Law firm McHale & Co has strengthened its personal injury department with the appointment of Fergus Dalgarno as head of its motorbike claims team.
Fergus has more than 20 years’ experience as a motorbike claims specialist. He founded Dalgarno Solicitors and created Sorrymate. He has joined Altrincham-based McHale & Co as a senior solicitor.
The keen motorcyclist – Fergus has been riding for over 45 years and currently has a Kawasaki Versys 1000, a Honda CBR600RR for track days and a classic Suzuki GSX-R750 Slingshot sports bike – acts for clients across the UK and deals with claims ranging from a few hundred pounds to multimillion-pound settlements.
He is the latest key hire at McHale & Co’s growing personal injury department, which is headed by Nimish Patel. He joined last year from AWH Solicitors and was previously at Roberts Jackson Solicitors.
Over the past year, experienced PI lawyers Richard Bate, Paul Carroll and Faisal Haroon have joined the team, which has also been boosted by the recent arrival of personal injury litigator Joy Roberts from Clear Law Solicitors. She is a fellow of the Chartered Institute of Legal Executives (CILEX).
So far this year, the department has secured payouts of more than £10m for clients, involving clinical negligence and public liability cases, and workplace and road traffic accidents.
McHale & Co is part of the wider McHale Group, which includes BJ McKenna Solicitors, Parkers Solicitors and Waldron & Schofield Solicitors, with more than 130 staff across offices in Altrincham, Stockport, the Heatons, Heywood and London.
The appointment of Fergus takes the group’s number of PI specialists to more than 20.
Fergus said: “I am thrilled to join McHale & Co and start a really exciting adventure developing the motorbike accident claims team.
“We share the same ethos and aspirations to build a biker lawyer-based motorbike team who can give clients the service they want and deserve. There are lots of exciting things in the pipeline, and I can’t wait for the biking community to see them.”
Adam Horner, managing director of McHale & Co, said: “The appointment of Fergus adds huge expertise to our bike division. We act for lots of bike riders, and he is well-known in this field as one of the leading motorcycle claims solicitors in the country. He will bring tremendous value to the team.
“Joy has more than 20 years’ experience and is also an excellent addition to our ranks. She is a highly-capable litigator who has managed a varied caseload of clinical negligence cases, including complex surgery and birth injury claims, and is respected for providing a high standard of client care.”
Adam added: “We are looking to further expand our personal injury offering in the areas of clinical negligence, bike claims and criminal injuries compensation claims, with further senior hires forthcoming later in the year.”
Award-winning McHale & Co, founded in 2001 by chief executive Andrew McHale, provides services for individuals and businesses on a regional, national and international basis.
The firm’s specialisms for individuals alongside personal injury and medical negligence include wills, lasting powers of attorney, probate and estate planning, family, litigation and employment. The firm also acts for sportsmen and women and teams on matters such as contract negotiations, transfers and commercial opportunities.
Its range of services to businesses includes advising on commercial litigation, corporate, real estate, employment, intellectual property, debt recovery and insolvency matters.
McHale & Co recently had its accreditation by the Association of Personal Injury Lawyers renewed.
Its team includes Malcolm Horner, who has been an APIL Fellow for 25 years – there are fewer that 200 in the country as a whole – and he has focused on PI work for over 40 years, specialising in catastrophic injury and public liability claims.
During his career he has been successful at the Court of Appeal acting on behalf of clients in matters where English law has been in conflict with European law.
As a way of giving back to the cycling community, McHale & Co runs a charity project in 2020 which sees the firm collects unwanted bikes donated by local residents.
It has the bikes cleaned and refurbished by a mechanic, and then gives them to charities or individuals in need. The firm has supplied more than 400 bikes to good causes since launching its Cycle of Life Project in 2020. Beneficiaries include Mustard Tree, Coffee4Craig, Lifeshare, Wood Street Mission and Ronald McDonald House as well as Ukrainian refugees, and NHS staff who had cycles stolen.
McHale & Co also organises cycle maintenance workshops at schools and community centres as part of the initiative.
