Judges

Anthony Hughes has worked with a number of leading Manchester law firms, becoming a partner in 1995 and a managing partner in 2001. He practised in the litigation sector, specialising in insurance disputes—primarily of a casualty and regulatory nature.

In 2001, Anthony became managing partner of Ricksons, taking the firm from around £5m per annum in fee income to around £14m by 2006, at which point he agreed a merger with DWF.

Having sat on the board at DWF for two years, Anthony was invited to become CEO of Horwich Farrelly, which he did in May 2009.

In January 2014, Anthony formed Jackson Hughes Consulting, offering strategic consultancy advice to the legal, insurance and claims sectors, and has been involved in a number of projects since, including specific merger and acquisition activity.

In February 2019, he joined Simpson Millar as COO.

Anthony is currently commercial officer with KP Law, a law firm specialising in group actions and consumer redress. He was invited to take over as chair and CEO of The CHO in August 2022, a role he does alongside that with KPL.

Anthony is also a non-executive director of niche insurance and mobility services provider Driver Further.

Jack Ridgway is the Chair of the Association of Costs Lawyers. As Chair, he is responsible for leading the representative body and regulator of last resort for all regulated Costs Lawyers. This work involves regular interaction with the judiciary and either sitting on, or supporting members, on various working groups. 

Jack entered the legal industry in 2011 before qualifying as a Costs Lawyer in 2017. He has had the benefit of working for two external costs firms before moving in-house to Bolt Burdon Kemp in 2015 where is now a Senior Associate.  

Jack has gained experience as the receiving or paying party in a wide variety of matters, such as abuse, clinical negligence, commercial litigation, court of protection, design rights, personal injury, and probate. He regularly undertakes advocacy in the High Court, with a particular focus on costs budgeting and applications during the substantive proceedings. 

Louise Chance, the new Chair of the British Association of Brain Injury and Complex Case Managers (BABICM) from June 2025, has devoted her 35+ year career to the field of brain injury and neurorehabilitation.  She is passionate about the need for innovative, person-centred rehabilitation that meets the needs of people living with life changing injuries and conditions and is inspired by individuals and services driving development in this field. 

With a background in Occupational Therapy (OT), including senior and then lead OT roles at the Priory, Highbank in the 1990s and responsibility for the transitional living service providing inpatient and outreach rehabilitation, Louise launched her case management business, A Chance for Life Ltd, in 2002. Under her leadership, the business has grown into a highly respected provider of Case Management, Rehabilitation and Support services, serving the North of England and Scotland. 

Louise’s passion for collaboration, combined with a feeling of responsibility to use her skills and resources to help improve the lives of people affected by serious injury has led her to be an active participant in the brain injury community. She is a member of Headway North Cumbria, served on the Northern Acquired Brain Injury Forum committee for many years and, prior to taking on the role of Chair, served on the BABICM Council from 2018 to 2024. 

Luke was appointed chief executive of Headway UK in December 2022 having worked in various roles throughout the charity for the past 17 years, including deputy chief executive. Throughout his career at Headway, Luke has championed collaboration, working closely with the personal injury sector to ensure brain injury survivors and families have independent advice and access to specialist legal representation.

Mike joined the APIL team as Chief Executive in July 2019 after five years as the Chief Executive of the Society of Independent Brewers and, before that, a decade as the Chief Executive of CAMRA, the Campaign for Real Ale.

Mike is a seasoned campaigner and leader of membership organisations and has been a key player in various major consumer campaigns and in leading change and strategy development in the not-for-profit sector.

Mike leads the APIL Senior Management Board and the staff, reporting to the Executive Committee, and has led the development and delivery of the strategic plan, ‘Building a Brighter Future for Injured People’.

Sharon Allison is a partner and head of medical injury at Ashtons Legal and has extensive experience in all claims arising from medical injury events but specialises in catastrophic birth injury, brain injury and spinal injury claims. She has also recently taken up the post of the first female Chair of the Society for Clinical Injury Lawyers (SCIL). 

Sharon is a fellow of APIL and a specialist on the clinical negligence panel of AvMA.  

Sharon spent a significant part of her early career building expertise in inquest representation, which is now a large part of her team’s medical practice. She developed particular expertise in mental health and patient safety. 

She still spends time with national/regional stakeholders to collaboratively work together on streamlining the litigation process and putting grieving families at the heart of the process. 

Vicki is an accomplished and dynamic leader in rehabilitation and case management with a proven track record of start-ups, steering organisations towards excellence whilst bringing a wealth of knowledge in strategic planning, operational leadership and stakeholder engagement across health and social care settings.

Currently Vicki leads Social Return Case Management, a clinical service company she founded 10 years ago. She chaired The British Association of Brain Injury and Complex Case Management (BABICM) from 2021 – 2024 and has steered both organisations towards significant growth and transformative change. In the second half of 2024 she takes up a university teaching and research position at Teesside University.

Vicki’s entrepreneurial approach inspires and motivates others with her commitment to quality, innovation, governance balanced with sustainable outcomes for communities and stakeholders. Vicki is adept at fostering collaboration, driving policy advocacy, and navigating complex regulatory environments, whilst upholding the vision and values of teams and organisations.