Personal injury (PI) law deals with compensation for accidents and diseases. This area of law is flourishing in light of the recognition of new types of physical and mental illness. The subject matter varies considerably and can range from controversial, high-profile disaster cases to road traffic accidents to health and safety cases involving what one lawyer describes as "trippers, slippers and whiplash". A related, specialised practice area of PI law is clinical negligence, which involves injuries suffered during medical procedures.

John Pickering is a partner at Irwin Mitchell, which has the largest PI practice in the United Kingdom. John studied law at the University of Manchester, keen to embark on a degree "with a paying job at the end of it". An Irwin Mitchell lifer, his first taste of the firm was as a student: "I was introduced to the firm through a family friend who was a client and I was able to get some work experience there. That in turn led to me being offered articles [equivalent to a training contract], which took the pressure off somewhat. And then, having done articles, I was offered a position and made partner within the year; I was 24 at the time." Now that's a fast track to partnership!

John's practice now has a specialist focus: "I do clinical negligence and serious injury cases, such as brain damage. I also work on cases with a cross-border element; I'm very interested in the international law dynamic." John notes that as a national head of department, his actual caseload is much lower than it use to be, but recent examples include the Cumbrian train crash cases and a case related to a BBC producer who died as a result of medical negligence: "And at any one time, I usually have a number of birth trauma cases on the go, where children have suffered brain damage at the point of birth. They can result in multimillion-pound damages if we win."

John is often called on to appear on radio and television as an expert in the field and because the PI cases he's involved with are often high profile. He explains that things "reached a crescendo" in this respect when he acted on behalf of lung cancer victims against major UK tobacco manufacturers in Hodgson v Imperial Tobacco Ltd. He recalls: "I did loads of interviews in relation to the case and it was quite intense. Even though we lost, the tobacco litigation was a fascinating exercise. The case was derailed because of the procedural process in that jurisdiction, so I have a lurking frustration that we never got to have a trial on the merits. I felt very strongly about the issue."

Other professional highlights include having the opportunity to improve a client's situation. John explains: "It's a great feeling to get a good result for a client for whom you feel a particular empathy. I remember a case from years ago where my client, an elderly woman, had fallen on the pavement and broken her hip. She was badly injured and the council was being really difficult, so it felt really great to win it for her. It's not always those cases that you read about in the papers that give the greatest personal satisfaction."

In fact, the human element is an important part of the job, says John: "During articles, I wondered how I'd cope with working with people who'd been seriously injured and such apparently depressing subject matter. But once you start, you realise it's extremely rewarding because you're helping people out of a crisis. The provision of money can make a huge difference to individuals and families, in terms of buying equipment and paying for care. Intellectually, it's also a very rewarding area - you have to get into another profession's mindset. For example, in terms of clinical negligence, you have to attain the same level of understanding as a leading consultant, even though it may just be a snapshot of a particular area."

Misinformed public perception can be a problem, though, and is one of the few downsides of PI work: "I find the negativity we get in the press about this subject area difficult to deal with. It's awful when you sit down around a dinner table and people see you as an ambulance chaser and don't understand what we do for our clients. That's predominantly because of the characterisation in the press, although it's not helped by the daft conduct of some lawyers."

John is something of a campaigner in terms of PI law reform, among other things acting as the claimant's representative on the chief medical officer's advisory group dealing with the reform of the law on clinical negligence. He says: "I sit on a number of governmental committees, at both a national and European level, and I find it very tough when I hear arguments being put forward that will have the effect of denying access to justice or ensuring depressing levels of compensation. At the moment, the pendulum has swung too much away from the claimants towards the insurers and the defence lobby. I'm sure they wouldn't agree, but that's my perception." Elsewhere, John is involved with other related charitable work, such as sitting as a trustee of Neurocare, the charity that supports the neurological unit of his local hospital: "You do tend to find that you can't get away from connecting with the issues around the edge. But you do also need to be able to go back home and enjoy life with your family."

A successful PI lawyer needs a raft of skills, John explains: "To be good at your job, there are several layers. You've got to understand the law and keep up to date, because it's a fast-moving area. You also have to be very disciplined because this is a litigation process and you're in the driving seat; you have to run the case, work out the strategy and deliver it, all of which demands a certain mindset and self-discipline. And then, most importantly, you have to be able to empathise with your clients. You've got to understand their issues and what the case is about. Unless you can communicate well with all types of people from all walks of life, forget it. If you can't connect, you won't get the information you need to maximise the potential of the case."

So how best to learn more about this field? John has some tips: "You could go and see a case in court or read the law reports, but the best thing of all is to get some work experience in a law firm that does this area. Until you see it firsthand, you can't really understand it - it's not until you sit down with someone who's experienced an accident that you see what the issues are and the other dimensions, such as the medical knowledge required. It's a broader area than, say, corporate law, which can be quite dry and narrow. With PI, you've got an awful and distressing event that's had a terrible impact on a person's life, and you've got to work out how to quantify it, how to evidence it and how to assess it. There are many different strands that require different skill sets. Therefore, seeing it firsthand is the number one thing that I would recommend."

Broadly speaking, John thinks that the best way forward begins with solid research: "Try and work out what it is that interests you within the law and, if you are unsure, try to obtain work experience at a variety of firms doing different areas of work so that you can make an informed choice and target your applications accordingly. Do your homework - try and find out which firms are the best and start there. And once you're doing your training contract, take full advantage of what's available to you and get involved; otherwise you might go to one department and not get a broader perspective. So get stuck in!"