The Team Around the Client Magazine

The Compensation Protection Unit (CPU) was set up as a distinct department in 2020. Unsettling times for many in the depths of the Covid pandemic but the start of a team dedicated to acting for those in need of financial support. Initially the focus of the team was acting as professional deputy or trustee for individuals who had suffered life changing injuries and had successfully recovered compensation as a result. However more recently taking on more elderly clients who need that help and support due to illness and poor health.

The team has grown ever since with long-standing members Tracy Norris-Evans and Maria Meek initially being joined by Louise Nettle and Trisha Grout in Oxford and Sara Isenberg in London. In the last two years there has been a Welsh flavour added with Joy Davies arriving at the end of 2024 followed shortly by my team and I in January 2025.

We now have CPU teams in London, Oxford, Bath and Bristol with further footholds in Cardiff, Manchester, Sheffield and Swindon all acting for clients of all ages from Tyneside to Truro and Cardigan to Cromer. What a six years it has been.

So, this is my first Team Around the Client contribution and a great opportunity to celebrate the work that the CPU has been doing since those embryonic days of lock down. Working in this area of the law leaves you in no doubt as to the vital role that the charitable sector plays in supporting individuals and their families who have suffered such significant injuries. Not everyone has a claim for compensation and so the support and services provided by this sector for them, as well as some who do have claims, is invaluable.

With the Llandough Centre for Specialist Spinal and Neurological Rehabilitation (a mouthful often shortened to “Rookwood” in homage to the unit’s former site) being close by we are delighted to support the Prop Appeal, Rookwood SpUR and Horatio’s Garden in fundraising activities to make the experience of those using the unit for extended periods of time as positive as it can be. This includes pizza and quiz nights, volunteering in Horatio’s Garden with the weeding and watering and helping fund activities to give access to the community and buying equipment to support theories in the unit.

Further afield we have been supporting Headway Cardiff & South East Wales, Cerebral Palsy Cymru and Spinal Injuries Association helping those who have often returned to a community setting with overcoming the obstacles they experience, providing ongoing therapies and general help and signposting.

All in all it is a busy time for the unit supporting our clients and dealing with the varied and challenging Court decisions which impact our daily practice (see below). We have also enjoyed a very successful conference in Wales dedicated to highlighting the growing chasm between regulations in England and Wales following devolution (see our summary of the conference key talks).

We hope you enjoy.

Rob Thomas, Partner and Guest Editor of this Edition of Team Around the Client.

The recent RWK Goodman Legal Landscapes Case Manager Conference Cymru was held in Cardiff Castle. The pursuit of knowledge (and the associated “power” it bestows) was a thread that ran through the talks at the RWK Goodman Legal Landscapes 2026 Case Manager Conference Cymru covering education, healthcare, who should be appointed as a Court of Protection Deputy for Property & Affairs, and how to choose a case manager.

It takes you a while to find your feet when moving to a new place of work. Getting to know the new systems, learning the politics and meeting all the new faces in the various new offices. However, one of the most important skills to learn is to know if and when to say yes to a colleague who says “let’s walk up a mountain for charity”. It was in this mood of new boy naivety that I said yes to a challenge from Horatio’s Garden.