Meet Julie Clark-Spence of Balfour + Manson LLP

It should come as no surprise that Julie Clark-Spence is an exceptionally busy woman, due to her position as Litigation Partner at Balfour + Manson LLP where she also heads up the Aberdeen office. Specialising in personal injury and medical negligence, she supports clients through unexpected and
traumatic circumstances. Trend found out why Julie is passionate about helping people to recover and what she gets up to in rare moments of downtime.

I was always interested in law from an early age and thought for a while I would join the police. I was born in Aberdeen and studied at Aberdeen University. This has stood me in good stead to have a real understanding of the industries local to the area such as oil and gas, fishing and agriculture. After graduating, I trained at a firm in Elgin. It was during my time there that I was lucky to work within the personal injury team. I helped with cases where people had suffered catastrophic injuries. At this early stage in my career, I was able to witness first hand just how much I could help people in those circumstances; and I’ve never looked back. I am very much a people person. I’ve always had an interest in people’s stories. Very often the people we act for have been faced with life changing injuries. You need to find out a lot about what their life looked like prior to the accident, so you can help them as much as possible afterwards. I really take the time to get to know my clients so I can build up that picture. Our person-centred approach is very much part of the ethos within the team.

Due to the nature of my work, some cases will stay with me forever. It’s particularly hard acting for people who have lost a loved one. No amount of money will ever replace what they have lost or bring their loved one back. However, people often find the investigations which we carry out are of immense help and sometimes comfort, because they finally get answers to questions that they otherwise would not necessarily have. It is very rewarding to see those families get some form of justice. Ultimately, we help our clients navigate a path to recovery, whatever that may look like. The hours can be long and sometimes it’s very hard to leave work behind. Even when I’m not in the office, I find myself thinking about cases and that can be difficult. However, it’s often then that I have time to step back and think about what would be best for a particular client and their case.

I think there is a misconception about compensation culture. However, we never cold call. People don’t realise what we do until they need us. The purpose of compensation in Scotland is to put people back into the financial position that they would have been in prior to the accident. Accidents can be life changing and catastrophic. We help people secure their future, including any care and help that they might require as a result of their injuries. I genuinely love what I do and I have a brilliant team working alongside me.

We moved into the countryside last year so my downtime very much involves time with my husband and our rescue dogs! I find the best therapy is walking. We also enjoy finding new places to eat in the Shire.