Next Gen Solicitors

The Company

Stephen Cornforth

The Company has advised that current Legal team at Next Gen Solicitors has over 100 years of combined experience.

acts as the Compliance Officer for the Legal Practice (COLP) and Compliance Officer for Administration and Finance (COFA) for Next Gen Solicitors. He was until 28th April 2017 Senior Partner of a leading Liverpool legal practice. He is also a former President of Liverpool Law Society.

1.4 Specialist Support All new cases are initially screened and risk assessed by Next Gen Solicitors. Once a client agrees to be represented by the firm, Next Gen Solicitors takes out an After the Event Insurance Policy (ATE) in the client’s name. If it is deemed necessary, the case is then passed to an independent specialist in the appropriate field, who will complete a report based on the facts of the case. This report will provide the rationale for the case to be pursued successfully, along with the specialist witness statement. In certain cases, the report will also specify the quantum of loss. Next Gen Solicitors maintains a wide ranging database of specialists with whom it has a successful working relationship, and with whose assistance it has recorded a large number of case wins. The availability of, and ongoing relationships with, these specialists helps to streamline and expedite the claim process and therefore increase case capacity. 1.5 Differentiation Next Gen Solicitors believes itself to be clearly differentiated from its competitors by its combination of: • high quality legal services; • operational and marketing expertise; and • business acumen and legal and commercial experience of its owners. 2. Investment Opportunity Next Gen Solicitors requires a readily accessible source of funding that is flexible to its needs and enables it to pursue more and more cases. The capital raised will be used to replace funding from private finance, which currently enables Next Gen Solicitors to pursue cases on behalf of clients. Next Gen is raising capital, which will be more competitive and flexible towards changes in the law which create newmarkets. The capital will be used to pay for the costs involved in initiating cases for clients. ATE insurance (a standard tool in conditional fee agreement, ‘NoWin, No Fee’, claims) will reimburse the legal costs and expenses involved in bringing the case, should it prove unsuccessful. This is how all cases in the model will be managed, with Next Gen Solicitors agreeing not to charge for its services should a claim be unsuccessful. On average, the costs associated with pursuing a claim is between £2,000 and £3,000. The Next Gen Solicitors business model allows for a high volume of cases to be active, with an average of 90% success rate and the ATE insurance (which pays out, on average, in 30 days) covering those cases which are unsuccessful. This combination of factors enables Next Gen Solicitors to offer a fixed return of 8% for a 12 month investment term. 11

1. Background

1.1. Entity Next Gen Solicitors was established in November 2016 to combine the talents and experience of solicitors with those of other key specialists working in the claims management industry. Next Gen Solicitors is authorised and regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA), a regulatory body for solicitors in England andWales. The SRA is responsible for regulating the professional conduct of 125,000 solicitors at more than 11,000 firms. Their Principles and Code of Conduct must be adhered to at all times to ensure integrity and protect the best interests of clients. Next Gen Solicitors is an established commercial firm, with governance and operations designed for, and proven effective with, high case volume. The Company operates in areas of law in which it has a solid track record or in which a clear precedent is in place. Next Gen Solicitors has been established as an Alternative Business Structure. This allows for law firms to be authorised and regulated to provide legal services with non- lawyers eligible to hold an interest in the ownership and/or management of the firm. The arrangement allows the firm an optimum combination of the expertise needed to operate successfully: the legal expertise to handle cases and bring these to optimal outcome, combined with the business and marketing acumen required to market the firm, attract cases and manage these efficiently. 1.2 Personnel and Responsibilities Solicitors Mr Stephen Cornforth and Mr James Reed are directors of Next Gen Solicitors, along with Ms Karen Smith, who brings to Next Gen Solicitors extensive knowledge and experience of operating an FCA Regulated claims management company.

James Reed heads Next Gen Solicitors Legal team. The team has a high success rate in both fast-track and multi-track cases across all areas of personal injury, including: • personal injury; • employer liability; • public liability. Next Gen Solicitors has a 100%

success rate in all litigated matters to date. There is a declared objective within the Legal department to

settle 80% of all cases within three to six months, securing the highest level of compensation obtainable for the clients concerned.

Karen Smith heads up Next Gen’s Marketing and Management team. This unit possesses the knowledge, skills and experience needed to generate a high case volume for the Company. Numbering more than 50 individuals, the Marketing and Management team specialises in: • bringing in new cases; • providing a reassuring point of contact for each client;

• handling the management of each case from commencement through to settlement. This allows Next Gen Solicitors Legal team to concentrate on managing cases to successful outcomes, without having to divert resources to sourcing

caseload or managing the claim process.

1.3 Specialism and Experience In the early days of the firm, the work generated by the Next Gen Solicitors team lay predominantly in the field of personal injury. As the firm has grown, the Company has acquired the resources and expertise to diversify its work base to include employers’ liability and public liability work. This has encompassed: • occupational disease; • financial mis-selling; • personal debt challenges; • housing disrepair. • medical negligence

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