Emma Cotton

Insurance Claims Manager, London Borough of Sutton

Emma Cotton is the Insurance Claims Manager for the London Borough of Sutton and has worked for the local authority since 2005. She was involved in bringing claims in-house in April 2009 and since then has been involved in all stages of the claims management process from notification to final conclusion in a wide range of different cases and values. Emma is responsible for ensuring the quality and performance of the claims handling function for eleven councils, in addition to a portfolio of schools, academies, and wholly-owned local authority companies. 

John Goodman

Partner, DAC Beachcroft

John specialises in defending catastrophic and complex personal injury claims on behalf of public authority and other bodies. He is the lead partner for Public Sector at DAC Beachcroft claims. He has over 26 years' experience defending employer and public liability claims and RTA cases, mostly but not exclusively on behalf of public sector clients, including local authorities and housing associations. John is a regular speaker at ALARM and other public sector events and organises seminars and bespoke training sessions for his clients using innovative techniques.

Polly Lane

Solicitor, DAC Beachcroft

Polly joined DAC Beachcroft from the Government Legal Department, following many years representing the Home Office and the Ministry of Defence in human rights and national security matters. She is a human rights and public law specialist with ten years' experience representing both individual claimants and public authority defendants. Her current practice focusses on defending claims against the police, social services or other public service providers for breaches of human rights, abuse, negligence, discrimination and police misconduct.

Charlotte Leman

Insurance Officer (Claims), London Borough of Sutton

Charlotte Leman is an Insurance Officer for the London Borough of Sutton and has worked for the local authority since 2019. This was Charlotte's first job after completing her Law LLB degree. She is now completing her CILEX Level 6 alongside her employment. Charlotte has over four years experience handling a portfolio of public liability, employers liability, property, and motor claims from inception through to settlement.