of her career as a trainee solicitor, Rebecca has already managed to secure over £1 million  in compensation for her clients. Rebecca  doesn’t let anything get in her way from achieving her goals and doing the best by her clients. This determination is a great asset to her skill set. 

Rebecca credits her colleague at Bond Turner, Tony Oliver, for the fantastic mentoring he has provided, which she considers a great learning opportunity. The early exposure to cases tested Rebecca’s legal mind and has resulted in significant progress in her development as a lawyer.  

Rebecca is a real foodie, and enjoys experiencing new cuisines and restaurants. She also enjoys going to the gym and reading Stephen King novels in her spare time.

Neil Crossley

Neil qualified as a solicitor in 2009, having previously completed a genetics degree, ahead of practising as a registered nurse for many years, before deciding to pursue a legal career.

Since qualifying, Neil has worked for several well-respected firms in the North West, dealing with clinical negligence claims. He is a member of the Association of Personal Injury Lawyers (APIL), having previously achieved litigator status.

Neil has considerable experience of dealing with a wide range of clinical negligence claims, including claims against GP’s; pregnancy and childbirth claims; gynaecological claims; medical misdiagnosis claims, including delayed cancer diagnosis claims; ophthalmic claims; mis-prescribing / mis-dispensing claims, and dental negligence claims to name a few. He is used to dealing with high value claims, most notably involving brain injury and birth injury. He has secured many millions of pounds for his Clients, having recently settled a stroke/brain injury case for in excess of one million pounds.

Neil prides himself on doing the very best for his clients, whose causes he champions to secure the best damages settlement possible. Neil joined Bond Turner at the beginning of 2018 and is currently Head of the clinical Negligence Department in our Bolton Office.

In his spare time, Neil enjoys painting, mainly abstract and contemporary works on boxed canvas. He has previously been exhibited online and has sold many artworks. He also has a passion for travel, being fascinated by exotic/ancient cultures. Past destinations have included Mexico, Cairo and Luxor in Egypt, Rome, Istanbul, Malaysia, Borneo, and Singapore.

Helen Neville

Helen Neville is Deputy Head of our Clinical Negligence team and has over 15 years’ experience in Clinical Negligence Litigation. Helen has won a significant number of high-profile cases; she endeavours to ensure that her clients achieve the best result in order to move forward with their lives.

During her career, Helen has developed a range of important skills, including working under pressure, analysing and assessing situations within a short time frame, and applying the law to the facts. These skills help Helen offer the highest quality of legal guidance and expertise to our clients.

As medical negligence cases are often extremely sensitive, Helen is compassionate and makes a great effort to provide clear communication to her clients.

Helen is ranked in the prestigious Chambers and Partners, which has described her as

“Highly adept at birthing and psychiatric injury claims. She has additional experience in handling group actions.”

“Helen is a very confident and compassionate solicitor. She handles sensitive matters in a careful and considered way and explains complex legal issues in an accessible manner.”

“She has a very good eye for detail and is phenomenal at digesting information to build the claim.”

Helen also works as a Deputy District Judge, sitting on the North Western circuit. She has held this position since September 2021.

Additionally, Helen is on the prestigious Law Society Clinical Negligence panel, and is a Senior Litigator with APIL (Association of Personal Injury Lawyers).

Outside the office, Helen enjoys gardening, collecting and propagating house plants, DIY, reading novels, and spending time with family and friends.

Career Highlights

• Helen was appointed as a Deputy District Judge in 2021 and sits on the North Western Circuit.
• Won a 3-day clinical negligence trial in April 2022, obtaining indemnity costs.
• Lead solicitor in quasi-group action against Mr. Qureshi and others. Multiple defendants, complex costs, and two test cases for 7-day trial in November 2020.
• Case involving three secondary victims arising out of the death of a 12-year-old due to meningitis. Judgment entered with indemnity costs. One claim settled at mediation for £195,000.
• Delay in parotid tumour diagnosis; converted from “lost years” to fatals claim. Settled for £335,000.
• Delay in malignant melanoma diagnosis. Explored material contribution issue and complex financial loss scenario. Settled for £575,000.
• Admitted delay in caesarean delivery, investigating causation. Claimant suffers from deafness. Mother’s psychiatric case settled for £39,500.

Rob Godfrey

Rob Godfrey is the Head of Professional Negligence at Bond Turner. He is regarded as one of the UK’s leading negligence experts with over 25 years’ experience in litigation.

With his extensive experience and expertise in the field, Rob leads the Professional Negligence department, ensuring the firm continues to provide outstanding service to our clients. 

Rob is recognised for his pragmatic and direct approach, always aiming to identify early resolutions whenever feasible. He has built a reputation for taking on cases that other solicitors may have turned down, showcasing his analytical and detailed nature in handling legal matters.   

Rob’s primary focus is on supporting our clients at every step of the legal process by providing the best legal advice and guidance. Rob ensures that our clients achieve the best possible results, to help them to move forward with their lives. 

Rob’s broader ambition in this role is to establish Bond Turner as one of the go-to firms for professional negligence cases. Recognising the firm’s existing reputation in the legal market, Rob aims to leverage its strengths and expand its expertise in professional negligence, making it a market leader in this specialised area. 

While many firms claim to handle professional negligence cases, Rob acknowledges that few possess true expertise in this complex field. He recognises Bond Turner’s commitment to excellence and achieving the best possible result for its clients. 

Rob’s professional background includes being a member of the Professional Negligence Lawyers Association (PNLA), which highlights his commitment to staying at the forefront of industry standards and best practices. 

His previous work which has taken him to the Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court serves as a testament to his extensive legal experience and notable achievements and a desire to achieve the right results for his clients. 

Outside of the office, Rob’s time is occupied by his two teenage sons, who are actively involved in football training sessions and matches. Rob enjoys reading, cooking, and socializing with friends, either at home or dining out. 

Lee Benson

Lee is the Head of the Housing Disrepair Department at Bond Turner based at our Liverpool office at The Plaza.

Lee began his legal career back in 1987 and has been an experienced litigation lawyer for over 30 years. He qualified as a Legal Executive in 1996 and became a Chartered Legal Executive when the Institute of Legal Executives attained royal charter status in 2011.

Lee has held positions, in a number of prominent Liverpool law firms, such as team leader, associate, head of department and Partner.

Lee has a friendly client focused style but with the drive to ensure his client’s wishes to achieve a reasonable standard of living and have their landlord deal with the issues of disrepair are met. He has had numerous successes before the Courts obtaining orders that landlord complete the repairs.

Lee’s spare time is spent between his family, playing amateur football on a Saturday afternoon and following Liverpool FC.

Jessica Watkinson

Jessica is a solicitor and Team Leader within the Housing Disrepair Department.

She joined Bond Turner in 2009 as a newly qualified solicitor and has successfully managed other departments within the firm.

Jessica has acquired a wealth of varied litigation experience in her career, her background initially being in debt recovery and enforcement of judgment debts, she now specialises in housing disrepair. Jessica always strives to achieve to best possible outcome for each of her clients.

Previously Jessica was Head of the firm’s Enforcement department for nine years and subsequently Head of the Court Fee Remission Department. Jessica is a well-respected team leader within the firm with a friendly and approachable nature.

Outside of work Jessica enjoys spending time with her family, holidays, weekend breaks, yoga and cycling. She is also a keen amateur photographer.

Jenna Hargreaves

Jenna leads the operational activities of the Housing Disrepair Department, focusing on improving efficiencies, strategic planning and supporting her team’s progression.

Jenna is target driven and gains great satisfaction in helping staff members excel and fulfil their potential. Jenna enjoys working with people and has a great ability for solving problems, which directly improves the performance of her department. Jenna is motivated by being able to add real value and make a positive difference to her team.

The client is at the forefront of Jenna’s mind when implementing changes and processes. This focus helps progress cases as swiftly as possible in order to achieve the best possible outcome for the client. This is aimed at enhancing the overall experience of the client so that they can move forward with their lives.

Jenna takes great pride in the training and development plans she has implemented. These are aimed at supporting her team members’ progression in their roles and careers.

Jenna’s approachable nature and ability to adapt greatly benefit her role. Jenna has great drive and organisational skills. Jenna’s experience and expertise help her formulate appropriate strategies to achieve her goals.

Outside of the office, Jenna enjoys spending time with her young family. She also enjoys travelling and has a passion for cycling.

Neil Ryder

Having graduated in 2005 with a degree in law from the University of Liverpool, Neil joined the firm in 2006. He brings a wealth of experience in the field of costs and heads up the busy Costs department.

With a particular specialism in civil costs, Neil deals with a multitude of cases ranging from fast track road traffic accident claims to high value multi track claims involving catastrophic injury, professional negligence, clinical negligence and defamation. Neil also has a keen interest in group litigation and has had the opportunity of dealing with substantial high value group actions, some involving over 60 claimants.

Having worked in the rapidly evolving costs sector for over a decade, Neil has in-depth knowledge of civil costs and has been involved in several high profile and widely-reported appeal cases such as O’Beirne v Hudson [2010] EWCA Civ 52.

Neil is on hand to provide both technical and practical costs advice to the fee earners at Bond Turner, and has extensive knowledge of costs budgeting and the costs management process.

Away from the office, he enjoys keeping fit and watches Liverpool FC whenever the opportunity arises.

Jon Blakemore

Jon Blakemore works as Costs Supervisor in our Bolton offices. Jon’s attention is focused on recovering costs incurred by the firm during the life of the claim. Jon began his career at Bond Turner and now has over 11 years’ experience.

After graduating from Staffordshire University, Jon joined Bond Turner in 2010 as a Costs Paralegal.  He developed his career in the Liverpool offices, establishing himself as a key member of the Costs Team. Jon credits the help and guidance of the firm for his career development, which has led him to move to our Bolton offices where he leads the costs team.

On a daily basis Jon provides support on all cost related queries at the Bolton office for personal injury and clinical negligence claims.

Jon thrives under pressure, working in a fast-paced environment. With frequent time constraints and pressing deadlines, Jon works tirelessly to ensure that costs schedules are filed in time and in advance of the deadlines set.

During his time at Bond Turner, Jon has enjoyed having the opportunity to undertake a variety of roles within the costs team. Jon has fine tuned his skillset, becoming a proficient negotiator along with developing an expert eye for detail, ensuring high levels of accuracy.

In his spare time Jon enjoys playing football, going to the gym and is a keen ‘DIYer’.

Malcolm Lewis

Malcolm Lewis joined Bond Turner in 2021 and has over 25 years’ experience in law. Malcolm’s areas of specialism include: personal injury, clinical negligence, civil litigation and group litigation.

Malcolm leads the team which is representing 12,500 clients in their emissions claim against VW Group. Malcolm is highly organised, which is vitally important for group action cases when having to examine vast amounts of evidence and legal documents. Malcolm is also meticulous and thorough when devising legal arguments and strategies for cases. Malcolm’s expertise and knowledge are highlighted in the procedural and tactical legal aspects of a case. 

Malcolm is very conscious of the importance of communication with a client. This is a considerable task, given the large numbers of claimants in group action. Despite the challenges, Malcolm and his team strive to keep clients up to date on the progress of their claim and explain what they are doing and why.

Malcolm focuses on holding every defendant to account, and ensuring that every reasonable avenue is investigated for his clients. Using his expert knowledge and experience, Malcolm develops strategies and tactics which benefit the entirety of the case. Malcolm has high standards; he tries to put himself in “their’ shoes” to understand and surpass their expectations for the handling of their cases. 

Outside of work, Malcolm is a keen sports fan (mainly from the armchair these days since the knees gave out!) but he continues to cycle, undertaking a number of coast-to-coast and other long-distance challenges over recent years. He also enjoys other outdoor activities, especially hill walking, and good food and good beer – ideally a day involving all three!

Linda Henry

Linda has over 15 years’ experience, having joined Bond Turner in 2019. Linda is Head of our First Response Department, which is responsible for all initial client contact and case initialisation processes. Linda’s areas of specialism include first response, customer service and operations.

Linda puts the client at the heart of everything she does, focusing on providing a high level of customer service by investing time and resources into improving the customer’s experience. A key component of this is to ensure we get back to clients in a timely fashion. 

Linda strongly believes that to progress a company it should develop the people within it, and she is proud that Bond Turner strives to do this. 

As Head of our First Response Team, Linda leads the team with supporting our clients with Emissions claims. Linda strives to support each client individually and providing them with access to justice.

Linda is a team player who is keen to assist and support other members of staff to achieve the best outcomes for our clients. Through supporting her colleagues Linda and her team have developed an improved client experience.

Outside of the office, Linda enjoys spending quality time with family and friends. Linda is an outdoor adventurist with a keen interest in hiking, rock climbing as well as being an avid gardener.