Who? Stephen Jones, 44-year-old clinical negligence partner at Pannone in Manchester.



Why is he in the news? Represented Denise Hendry, wife of former Manchester City, Blackburn Rovers and Scotland footballer Colin Hendry, who obtained one of the largest ever payouts for a cosmetic surgery claim in the UK. Ms Hendry received an undisclosed six-figure sum in settlement of her claim against cosmetic surgeon Gustav Aniansson after she nearly died as a result of a botched liposuction procedure that has left her with an open wound, which she still has to dress four-and-a-half years after the operation. During the procedure, Mr Aniansson nicked her bowel and small intestine nine times, resulting in septicaemia, and Ms Hendry was in an induced coma for five weeks. Mr Aniansson has had his name taken off the General Medical Council register at his own request. Pannone had filed several complaints about him.



Background: Law degree at Queen's College, Cambridge, followed by the Law Society finals at Manchester Metropolitan University. He trained with Goldberg Blackburn & Howards in Manchester, which later became part of his current firm, and qualified in 1986. He was made a partner in 1992.



Route to the case: 'Colin's agent knew that I specialised in clinical negligence and made the introduction.' Coincidentally, Pannone has now settled 16 claims against this surgeon.



Thoughts on the case: 'It sounds like a cliché but it's genuinely true that Denise felt compelled to pursue a case in order to prevent what happened to her from happening to other women. We discussed media interest right from the outset as it was obviously going to be an issue due to her husband's public profile. Denise felt she should "stand up and be counted" and use her position to help others.' 



Dealing with the media: 'I have a reasonable amount of media experience, so was fairly comfortable with it. The media have been very sympathetic to Denise and so it's been an easy ride really, particularly as Denise was always very happy to talk to the press personally. They've been genuinely horrified to hear how she suffered and interested too in the wider issues of cosmetic surgery. So they have been more than happy to help Denise get her message across - that cosmetic surgery is not the quick, easy fix that it is sometimes made out to be.'