Jane Cooper
Jane, who joined the firm in September 2021, is originally from Hertfordshire, but has lived in our region for several years and now resides in Chesterfield.
Qualifying in 1995, she has worked in the field of personal injury law for over 25 years and during this time has gained a high level of expertise in a variety of personal injury areas. She is a practitioner member of the Association of Personal Injury Lawyers (APIL).
Jane started her career at Bridge McFarland where she carried out personal injury work for unions. She continued her union work at other legal firms until joining Russell Jones Walker (now Slater Gordon) where she was a salaried partner, national head of road traffic accidents and operations manager for the Sheffield office. She left there after just over 14 years with the intention of becoming a teacher, but the lure of the legal sphere was too strong, and she decided to continue with her work as a solicitor. Her roles before joining Graysons have included team manager at other legal firms and a short spell with South Yorkshire Police, viewing the opposite side of the coin and carrying out defendant work.
She deals with all types of personal injury claims but has particular expertise in multi-defendant cases, serious injury claims, employer liability and occupational disease work as well as public liability claims. Some of the more high-profile cases she has dealt with include winning compensation of
- £500,000 for a man who fell off the back of a lorry and ended up having to use a wheelchair
- £3 million for a young woman who lost a leg after being knocked over by a motorcycle. She required multiple prosthetics but managed to continue with her pastimes of horse riding and running with the benefit of these
- £75,000 for a woman, who, when she was a little girl and being towed in a bike buggy by her dad, was run over by a dangerous driver. She suffered multiple injuries, including some brain damage. Her compensation case was settled when she was 18 years old.
When asked why Jane enjoys her job, she said:
“I like to be able to put things right – to be able to put people back in the position they should have been, had it not been for the injury. I like to win! I’ve always felt that by doing claimant work, I hold the moral high ground for my clients: for people who need a voice against a defendant’s insurers. I really enjoy working with people and helping them to see my vision of where they should be and what we can do to help. I like to see that justice has prevailed – which of course it doesn’t always, and that does make me cross when I think that it is not fair – but where it does, and I can help to make people as comfortable as possible – be that by getting financial compensation or other treatment, and achieving closure – that makes me feel good.”
When not at work, Jane likes the outdoors, especially when taking advantage of the wonderful Peak District, which is on her doorstep, walking with her family and her dog.
