A Hertfordshire lawyer who helps people when they have been seriously injured due to negligence has taken on a top role with a national campaign organisation.
Nikki Ealey has been appointed as the junior lawyer representative for not-for-profit organisation APIL (the Association of Personal Injury Lawyers). APIL has members across the UK and campaigns to improve and protect the rights of people who suffer injuries, which can sometimes be life-changing, that are caused by the negligence of others.
“I’m thrilled to take up this position with APIL because the organisation’s campaigns align with my own views that injured people are among the most vulnerable people in society, and need the law and personal injury lawyers to be there for them when they are at their lowest,” she said.
Nikki, who works in the personal injury and medical negligence team at Nockolds Solicitors in Bishop’s Stortford, wanted to be a lawyer from the age of 14. She knew then that she wanted to make a difference in people’s lives. During her legal training, she only needed a week working in the personal injury and medical negligence team to know that this area of law was where she intended to work.
“I’m a supporter of APIL’s flagship campaign Rebuilding Shattered Lives which tells the real-life stories of injured people and the uphill struggle they face as they attempt to rebuild their lives.
“I have come face to face with the stigma that injured people unfairly have to deal with when they need to claim compensation. People who have had their lives turned upside down, sometimes due to life changing injuries that were not their fault, have the right to compensation, and to rebuild their lives as best they can,” she said.
“I’m committed to helping dispel untrue stereotypes of injured people. Rebuilding Shattered Lives is the unfettered stories of injured people in their own words. Compensation is not a windfall, it is a right. An injured person needs every last penny as they recover,” she added.
Nikki, who qualified as a solicitor in 2020, teaches swimming to children in her spare time. She is also a qualified lifesaving coach at Bishop’s Stortford Lifesaving Club. She also volunteers as a flood rescue technician and boat operator for Hertfordshire Boat Rescue.