Former Claims Direct lawyer swaps sides

The collective, Talk Legal, was set up to challenge the claims management industry.
Roy Fraser was head of legal at Poole & Co and subsequently became acting head of legal when the company was sold to Claims Direct.
Talk Legal was launched by Birkenhead solicitors Roberts Moore Nicholas Jones to pool resources for advertising. Since its launch in November last year, Talk Legal has recruited around 80 member firms and has already launched television advertising campaigns.
Calls from potential clients are taken by an independent call centre and referred on a rotational basis.
Fraser said: "I've literally seen the light and endorse the ethical and
professional approach of Talk Legal. Solicitors should be able to give independent advice and not be required to pay fees for referrals and case management and so on.
"It's the claims industry as a whole that lawyers are getting sick of
because of the deal the lawyer gets and what the client has to pay," Fraser said.
Roberts Moore's managing partner David Pontin is managing director of Talk Legal. He said: "We felt that something ought to be done to allow solicitors like us, who are building up our PI departments, to fight back to the claims companies, which are seemingly taking business away from solicitors firms.
"We're not a claims company. We're purely and simply set up to allow solicitors to advertise nationally on the television and to get a level of exposure which individual firms cannot."
Pontin said that Talk Legal is more than a "rearguard action". "We see ourselves as being a new direction. The lawyers who join our scheme don't need to worry about the ethics of it. There are no strings attached."
Talk Legal is expanding its advertising campaign and plans to increase membership to 200 firms.