News & Insights

The following article is a personal reflection on becoming an OT expert witness, by Barbara Franks OT expert and Somek Associate Trainer... Up until 2015 I had never heard of the term expert witness, and it was only when I began exploring the...

Please note that Somek and Associates offices will be closed on: 23rd December from 1pm; 28th-30th December from 3.30pm Normal office hours will resume from Tuesday 3rd January 2023...

Somek & Associates' Tanya Owen, highly experienced physiotherapist expert witness - who specialises in neurology, spinal cord injury, cauda equina syndrome, brain injury, cerebral palsy, and stroke - has an article published in the...

Somek and Associates' Alison Somek, MD, Jessica Thurston, Head of Medico-legal Operations, and Amy Taylor, Marketing Lead, are en-route to Manchester and looking forward to attending the 2022 Personal Injury Awards this evening! ...

Somek & Associates are delighted to welcome Joy Cooper, our new Client Relationship Lead, to the team. Joy has a wealth of experience working with clients and we very much look forward to working with her!! ...

       World Prematurity Day — Freddie’s Story, by Natalie Le Roux, Freddie’s Mum And Head of HR *trigger warning* The following discusses premature birth. To celebrate World Prematurity Day on Thursday 17th...

Somek & Associates had great fun yesterday, Monday 31st October, raising funds for The National Autistic Society - Somek's nominated charity for the year - with our Halloween-themed fundraiser. Staff dressed up in Halloween costumes and brought...

How we are raising funds for the Poppy Appeal? How did you support The Royal British Legion’s Poppy Appeal last year?  Did you buy a poppy? This year Somek & Associates are supporting The Poppy Appeal by adding a ‘poppy’ to our...

Somek and Associates are looking to recruit experienced nurses - who are working at a senior level with a minimum of 10 years clinical experience - including paediatric nurses, prison nurses, mental health nurses with community/inpatient...

Somek and Associates are looking to recruit experienced Occupational Therapists and Case Managers in all clinical areas - including orthopaedics, trauma, general medicine and surgery, neurology, brain injury, spinal injury, cauda equina syndrome, amputee,...

Today four of our experienced Midwifery expert witnesses will be presenting their perspectives on medico-legal issues raised and the pregnancy journey to over 50 solicitors and barristers. This is a completely free virtual event.  To learn more about...

Somek and Associates' Julia Parvia, midwifery expert and associate trainer, is delighted to be presenting to lawyers today at  Irwin Mitchell 's ’Maternity Matters' webinar. Julia will be presenting on ‘Midwifery Matters: A Focus...

Somek & Associates' Jessica Thurston, Head of Medico-legal Operations and Occupational Therapist/Care Expert, will be hosting a virtual quantum open evening on Thursday 3rd November 2022 between 7pm and 8pm. So, if you’re an...

Somek & Associates is absolutely thrilled to be recognised and shortlisted as a Finalist in this year’s PI Awards – this our 25th anniversary year as a business! Fingers crossed and good luck to all entrants!  ...

Somek & Associates' Alison Somek, MD, Jessica Thurston, Chief Operating Officer, and Amy Taylor, Marketing Lead, were delighted to attend the 2-day APIL clinical negligence annual conference at Celtic Manor on the 21st and 22nd of...

As a mark of respect and to honour our wonderful Queen Elizabeth II, Somek & Associates offices will be closed on Monday 19th September for the state funeral. We encourage our staff to take this time to celebrate her life, personally and...

Message from Alison Somek, MD After 25 years of building and developing Somek and Associates into the significant expert witness company it is today, we are proud to announce that we have moved to the next stage in our journey. Chris and I are delighted...

Somek & Associates are featured on page 17 of the latest issue of Neuro Rehab Times (Issue 22), please click here. We are currently recruiting experienced occupational therapists and case managers specialising in all clinical areas, especially those...

This week Somek & Associates feature in Neuro Rehab Times , where Barbara Franks (pictured), our wonderful Occupational Therapist expert witness, talks about 'The role of an occupational therapist as an expert witness'....

  Somek & Associates' Alison Somek, CEO, and Giles Eyre, are presenting a webinar 'Experts Discussions & Joint Statements - From Law to Practice' this evening between 6pm and 8pm for our corporate partner the Expert Witness...

A massive thank you to all our fantastic speakers, exhibitors and expert witnesses for attending Somek and Associates' annual conference  #SomekAC2022  on Friday, 17th June - sponsored by  Think Therapy 1st  - and...

Somek and Associates are delighted to have raised over £180 so far for  The National Autistic Society , our nominated charity for the next 12 months. We held a jubilee themed fundraiser event yesterday, 15th June 2022 - staff dressed...

Somek and Associates are excited to announce that our annual conference ‘ A Chance to Come Together & Celebrate Our 25th Anniversary’   #SomekAC2022  is taking place this Friday, 17th June 2022, sponsored by  Think Therapy 1...

Somek and Associates' Barbara Franks, Occupational Therapist expert witness and Associate Trainer, has written an article 'The Role Of An Occupational Therapist As An Expert Witness' which is accompanied by an OT recruitment ad on page 15...

"Would you please pass on my thanks to everyone at Somek. I have really enjoyed my work with you all and, having talked to other colleagues, I’m so glad that I worked for you and not one of the ‘other’ companies! The level of support,...

Somek and Associates are delighted to feature on page 111 of the Brain & Spinal Injury Handbook 2022/2023 edition: 'Somek and Associates' Brain and Spinal Injury Reports'.  To view the publication, please click here. ...

We hope everyone attending The Expert Witness Institute's online annual conference today, including many of our Somek & Associates' expert witnesses, enjoy the day and the fantastic line up of speakers - including Lord Hamblen's...

Somek & Associates' Alison Somek, CEO, and Jessica Thurston, Chief Operating Officer, are delighted to be at APIL's 2022 Advanced Brain and Spinal Cord Injury Conference at The Celtic Manor. They are ready to meet our clients and network!...

As an EWI Corporate Partner, Somek & Associates are really looking forward to The Expert Witness Institute's 2022 Online Annual Conference - The Modern Expert: Relevant, Current, and Evolving - on Friday 20th May! To view the...

  Jessica Thurston, Somek & Associates' Chief Operating Officer and OT expert, really enjoyed the recent Pace Rehabilitation Life and Limb Conference, from both a clinical and an expert witness perspective: "The Pace conferences...

Somek & Associates are looking to recruit Speech & Language Therapists specialising in  paediatrics  and head/neck  oncolgy  who are working at a senior level with a minimum of 8 years clinical experience to join our team...

Somek and Associates are are looking for experienced nurses working clinically at a senior level, who specialise in using NHS 111 pathways and supporting NHS 111 call advisors/call handlers, to join our team of expert witnesses.  If...

Somek and Associates are looking for an experienced Speech and Language Therapist, specialising in head and neck oncology and voice, to join our team of expert witnesses.  If you are looking for a new challenge and would like to know more we would love...

Somek & Associates' OT expert witnesses, Sharon Beattie and Nicola Lawson, have had a fantastic day at the 2021 OT Show today (24th November) - it has been so lovely to meet up with some of our Somek experts!  Sharon and Nicola also...

Somek & Associates hope all physiotherapists attending today's MLACP virtual AGM and Winter conference have a fantastic time! Suzanne Oxley, Somek's physio expert witness, is presenting on “The physiotherapy management of...

The Nov/Dec issue of The OT Magazine is out now… turn to page 31 to read Somek & Associates' article ‘Expert Witness OTs’, which celebrates OT & Care Expert Witnesses to mark OT Week 2021.   ...

A Reflection on Life as an Expert Witness during the COVID-19 Pandemic Congratulations to Somek & Associates' Jessica Thurston, Chief Operating Officer and OT & Care Expert Witness, for her excellent article 'A reflection of life as...

A Reflection on Life as an Expert Witness during the COVID-19 Pandemic Congratulations to Somek & Associates' Jessica Thurston, Chief Operating Officer and OT & Care Expert Witness, for her excellent article 'A reflection of life as...

This OT week 2021, Somek & Associates celebrate Occupational Therapists everywhere, including our amazing OT Expert Witnesses. To mark OT week and celebrate the important work of OT Expert Witnesses, we have an article...

Somek and Associates are having fun fundraising today for Macmillan cancer support with a coffee morning, quiz and by wearing something green! To donate to this very important cause and raise vital funds, please click here .    ...

Somek & Associates' Amanda Agbebi, Quality Assurance & Training Lead (Liability), and Rachel Coleman, Midwifery expert, are looking forward to speaking at today's APIL's Legal Training for Expert Witnesses webinar on 'A...

  Somek & Associates is thrilled to announce that we have have been shortlisted as a finalist for 'Medicolegal Provider of the Year' at the 2021 Personal Injury Awards - we can't wait to attend the awards ceremony in person...

On Thursday 7th October at 7pm-8pm,  Somek & Associates ' Jessica Thurston, Chief Operating Officer and OT / Care Expert witness, will be hosting our next virtual open evening presentation for  Occupationa ltherapists , ...

Somek and Associates' Amanda Agbebi, Associate Trainer and nursing expert, and Barbara Franks, Associate Trainer and Occupational Therapist / Care Expert, are looking forward to presenting virtually on '"Handy" legal tips'...

Somek and Associates' Alison Somek, CEO, and Yvonne Lane, Client Relationship Consultant, were delighted to attend the APIL 2-day clinical negligence annual conference at Celtic Manor on the 22nd and 23rd of September. It was exciting to finally be...

Somek and Associates' Lyn Crocker-Eakins, midwifery expert witness, was excited to attend the 2021 National Maternity Safety Conference. Here is her account of the day... I was proud to attend the National Maternity Safety Conference...

Our first virtual conference, titled 'Celebrating our Resilience' on Friday 18 th June 2021, with parallel sessions was an absolute success! Behind the scenes the speakers joined, poised ready for their session to start while Alison and Jess...

Somek & Associates  are holding their virtual annual conference today titled 'Celebrating our Resilience' - we look forward to seeing many of our expert witnesses for what promises to be a great day with a fantastic line up of...

Make sure you read Stephen Wilson's, Somek & Associates' physiotherapist expert witness, excellent 3-page article titled 'Cauda Equina Syndrome - The Personal Impacts' on page 74 of the June 2021 issue of Expert Witness. ...

Following the success of our Pancake Day Challenge and Easter Craft Event Fundraiser, Somek & Associates hosted a Euro themed bake off on Friday 11th June to mark the start of the Euro 2021 Football Tournament. You can see some of...

What our experts say about us… “I want to say a big thank you to you all at Somek for your unstinting support whenever needed, either personally or professionally. You're all stars! I would wholeheartedly recommend working with you to...

Make sure you read Caz Lyall's, Somek & Associates' Occupational Therapist & Care Expert, excellent article 'Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) and the Hidden Losses in Families' on page 73 of the 2021-2022 edition of the Brain and...

Somek & Associates are looking for experienced amputee occupational therapists and amputee physiotherapists to join our team of expert witnesses who are working clinically at a senior level. If you are looking for a new...

To mark the start of the Euro 2021 Football Tournament, Somek staff and associates are taking part in a Euro themed bake off on Friday 11th June! We're looking forward to getting creative with baking cakes / fairy cakes in the Euro team...

Somek & Associates are holding an open evening on Monday 28th June 2021, between 6pm and 7pm, for #nurses, #midwives, and #mentalhealthnurses interested in learning more about becoming an #expertwitness. To book a place...

As an EWI corporate partner, Somek and Associates are eagerly awaiting the EWI's Online Annual Conference 2021 - Lawyers and Experts: Facing the Future Together. The conference takes place on 28th May 2021, 9am-4.45pm. They have an excellent...

  Somek and Associates are currently looking for experienced orthotists and prosthetists to join our team of expert witnesses, as advertised on the BAPO website. For more details, please click here. ...

Following the success of our Pancake Day Challenge, Somek & Associates took part in a fun Easter Fundraising Craft Event on Wednesday 31st March 2021. We raised over £100 for our nominated charity Scope and had some fantastic entries from office...

Somek’s chosen charity for the next 12 months, 2020/2021 is Scope, the disability equality charity in England and Wales. They provide practical information and emotional support when it’s most needed, and campaign relentlessly to create a fairer...

Congratulations to Jessica Thurston, Somek & Associates' Chief Operating Officer and Care and OT expert, for her excellent article titled 'Do virtual assessments have a role as an alternative to face-to-face assessments in quantum...

Congratulations to Somek & Associates' Fiona Powell, OT expert witness and Associate Trainer, for her excellent article 'The Challenge of Complex Regional Pain Syndrome', which has just been published in the Expert Witness Journal...

Somek & Associates are delighted to announce that we have been named as a finalist for ‘Medicolegal Provider of the Year’ for the Personal Injury Awards 2020!!! This is a massive credit to the whole team at Somek for all their hard work...

24/09/2021 Somek and Associates are currently operating as follows: Our offices are now open and fully staffed every day. The majority of our experts have now received two Covid-19 vaccinations. Our quantum experts are now undertaking Face to Face...

Somek & Associates is recruiting in the following areas and would love to hear from you… As part of our recruitment drive we currently have vacancies in the following specific areas: Orthopaedic Occupational Therapists with Hand Therapy...

Sadia Hussain, Somek’s Speech and Language Therapy Expert and Associate Trainer, has just had the following article published in the Summer 2020 issue of Expert Witness Journal,  titled: ‘Online Speech and Language Therapy Assessments...

At Somek and Associates we pride ourselves on the excellence of our experts and our reports. Since our establishment in 1997, the company has developed a large solid base of experienced (advanced) experts – over 65 in total – who have undertaken...

For over 25 years, Somek and Associates have been providing Dependency and Loss of Service reports in Fatal Accident claims. We currently have approximately 30 care experts (occupational therapists and nurses) who have been trained by specialist...

On 18th May 2020, the Prime Minister announced revised lockdown restrictions which permitted those people who need to enter someone’s home to do their job, to do so. He made it clear however that the homes of those people who are shielding or...

Jessica Thurston, Chief Operating Officer at Somek and Associates, has recently had an article titled ‘Do virtual assessments via online platforms have a role as an alternative to face to face assessments in quantum cases?’ published in Lawyer...

Covid-19 and Service Delivery Somek and Associates remains very much open for business, with some staff working on-site and some off-site at home using a secure remote connection. There will always be an on-site senior manager presence who will also hold...

Somek staff have been busy baking and today we brought in our baked treats. We've been enjoying everything from delicious cup cakes, chocolate cake and cheesecake to brownies, blueberry muffins and banana cake to raise funds for our nominated...

I attended this one-day training course run by trainers Sue Inker, lawyer, and Max Duddles, solicitor, on the 8th of November 2019. The course was designed for health and social care professionals experienced in undertaking NHS continuing healthcare...

On the 8th of December 2019, I attended Irwin Mitchell’s “Mock Southwest Trial” in Bristol. This featured a mock judge, claimant and defendant barristers, and a case manager. We were treated to a mock cross examination of the case manager...

                                                      EWI is delighted to announce that Somek & Associates have been...

The Benefits of Instructing Speech and Language Therapy (SLT) Experts in these cases - By Speech and Language Therapist BSc (Hons) and expert witness Sadia Hussain Speech and Language Therapy (SLT) experts can provide quantum, liability and advisory...

Save the Date! Somek and Associates' Alison Somek, CEO & Occupational Therapist and Care Expert, will be presenting at Peartree Rehab's 'A specialist approach to community neurological rehab' event on Wednesday the 26th of February...

There are times when our experts suddenly or unexpectedly have immediate availability to take on a new case at very short notice. For example, an expert may have a case settle the day before trial or a case may be withdrawn or delayed at the eleventh hour,...

Somek and Associates have nominated Bliss, dedicated to helping babies born prematurely and/or sick and their families in the UK, as their nominated charity for the next 12 months. One of the main reasons for choosing this important charity is that...

1) How did you get into this field of work? Until I started working as an expert witness, my sum total of legal experience was half a law A-level back in the 1990’s. During my nurse training, I was always very interested in the legal and fitness to...

Article by Sadia Hussain, BSc (Hons) Speech and Language Therapy, published in the October edition of Expert Witness Journal Claimants diagnosed with brain injuries, without physical disability and who retain subtle cognitive communication difficulties...

Nicola Heaps, one of our nursing experts, appeared in court in July this year. The case related to injuries suffered by a 65 year old woman who fell out of bed while an in-patient on a hospital ward. In a nutshell the issues were to do with whether or not...

Article by Alison Somek, which featured in the Summer 2019 Edition Of Expert Witness Journal Background Somek & Associates is experienced in providing Expert Witnesses for clinical negligence and personal injury litigation, but also in other areas...

Somek & Associates is recruiting experienced nurses in the following clinical specialisms and would love to hear from… A&E Nurses Mental Health Nurses Tissue Viability Nurses Practice Nurses - Sexual Health Health Visitors ...

Massive congratulations to Jill Whibley, Somek and Associates’ expert witness and registered nurse, who recently won Employee of the Year at Kent Community Health NHS Trust. What an amazing achievement! Jill has also been shortlisted for the NHS...

1. How did you get into this field of work? Having worked in the NHS in various settings, for over ten years, I was finding myself more and more involved in investigating complaints as part of my role. Whilst this was not what I trained for, I found I...

Congratulations to Somek and Associates’ physiotherapist expert witness and associate trainer, Sara Dickinson, who has had the following article published in Your Expert Witness magazine (issue no. 49): Many experienced physiotherapists undertake...

How did you get into expert witness work and what attracted you to the role?  I can’t actually remember how I got involved in Expert Witness work as it was quite a long time ago now, but I must say that I’m so glad I did! It has enabled me...

Somek and Associates is one of the biggest providers of expert witnesses in the UK and we pride ourselves on maintaining a very balanced claimant / defendant portfolio. We are renowned for listening to and responding to our clients’ ever evolving needs...

Somek & Associates prides itself on the integrity of the service it provides. Here is just a tiny fraction of the fantastic feedback we’ve received from grateful Clients over the years: “Please thank the team for being so helpful and...

The Inns of Court College of Advocacy has written guidance for barristers to promote reliability in Expert Evidence.   https://www.icca.ac.uk/images/download/expert-evidence/Expert-Guidance-final-copy-with-cover-2019.pdf It is interesting to see...

Somek & Associates is recruiting in the following areas and would love to hear from you… As part of our recruitment drive we currently have vacancies in the following specific areas: Paediatric Occupational Therapists Spinal Injury...

We have just hired our first Prosthetist!! We are thrilled to announce that we now have a Prosthetist preparing quantum reports. Dr John Head qualified as a Prosthetist in 1988, and has experience in prosthetics rehabilitation, education and research. To...

We can now confirm an exciting addition to the exhibition and conference programme for the Somek & Associates Annual Conference 2018. Dorset Orthopaedics   will be presenting a parallel session on the latest in orthotics and...

Another great speaker added to the Somek & Associates Annual Conference programme for 2018. We are pleased to confirm a presentation by Specialist Physiotherapist, Louis Martinelli from Hobbs Rehabilitation , who will be presenting to our associates...

Congratulations to Dr Caz Lyall (Care & Occupational Therapy expert) for her contribution to the 1st Edition of Brain Injury Claims. The text examines the legal and clinical aspects of brain injury litigation. The 1st Edition is...

An article published in the most recent edition of the Expert Witness Journal by Alison Somek and Nick Deal (Expert Witness Trainer, Bond Solon), looks at the recent study carried out by the Civil Justice Council and the recent experience of a Somek &...

We are very pleased to announce we have been named as Occupational Therapy Expert Firm of the Year for 2017 by Lawyer Monthly magazine. With over 80 occupational therapists completing care and occupational therapy reports for clinical negligence and...

Important News – Change to Expert Witness’ Declaration with immediate effect With immediate effect, changes have been made to the wording of the declaration on expert witness reports used in criminal cases. The change has been made to...

The Somek & Associates Annual Conference is taking place on the 8 th May at Latimer Place in Chesham, Bucks. As we celebrate our 20 th year, this conference is set to be our best yet. We have listened to the feedback of our associates, and have now...

The new process that all nurses and midwives in the UK will need to follow to maintain their registration with the NMC. revalidation.nmc.org.uk ...