Anna Cole

Anna qualified as a Fellow of the Institute of Legal Executives in 1997 and became a solicitor in 2002. She joined Leigh Day as a partner in January 2024, having previously managed a team at a specialist personal injury firm.

With over 25 years of experience, Anna has a successful track record acting for clients who have suffered life changing injuries. She is very client focussed. She demonstrates strong organisational skills, motivation to do her best for her clients and compassion.

Anna has acted in a significant number of high value cases, many resulting in multi-million-pound settlements for her clients. Anna’s expertise extends beyond maximising final compensation awards, she engages with early and effective rehabilitation for clients and their families. Her clients’ welfare, ongoing rehabilitation, and support for families are a paramount concern.

Anna regularly works with leading and national experts, utilising her vast experience of assessing and coordinating multi-disciplinary teams of professionals during the preparation and progression of claims. She ensures the correct team is put in place from the outset to match her clients’ needs. She is collaborative but is steely in her pursuit of the best outcomes for the clients.

What people say

“Thank you so much for your commitment, endeavour, sound judgment and time given to Headway over the past decade. An amazing effort and transformation from where it all began to where we are today. Your dedication, drive, and truly effortless approach to help the Management Team and Board of Trustees is unquestionable and inspiring. The organisation would not be where it is without you which is a remarkable achievement”. – Headway Swindon and District

“I would like to thank you for your endeavours in bringing Laura’s case to a conclusion. I know it has been quite a journey for her and at times somewhat overwhelming. Without your involvement Laura would have been fobbed off with a quick settlement. Having been party to a lot of the correspondence I can see what a monumental task you undertook. I really appreciate all the hard work you have carried out”. – Mr. B

“I have worked with Anna over a number of years, more than a decade, and have always found her to be meticulous and thorough litigator. She handles the most difficult personal injury claims, often with long histories of litigation where the claimant has been let down by others. Anna’s dogged process and ability to tackle even the most gordian of knots never ceases to amaze. She has an exceptional grasp of detail, managing large files, is diligent in her disclosure both in finding documents and then ordering and disclosing them. She has an excellent grasp of proportion and the ethics around managing a claim. She is detailed in her approach, kind but firm in her dealings with client’s and able to deliver on promised outcomes.” – KC

Legal expertise

Some of Anna’s concluded cases include:

• £1.65 million for a passenger involved in a fatal head on road traffic collision. He was in a minimally conscious state (MCS+) until he sadly caught and died from Covid.
• £5.3 million for a 60-year-old employee who fell off the back of a lorry at work. We won in full a contested liability split trial.
• £1.5 million for a man in his mid-50s who developed functional neurological disorder and had non epileptic attacks after a minor road traffic accident.
• £2.0 million (due to limit of indemnity on insurance policy) for an illegal immigrant who sustained catastrophic brain injury due to carbon monoxide poisoning. He was granted indefinite leave to remain in the UK. Full value >£10 million.
• £2.2 million, for a pedestrian with a severe brain injury involved in a road traffic accident after allegedly running across the road having syphoning petrol. Full value >£11 million.
• £1.8 million for a man in his late 40’s who fell off the back of a lorry at work. Full value £3m as significant life expectancy reduction.
• £1.85 million for a pedestrian in her 50’s with a spinal injury.
• Acted as Professional Litigation Friend and obtained £4.85 million for a man in his 50s involved in a road traffic accident resulting in a brain injury, causing the collapse of his business and marriage.

Anna is a member of the Head Injury Solicitors List. Band 2 listed in Chambers. She is an accredited Fellow and has specialist Brain Injury accreditation with APIL.

Charities

Anna was a trustee, director and chairman of Headway Swindon & District for over 14 years; a charity providing care, rehabilitation, and support services at a day centre to those affected by brain injury. She empowered the team to grow the charity, increased the number of service users, moved to new premises, successfully tendered for services as a result this substantial increased the charity's turnover and the number of people they have been able to help.

For over 11 years Anna was deputy chairman of Wiltshire Air Ambulance where she remains a trustee. She is a trustee of Your Air Ambulance, the charity shop of the service.