Mulderrigs Blog

A brief snippet to warm the cockles of the coldest heart.

The guys at work organised a night out in Manchester last Friday…..yet another party to mark my 50th.

Mrs M wasn’t up for the gig but very kindly agreed to drop me off in town.

So there we were at around 6.45 on the corner of Deansgate. I jumped out of the driver’s seat and Mrs M was walking round the back of the car. As she was doing that she thought she felt something move in her pocket but when she checked there was nothing there and she thought no more of it. Then, just as she was about to drive off a young lad appeared at the driver’s window holding up her purse which she’d dropped as she walked round the car.

£100.00 in cash, 4 different credit cards and all the other assorted cr*p that a girl keeps in her purse…..It would have been a friggin’ nightmare if he hadn’t  been such a good samaritan.

He was only a young lad, and clearly out on the town with his pal for a few scoops. He could have had the entire night at our expense but you could just see that the thought never even entered his head. Bloody hell, I almost had to fight with him to get him to take a tenner for a beer!

The tabloid papers want you to believe our city centres are no-go areas on weekend evenings – 100% populated by fighting, binge-drinking youths.

Well, I’m here to tell you that’s not the full story.

I didn’t get the lad’s name, and probably wouldn’t even recognise him if I bumped into him in the street….. but, all the same, what a top bloke.

I’ll try to explain how chuffed I am to be announcing that Mulderrigs will return as the shirt sponsor for Bacup Cricket Club in 2011.

I was born about 250 yards from Lanehead and, despite never having had the slightest aptitude for the game, and never really being a regular at matches the club has felt like home throughout my 50 years.

I grew up on Gordon St, Bacup, the same street that was also home to our greatest ever professional, Everton Weekes, the man against whom all incoming professionals are still measured these 50+ years later. 

I tried out in the nets as a kid, but that little red ball hurts like hell if you’re not very good and, by the age of 14 a great future in cricket was behind me.

Of course Everton was long gone by the time I started taking an interest.  Mine were the teams of Roger Law, Phil Lord and  Gerard Cahill.

And the highlight of the local cricketing calendar in those ’70′s days was The Free Press Cup – An early version of the T20 finals day, featuring all 4 valley sides in a shoot out for the trophy on one day. Even now one of my all-time favourite sporting memories is the sight of Rammy pro, Wasim Raja catching a skied shot on the clubhouse boundary.

Then in the early ’80′s my soon-to-be mother-in-law was battling her way through a messy divorce and took in the new pro as a lodger; Ray Wynter arrived from sunny Jamaica in April 1981 to find 10 feet of snow in Weir – Welcome to Bacup mate.  He could bowl it pretty damn quick could Wynter, but  he didn’t have the first clue where it was going.  And what a strange bloke he was; far more interested in his landlady and her daughters than playing cricket.

Wind the clock forward another 20 years and my childhood pal Wilkie was leading the club to 3 consecutive Lancs League titles and  I had started to reappear on the club radar as occasional sponsor at various sportsman’s events.  Bloody hell, I’ve rolled out of there at all hours of the night and in a state that the Law Society would definitely not approve of. Chris Cairns’ T20 event against a Kiwi XI was a particularly great summer’s evening, with lots of international stars on duty…..but I can’t remember any of it!

Strangely, one of my favourite memories of the club was voting in the general election in 1997.  I had a trial in Liverpool that day, so I was at the clubhouse polling station when it opened at 7.00AM. I  had the place entirely to myself and took five minutes to stroll around the ground under a beautiful blue sky….won my trial too!

I even had to go to the club for two of the saddest occasions in my life –  funerals for my old man, Franny and my best pal’s dad, Clifford. But where do you  want to be on a sad occasion like that ….. no place like home.

Whatever the occasion, and whatever the company the place has always offered a welcome like no other place I know.

So we’re back to sponsor the club for 2011…. And looking back on last year’s showing I think we can borrow Tony Blair’s theme tune from that 1997 election…. Things Can Only Get Better!

Seems amazing, but this evening it’ll be 17 yrs since my last trip to the Superbowl…. Superbowl XXVIII at the Georgia Dome, Atlanta.

Back in the mid-eighties Channel 4 started to cover American Football with a show in the early evening on Sundays and live coverage of the Superbowl in the early hours of the morning towards the end of every January.

It all looked interesting and it was just around the time that I’d started to visit the States regularly but, for some reason  I just couldn’t get my head round the rules.

But then fate stepped in and I did a bizarre deal with my pal Liam. He would explain the rules if I would help him with a law paper that we had to submit….I’d done mine but he hadn’t done his.

So that Sunday evening we sat in front of the TV and he explained the rules…… I probably wish he hadn’t really….it cost me a bloody fortune in the end!

I took the Mrs to Florida the following year and we pitched up at Joe Robbie Stadium to see the Dolphins play the Jets in a high scoring  regular season game in the baking sunshine.

And in January 2000 I made the first of 5 consecutive trips to the Superbowl with my old man, Franny who’s in our pics here.

First up a 55-10 blow out by Joe Montana’s 49ers against John Elway’s Denver in New Orleans. It was a nice town back then…as long as you didn’t venture more than 3 feet of Bourbon St!

Then 4 straight losing appearances by Buffalo against the Giants, the Redskins and the Cowboys.

Unforegetable trips to Tampa, Minneapolis, Atlanta and, best of all, Passadena.

Random meetings with partying fans and superstars in hotel lobbies in each Superbowl city including, on one amazing occasion, the Champ Muhamed Ali.

And in Tampa in 1991 we turned up at the stadium without tickets and got tickets given to us after a completely fluke meeting with Gary Imlach as he was going into the stadium. which is why Franny looks like the cat that got the cream in the picture at the end of here.

Maybe they were tickets for two Channel 4 WAGS who’d decided to stay by the pool instead….I’ll never know, but I’ll always be grateful to Gary.

Great stadiums,  great people and great occassions. In all that time I don’t think I saw an argument between opposing supporters, let alone a fight or an arrest. They have a great attitude to their sport in America….. a bit like the Aussies at the cricket….

Then somewhere along the way 5 kids appeared at the Mulderrigs household, and Franny’s no longer with us.

But tonight I reckon I’ll get myself in front of the TV with a six-pack and reminisce about those adventures while watching Superbowl XLV.

Oh, and the law test….with his reworked version of my answer Liam got a better mark than me and he’s now a hotshot lawyer with a national law firm

01.02.2011 - Doncaster 1 Burnley 0

A cold night in Doncaster last night.

With the pitch marked out for rugby league, and the home side decked out in a kit more akin to the oval ball (red and white hoops anyone?) it would have been optimistic to have hoped for a display of samba football….So I didn’t hope for it, and it didn’t happen.

Burnley gave a debut to new striker  Charlie Austin, but he didn’t really shine…. We might have been better off signing Ethel Austin (am I allowed to say that in the post Gray/Keys era?).

Two dull sides didn’t really look like troubling the opposing goalkeepers, so Burnley’s centrehalf Duff came up with the bright idea of aiming at his own goal instead – He sent a header whistling narrowly wide in the first half, and improved his aim with another header in the second period.

Under no apparent threat he took the Clarets’ keeper completely unawares with a header that flew in to the top right corner to settle the outcome.

So, 1-0 Doncaster  – A first taste of defeat and much to do for Claret’s new gaffer Eddie Howe.

And how’s this for  a coincidence…. Best own goal I’ve ever seen was scored by Sean St Ledger of PNE at Burnley….Last night’s game was decided by an own goal in Doncaster where the most famous horse race is….Yep, the St Ledger…..weird. 

Let me know what’s the best owngoal you’ve ever seen?

Up The Clarets!

Your correspondent...Paul Mulderrig at Donny 01.02.2011

It’s the morning after the night before…And there’s no doubt that the football world went mad in the last few hours of the transfer window – Torres to Chelsea for £50M, Carrol to Liverpool for £35M.

But here at Mulderrigs it’s the other end of the football spectrum that’s on our mind today.

Over the years we have acted for dozens and dozens of players who’ve suffered very serious injuries as a result of reckless and stupid challenges by opponents.

These clients break down in to two categories:

On one side there’s the players who got an average of £30,000.00 each for their injuries.

On the other side there’s the lads that got nowt….zip, nada, nothing

And the only difference between them?  Some of the players had the misfortune to be injured by a player who wasn’t covered by insurance.

We can’t alter the fact that these injuries happen….They always have, and they always will. From time to time the red mist descends and a young lad does something stupid.

But we do have a problem…a big one…with the FA.

They have known for years that they could take action that would protect the rights of injured players in these dreadful cases, but they have done nothing.

We have just written an open letter to the FA of Wales on behalf of one of our clients, Simon Saddler (his real name) calling on them to explain their position. Simon Saddler – Open Letter to FA of Wales 

Although Simon’s case comes under the FA of Wales, the same scandalous insurance position exists in most counties in England, and we currently represent around 10 lads who are in exactly the same difficult position.

It’s now five years since we called on the FA to introduce a compulsory nationwide scheme of insurance so that the victims of reckess player-on-player challenges can recover compensation for their injuries.

The FA have had calls for action from many injured players, their local MPs and even the previous Sports Minister……And still they’ve done nothing!!

It really is time for the FA to step up to the plate and introduce a scheme of insurance to protect injured players at the grassrooots of the game.

You can express your support for our campaign at this address http://mulderrigs.co.uk/html/Campaignforfootballinsurance_56.html

Alberto Contador is stripped of his 2010 Tour de France win and handed a 12 month ban by the Spanish Cycling Federation.

The 2010 Tour winner tested positive for the banned substance clenbuterol during the 2010 Tour de France. His explanation? He ate imported beef that had been contaminated by the drug. Well, like….yeah…whatever!

Millions of  potential followers are now permanently turned off cycling by this never-ending trail of drug scandals affecting the top riders, and yet Contador’s only punishment is a 12 month ban.

When are the authorities ever going to learn?

The road back to public respect for cycling will be long and hard….And that journey won’t even start until the authorities adopt a hard-nosed zero tolerance approach to drug offenders.

One of Mulderrig's snaps from the fab Rammy Rake event 2010

Contador has 10 working days to appeal against the decision.

What happens to an injured worker if the employer doesn’t have Employers’ Liability Insurance?

This is a potentially serious problem – If there is no insurance in place it may be impossible for an injured worker to get any compensation at all.

Under the Employers’ Liability (Compulsory Insurance) Act 1969 employers have a duty to display their insurance details in a place where you can see them. Most employers display the details in the canteen, or another place where they are easy to see.

Employers who don’t have valid insurance can be fined upto £2,500.00 for every day without insurance. They can also be fined upto £1,000.00 for failing to display details of their insurance. But that won’t get an injured worker any compensation if a stupid employer hasn’t arranged insurance, and we know this has happened to a number of people in recent months. Right here in Rossendale a couple of our clients were left high & dry in relation to accidents at work when the company they had worked for – a fireplace company called Petra Hellas – went out of business without having had any Employers’ Liability Insurance in place.

So, don’t wait until it’s too late – Check now to make sure your employers have a valid and up to date insurance certificate on display. Or it could be you that ends up with your head in your hands.

“People are free to choose their own solicitor when making a claim for compensation after an accident, and they certainly don’t have to put up with a so-called “panel” solicitor appointed by their own insurers.”

So said specialist personal injury solicitor Paul Mulderrig of Mulderrigs Ltd, who are campaigning to raise the public’s awareness of their freedom to choose their own lawyer.

“After an accident lots of people find that their car insurers or house insurers try to insist on sending them to a so-called “panel” solicitor. These firms often deal with cases entirely by post, without ever seeing their clients face to face and in my view, clients deserve better.

“In one recent case we took over from “panel” solicitors who had strongly advised our client to settle their case on “50-50” terms, but after we had sent just one extra letter the other side accepted 99% responsibility for the accident!

“In another, tragic, case we took over from “panel” solicitors in the case of a young motorcyclist who had been paralysed by his injuries, but they had written to him wishing him a “speedy recovery”.

“Sadly, we have been involved in many other similar cases.

“In 99% of cases it is against both the English and the European law for insurers to try to restrict a person’s choice of solicitor. People are free to use their insurance cover to instruct whichever lawyer they choose and I would urge them to take control of their cases and choose their own solicitor.

“After a serious accident people deserve to receive the specialist advice of an expert who will travel to meet them at home and show a genuine interest in their case. In any case involving a serious injury I urge people to find a genuine specialist lawyer.

“The Law Society’s website www.lawsociety.org contains a helpful search tool, you should make sure that the solicitor dealing with your case is a member of the Law Society’s Personal Injury Panel, and you should also check that the law firm hold the Law Society’s LEXCEL quality mark.

If you’ve had a bad experience at the hands of a “panel” solicitor who was appointed by your insurance company please let us hear about it.

An open letter to Rt Hon Lord Young
House of Lords
Westminster
5th October 2010

Dear Lord Young
I have seen the news coverage of your proposals for regulation of the so-called “compensation culture”.

I have been qualified as a solicitor for twenty-three years, and have run my own practice since 1989. Throughout that time I have specialised in personal injury claims on behalf of injured claimants, and I was first appointed to the Law Society’s PI Panel in 1992.

Coincidentally, my career has run almost perfectly in parallel with the relaxation in the rules regarding advertising by solicitors. During that time I have witnessed a number of high profile marketing disasters of the type which have no doubt influenced your views:-

1.
Claims Direct used a massive budget to advertise widely on TV for a shoddy service which resulted in many thousands of accident victims being massively overcharged.

2.
The Accident Group hired teams of untrained people to loiter in town squares and supermarket car parks to accost members of the public. Unsurprisingly, the company took on many thousands of claims which had no realistic prospect of success. When the balloon went up with that company the owner fled the UK and their staff were fired by text message.

3.
More recently the MOJ and the Claims Standard Council have started to certify claims management companies. These organisations generally have no legal qualifications of any kind and serve only to insert a commercial middle-man between the public and the expert lawyer they need to consult. Their only contribution to the process is to drive up the cost of litigation because many lawyers (not including my company) have fallen into the trap of paying huge “referral fees”.

I agree with you that steps ought to be taken to improve things for the public good. However, despite these problems, the so-called “compensation culture” is no more than a media-led myth.

The law which governs injury compensation claims has been well settled for many years. Injured claimants must prove their claims to a very exacting standard against insurers who are powerful and effective opponents.

Insofar as there is a culture which encourages safety in the workplace or in organised public events, the principal consequence is that there are now thousands of workers who are still alive who might otherwise have suffered fatal accidents, and thousands of others who still have the requisite number of working arms, legs, fingers and toes.

There is no culture, caused either by lawyers or by the HSE which prevents or discourages fun-days, cheese rolling events or school sports days. Purely by way of an example, my ten year old son has Down’s syndrome, but took a skiing trip to Switzerland this year. It’s much closer to the truth to observe that sensible and safe activities sometimes fall victim to the kind of politically correct nonsense from ill-informed public servants that means we now have chairpersons rather than chairmen, and have schools prevented from teaching children about Baa Baa Black Sheep.

A blanket ban on advertising of personal injury services would deny access to justice to many people who have a legitimate and urgent need for expert advice.

A simple and sensible proposal

The Lord Chancellor’s Dept was warned by the Law Society more than twenty years ago to restrict or prohibit the involvement of non-lawyers in personal injury claims. If that advice had been heeded at the time, we would not have ended up in this mess.

In my view there are a number of simple and sensible steps which could be taken to improve matters:-

A.
Outlaw claims management companies immediately. They don’t have any of the requisite professional skills, they are not regulated with any force.

B.
Restrict personal injury advertising to those solicitors who can properly demonstrate professional expertise in that field of law – Members of the Law Society’s Personal Injury Panel and/or firms with the Law Society’s LEXCEL quality mark. (Yes, my firm would qualify on both counts, but so would many other legitimate personal injury lawyers).

If advertising is restricted to qualified solicitors you would immediately gain control via the code of conduct which binds all solicitors.

If advertising is restricted to proven experts it can only improve the position for accident victims who have legitimate cases.

C.
Outlaw the payment of referral fees by solicitors to claims management companies, and impose suitably strict sanctions. The Law Society has repeatedly stepped back from addressing this issue; referral fees serve only to add a layer of substantial and pointless expense to the process.

I hope that you will find the time to read this correspondence, and that my comments will give you some cause for thought.

If I can assist you in your deliberations I would be happy to help in any way that I can.

Yours sincerely,

Paul Mulderrig
Mulderrigs Solicitors Ltd