Who? Chris Pugh, litigation partner at Nexus Solicitors in Manchester.


Why is he in the news? Represented former Manchester United and West Bromwich Albion footballer Michael Appleton, who was last week awarded £1.5 million damages by the High Court after suing an orthopaedic surgeon for clinical negligence. Mr Appleton claimed for loss of earnings after unnecessary knee surgery ended his hopes of playing Premiership football with West Brom, who at the time had just been promoted. He injured his right posterior cruciate ligament during training in November 2001. Mr Appleton did not recover from surgery and was forced to retire from the game in 2003. The case saw a succession of star witnesses appear in court to testify that the 31-year-old midfielder had great potential as a player, including Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson, footballers Ryan Giggs and Gary Neville, Everton manager David Moyes and former player turned television pundit Mark Lawrenson. Expert witnesses said Mr Appleton could have earned more than £500,000 a year had he recovered and played in the Premiership. The court heard his career would probably have lasted until 2009. The award was made after surgeon Medhat El-Safty admitted he should not have operated.



Background: Law degree at King's College London and Law Society finals at the College of Law in Chester, followed by a training contract with City firm Herbert Smith in 1989. In 1995, he moved to Berrymans Lace Mawer in Manchester. In 2000, he set up Nexus with five other colleagues and friends from different local practices.



Route to the case: 'It was referred to us by his [Mr Appleton's] agent, who is an existing client of the firm.'



Thoughts on the case: 'We had some very high-profile witnesses which was very interesting as I am also a Manchester United fan. So many people were interested in it. It is not always the case that you have journalists in court and television cameras outside. It is a measure of Michael's standing in the game that so many leading figures in football were eager to come and give evidence on his behalf.'



Calculating the amount of damages was, Mr Pugh said, 'fairly complicated' as the court had to form a view not only on what Mr Appleton's future career path in football would have been in light of the medical evidence, but also his potential future earnings, which including assessing the level he would have played at after recovering from injury and taking account of the way footballers are paid.



Dealing with the media: 'The case made the front page of the Manchester Evening News, as well as local television and radio.' The media was also out in force when star witnesses were due to give evidence. 'Press and television cameras were there to film people arriving at and leaving court. The journalists were, though, all very helpful and seemed genuinely interested in the progress of the case.'



Anita Rice