A Clearer Future - written by Mark Thomason, Deputy Head Clinical Negligence Department, Apil Senior Litigator

I was at the end of 2022 honoured to be elected as the inaugural chair for the APIL Future Leaders Special Interest Group. This new and exciting venture is designed to cast an eye forwards to ask the question, ‘what will the personal injury landscape look like in 2032?’

This is of course a very open ended question but it does help to focus the mind and look towards the future. As can be seen with the personal injury market following the changes to the Road Traffic Accident rules it is important as a profession to attempt to keep a eye on the horizon. Many firms have faced difficulties following that change and as such it is within everyone’s benefit to assess where the next challenge will come from.

This does not just impact on lawyers and those who work with lawyers either. The challenges that we face will directly impact clients. Recent years have shown a number of court closures and a move towards online court processes. This will inevitably see a difficulty in access to justice. There will be individuals who cannot keep pace with the technological advances which could reduce the number of litigants in person. Closure of smaller county courts could see it too difficult for some client’s to physically attend court rooms. In turn this could also see a reduction in those willing to go through the small claims track.

Finally the most profound difficulty that the profession will face will come from the ever improving Artificial Intelligence projects. It is clear that AI is a tool that can be beneficial to all if used correctly.

In my role as the Chair for the APIL Future Leaders Group we are looking to explore these topics and throughout the year will hopefully begin to publish our findings for the benefit of all in personal injury. I have been incredibly grateful for the support of Clear Law who endorsed my application to run as the Chair for the organisation.

I would encourage all practitioners to look in to the work that APIL are doing and if you feel you wish to contribute, please do not hesitate to join us.