February: Spotlight On An Expert - Nikki White

Nikki White joined Somek & Associates as an expert witness in 2017 and has written over 120 reports since then! Nikki recently shared her career journey with us...

My career in OT actually started in Physiotherapy! I’d completed my A-levels and was working as a physiotherapy assistant in my local general hospital. The plan was to do this for a year before starting my Physiotherapy degree the following September. One day, the OT department was short staffed, and I was sent to help. It was an art group for young women with mental health disorders.

I absolutely fell in love with the profession and over the following months took every opportunity to volunteer myself in the OT department. I helped out with mental health groups, hand therapy, amputee treatment sessions; I was amazed at the variety of work an OT could be part of.

Then I was asked to help out in the children’s department. The first time I set foot in a sensory integration gym I knew I was home. This was where I was supposed to be! In September 2002 I began my OT training at Coventry University and in my final year I secured a three-month placement in community paediatrics in Greenwich. I graduated the placement and the degree with first class honours and went on to start my career as an OT working with children.

I started my qualified life like most therapists, securing a job in the NHS. However, the beauty of working with children and being an OT is the opportunities available. I moved from the NHS to private practice to a school and back to the NHS. Even during my holidays, I worked with children, volunteering in the UK and abroad on various projects and camps! When I wasn’t working with children, I was learning about techniques which would enhance my practice. I quickly completed my sensory integration training as well as several other courses on neurodevelopment.

In fact, it was through training that I first heard about Somek and Associates. I attended a course they ran on hand splinting and the trainer, Lydia Dean, encouraged me to think about becoming an expert witness once I had a few more years’ experience.

In 2011, my husband and I decided to relocate from London to Cornwall to experience life by the sea. There were no positions available in the paediatric team and so for the first time since qualifying I stepped away from paediatrics and into the world of wheelchairs! However, I didn’t stay away for long. I soon became the paediatric lead for the service, specialising in running the wheelchair clinics for the specialist schools in the county.

It was great to be working with children again, but prescribing wheelchairs wasn’t the same as working with a child on developing independent skills. So, after having two children of my own, I decided to embark on self-employed independent work, taking on some private cases at weekends.

I had remained good friends with Lydia, and it was in 2015 when I finally got the courage to pursue expert witness work. My interview with Sharon and Jess felt like it went well, and I was delighted to be offered an associate position. I threw myself into the training and after a couple of months I had my first case. It was the steepest learning curve of my career! Yes, I was used to completing an initial assessment, however the amount of detail which was required was on a whole other level. The first report felt like I was writing my dissertation again! I suddenly wondered if I had bitten off more than I could chew. However, the Somek team are amazing, and I had lots of experts reassure me that the first case is the hardest. How true that was. By 2017, I had so much independent work that I left my position in the NHS, to concentrate on being an independent OT and expert witness.

Fast forward to 2025 and I couldn’t imagine being any where else! My day job is clinical director of a not-for-profit occupational therapy clinic I set up in 2021. I spend most days assessing and treating children with disabilities, whilst also managing staff and the day to day running of the business. Once or twice per month, I travel outside of Cornwall to complete my work as an expert witness. I love both my jobs, and I find that one really does compliment the other. There are times when it involves a bit of juggling though!

Expert witness work has given me a confidence in my clinical skills, which quite simply, I don’t think I would have achieved anywhere else. Standing in the witness box at The Royal Courts of Justice has been one of the highlights of my career, and although I wouldn’t rush back, the confidence it gave me was unlike any other experience. Expert witness work also gives me a huge sense of pride for my profession. My role, within many quantum cases, impacts on so many different heads of claim, it really highlights how important OTs are for people with disabilities and long-term conditions.

We are actively recruiting paediatric occupational therapists to provide occupational therapy only reports. To find out more information about the benefits of expert witness work with Somek & Associates, and how to apply, click here.