Management Team

Jayna Patel

PNLA South of England Representative - Partner - Dutton Gregory

Jayna qualified as a solicitor in 2007 and has 17 years of litigation experience. She specialised early on in her career in Claimant professional negligence. Jayna has worked in Cardiff, London and Salisbury. She has worked within and outside the legal expense industry.

Whilst working in London, Jayna secured a 100% success rate for her lender clients and she is familiar with the operation of alternative funding e.g. CFA's, ATE policies and litigation funding. More recently, Jayna has acted for high net worth individuals, partnerships and SME's and pursued claims against solicitors, accountants, valuers and surveyors.

Jayna is based in Winchester with her husband and young family.

e: j.patel@duttongregory.co.uk d: +44 (0)23 8235 4561

Nicole Blakey

PNLA London Representative - Senior Associate Pennington Manches Cooper

Nicole is a senior associate in the commercial dispute resolution team in London, specialising in complex and high value group claims.

She frequently acts for large groups of claimants in cases against their professional advisers and also has extensive experience advising insolvency practitioners on contentious insolvency matters.

Nicole joined Penningtons Manches Cooper in 2019.

Tel: 0207 457 3237
Email: Nicole.Blakey@penningtonslaw.com

Gillian Crotty

PNLA Northern Ireland Representative - Partner - Shoosmiths

Gillian is a Partner and joint Head of the firm’s Belfast office. Gillian heads up the Northern Irish Dispute Resolution & Litigation team.
https://www.shoosmiths.com/people/cvdetails/gillian-crotty

0 3700 861 512
+44 (0) 3700 861 512
+44 (0)754 018 1060
gillian.crotty@shoosmiths.com

Karen Cornwell

PNLA Joint Scotland Representative - Legal Director - Thorntons Law

Karen is a Notary Public and qualified as a solicitor in Scotland in 1999 and England and Wales in 2010.

Her background has exclusively been in litigation with a strong emphasis on all manners of commercial, property, banking litigation and professional negligence.

Karen is one of only ten solicitors to be Accredited as a Specialist in Professional Negligence Law by the Law Society of Scotland.

She is an active member of the Professional Negligence Lawyer’s Association and is also an active member of the Forum of Insurance Lawyers (“FOIL”) and acts as a Scottish representatives of their Environmental Sector Focus Team.”

Tim Edward

PNLA Joint Scotland Representative - Partner - MBM Commercial

Tim joined MBM Commercial as a Partner in January 2021. He has over three decades of experience in litigation and dispute resolution and is listed as a leading lawyer in both Chambers and Legal 500 for Commercial Litigation and Professional Negligence (Scotland).

He is an accredited specialist in professional negligence (Law Society of Scotland).

Tim is ranked as Band 2 in Chambers for Professional Negligence – Scotland and Band 3 for Litigation – Scotland and is described as ``A consistently good and reliable lawyer.`` He is listed in Legal 500’s Hall of Fame for both commercial litigation and professional negligence. Tim is an active Solicitor-Advocate with experience of presenting cases in the Court of Session.

Prior to joining MBM, Tim spent 30 years at Dentons (previously Maclay Murray & Spens) where he was a partner and a member of their Litigation and Dispute Resolution practice, focusing on insolvency and company litigation.

He is a currently a member of the Law Society of Scotland's Pursuer's Advisory Panel pursuing negligence claims against solicitors. He served on the Law Society of Scotland's Diploma Materials Committee in the 1990's and ran the Maclay Murray & Spens PCC Elective on Civil Litigation from 2003 to 2012.

He carries out regular CPD training for the profession in the field of dispute resolution.

Harry Fehily

PNLA Ireland Representative - Partner - Holmes O’Malley Sexton

Harry is Managing Partner of Holmes O’Malley Sexton one of the most highly regarded professional negligence solicitors in Ireland. He has particular expertise in relation to the defence of professional negligence actions against solicitors, barristers and accountants as well as defending construction companies.

With the benefit of his wealth of experience, Harry is trusted to act for most leading professional negligence insurers operating in Ireland to deal with the most complex, high value and challenging negligence claims. He has extensive experience of acting in cases before the Commercial Court and prides himself on his ability to deliver optimum results.

Harry is an internationally ranked lawyer for Dispute Resolution with Chambers Global 2019, an international legal directory that ranks the world’s most outstanding lawyers. Client feedback to Chambers described him as practical, realistic and commercial. Harry is a keen advocate of dispute resolution and is himself a CEDR-qualified mediator.

Finally, Harry is also a member of the Law Society of Ireland’s Guidance and Ethics Committee’s Panel to assist solicitors in difficulty with the Law Society. He is a member of the International Lawyers’ Network and has experience of coordinating multi-jurisdictional litigation, including in relation to a recent solicitor’s cyber attack

John Carter

PNLA Midlands Representative - Partner - BPE Solicitors LLP

I work in Litigation, specialising in property litigation and professional negligence work. I manage a varied workload which involves pursuing negligent professionals who have provided incorrect advice to lenders and other clients causing them to incur a loss.

I also specialise in commercial property litigation, often dealing with lease renewals and breaches of covenant. When issues arise, I advise landlords practically whilst ensuring their positions are protected.
https://www.bpe.co.uk/our-people/john-carter/