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Meet the Member - Chris Rudd from Chris Rudd Solicitors

Chris Rudd. Solicitor. Owner. Father of four. Husband of one. Average guitar player, terrible singer
Date
  • Name of Business - Chris Rudd Solicitors
  • Who are you? Chris Rudd. Solicitor. Owner. Father of four. Husband of one. Average guitar player, terrible singer
  • What sets you apart from the competition? Innovation, and a disregard for convention
  • How did the business come about? Well, I’m a solicitor, so I didn’t have to sweat to much about which sector to set up in. I would have regretted it if I never gave it a go on my own
  • What are your main target markets? The downtrodden. We help them tread up.
  • How long has your business been in existence? We are entering our 10th year
  • How many staff do you employ? 15
  • What job or achievement makes you most proud?
  1. I’ve had a lot of great results, but one sticks in my mind. I acted for a man who had mesothelioma [asbestos cancer …a death sentence!] For the sake of saving money his employer exposed him to lots of asbestos in the 1980’s when they should have known better. His wife had advanced MS and he was her main carer, he was in his 50s and fit and strong enough to carry her up and down the stairs, but mesothelioma ravaged him. The employer wouldn’t admit liability. They fought it hard and he died worried about his wife. Me and a colleague worked late nights, long hours up against a huge international company to beat some deadlines and get it to court. We won. His wife got nearly £700,000 and they had to pay nearly £300,000 in costs for their callousness
  2. I love to give people from a similar background to me a leg up
  • Where do you see the business being in five years? Hopefully, as far as I can take it. Long term I want to hand the firm over to my really talented and hardworking team of people and I will gradually reverse out
  • Tell us one interesting thing about the business that might surprise us? We look like a small time practice on Warrington High Street but we represent people all over the UK, as well as some great local people
  • Tell us one interesting thing about you that people might not know? (ie, hobbies, amusing fact, etc)

I am an ex-van driver. I became a solicitor after an encounter with the police when I was falsely arrested and falsely charged. I defended myself at court and proved that to be the case. I then went to night school, got myself into university and qualified in my 30s. Hence my interest in helping other people do the same

  • Fantasy dinner party – which six people alive or dead would you invite?
  1. Nye Bevan – he deserves a free dinner for basically inventing the National Health Service.
  2. Cleopatra
  3. Nina Simone
  4. Dolly Parton
  5. Muhammed Ali
  6. Ronnie Drew of the Dubliners

[Subs: Martin Luther King if a man drops out. Josephine Baker if a woman drops out]