I qualified as a solicitor in 2005, after six years working in personal injury at Sherrington’s Solicitors in Bolton. I joined Chris at Carter & Carter in 2009, and we’ve worked side by side ever since.

I should probably warn you about something: I’m direct. If your claim is strong, I’ll tell you. If it’s weak, I’ll tell you that too. I don’t use jargon and I don’t dress things up. I explain what’s happening, what it means, and what we’re going to do about it. You’ll always know where you stand with me.

Before Carter & Carter

I started at Sherrington’s Solicitors in Bolton on 1st June 1999. The firm later became Serious Injury Law, which was acquired by Fletchers Group in 2024. I worked on road traffic accident claims there for six years and built a heavy caseload. I studied law at Manchester Metropolitan University while working at Sherrington’s, then completed the Legal Practice Course at The Law College in Christleton near Chester (now a housing estate, make of that what you will). I finished my training contract at Sherrington’s and qualified in June 2005.

In 2007 I moved to Betesh Fox Solicitors in Manchester, where I broadened out from RTAs into the full spread of personal injury work: workplace accidents, public liability, allergy claims, and the rest.

Joining Carter & Carter

I joined Chris at Carter & Carter in 2009, tired of commuting into Manchester City Centre every day, and looking for a way of working that didn’t involve being part of a faceless conveyor belt. Chris and I had worked together at Sherrington’s, where I’d regularly beaten him at tennis (the only times he ever beat me were after a big lunch, with indigestion, or carrying an injury, and I have witnesses).

Sixteen years on, the firm is still two solicitors and we both still want it that way. We work in parallel (Chris on his caseload, me on mine), but every case is talked through between us. The result is that no client who comes to the firm gets the judgment of just one head. Between us we’ve spent fifty-four years doing personal injury work and nothing else.

What I handle

I act for clients across England and Wales on personal injury claims, all on a no win no fee basis, including:

→Food allergy and anaphylaxis claims, including supermarket, restaurant and takeaway cases

→Needlestick and sharps injury claims, including healthcare workers, refuse collectors, council workers, police officers and prison staff

→Accidents at work

→Public liability and accident claims

These aren’t all routine cases. A substantial share of the work involves serious, life-changing injuries: clients forced into premature retirement, complex pension loss and loss of earnings calculations, and the full range of heads of damage that come with severe injury. I’ve spent years running claims worth hundreds of thousands of pounds, with the experience and the inclination to take them on when other firms might pass.

How I work

Most of the clients who come to me have been let down somewhere along the way: by the place where they were hurt, by the firm that promised to help them, sometimes by both. Part of the job is straightforward. Take the law and apply it to the facts. The other part is harder, and more important. Listen properly. Push back when the answer doesn’t sit right. Don’t promise what I can’t deliver. Don’t stop when a case gets difficult.

The reason rejected claims so often turn into wins is simple. Too many firms aren’t prepared to do the work a difficult case needs. The merits don’t change because someone gave up on them. When the merits are there, the claim deserves to be brought.

If you call me, you’ll get the same David that’s on the testimonials: direct, honest, and on your side.

Cases I’ve worked on

The warehouse RSJ case. A client working in a warehouse dropped a long RSJ lintel he was carrying. It bounced off the floor, sprang back up and hit him in the mouth, knocking out his four top front teeth. He’d instructed another firm first. The employer denied blame, and that other firm promptly dropped him. I took the case on, sued the employer, and four months after picking up his rejected claim I’d settled it for a five-figure sum.

The horse riding case. A client had always wanted to ride a horse along a beach like in the movies. She booked the ride with a reputable stables, but mid-ride her stirrup snapped. She fell and broke three vertebrae. Horse riding accidents are hard cases. Stable staff close ranks, and witnesses are scarce. The insurers denied blame. Using an equestrian expert I persuaded them to reconsider; they reversed their position, admitted blame, and paid compensation.

The repeated allergy client. My record at the firm for the most allergy claims handled for a single client is six. The insurers denied blame on three of them and I sued, winning on all three. On the other three the insurers admitted fault and paid out without proceedings.

Why this matters

The whole point of being a two-solicitor firm is that you get a real solicitor, every time, from start to finish. When you call, you’ll speak to me. The person on the phone is the person handling your claim. The person handling your claim is the person who’ll see it through.

If you’d like to talk a claim through, get in touch. There’s no pressure and no hard sell. I’ll either help you, or be honest with you about why I can’t.

A word before I sign off. The 250 five-star reviews on our Google page didn’t write themselves. Real people, after their claims settled, took the time to put their experience down in words so the next person could make a more informed choice. Without those reviews this firm wouldn’t be what it is, and I don’t take a single one of them for granted.