Lawyer in the news

Who? Tanya Morgan, a 28-year-old personal injury associate at 18-partner Swansea firm John Collins & Partners.

Why is she in the news? Represented Barbara Hewson, who received a settlement of 13,000 from Virgin Atlantic Airways last week to compensate for injuries sustained on board a flight from Heathrow to Los Angeles.

While travelling economy class, Ms Hewson had to sit next to an obese passenger who was unable to sit in one seat and could only travel with the armrest raised, sharing Ms Hewson's seat for the duration of the flight.

As a result, Ms Hewson sustained a number of injuries, including the exacerbation of existing sciatica and spinal problems.

The incident was ruled to be an 'accident' under the definition of the Warsaw convention.

Background: LLB at Cardiff University (1992-95) followed by the LPC, still at Cardiff.

She qualified with John Collins & Partners in 1998.

Route to the case: 'Our firm advertises its personal injury department on appointment cards at the local hospital, and Ms Hewson saw one when she attended casualty for her injuries.'

Thoughts on the case: 'Viewed against the backdrop of the well-publicised recent deep vein thrombosis (DVT) cases, this was very interesting, and is the first case that I am aware of which involves compensation recovery for a crushing injury on a plane.

Although my client had legal expenses cover through her travel insurance policy, this claim was ineligible as it was against the carrier - a common exclusion in travel insurance policies.

Despite the fact that she was compensated for bodily injury, my client has received no compensation for the psychological distress which the incident caused her.'

Dealing with the media: 'I've had no past experience in dealing with the media, and was quite taken by surprise by the attention that this case generated.

It was featured in the Sunday Times, the Daily Telegraph and local papers, and my client was even approached about appearing on the Richard and Judy show.

I'm pleased with the focus, because it draws attention to the wider aspects of the case, and it is not easy to ensure funding for cases such as this.'