Richard Scorer

Richard Scorer is a British personal injury and human rights lawyer best known for representing victims of child abuse in cases against the Catholic Church.
Richard is a Partner and Head of the Serious Injury Division at Pannone LLP Solicitors in Manchester. In 1999 Richard was named as 'one of Britain's leading specialists in child abuse litigation'
. He is ranked in Chambers Guide to the Legal Profession as a 'leader in the field' of personal injury law (Band 1).
Career
Cases against the Catholic Church
From 1999-2002 Richard acted for the victims of paedophile Roman Catholic Priest, Father Michael Hill. Hill was a priest of the Roman Catholic diocese of Arundel and Brighton. Hill was convicted in 1997 and again in 2001 of multiple sex offences against children.
In 2003 Richard represented Christopher Carrie, who alleged he was sexually abused in childhood by Father John Tolkien, the priest son of Lord of the Rings author J. R. R. Tolkien. The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Birmingham paid Carrie an undisclosed five-figure sum in damages.
In 2005 Richard acted against Ampleforth College, the leading Roman Catholic public school. It emerged that dozens of boys were sexually abused there over a 30-year period, as a result of which the college faced a series of law suits.
In 2006 Richard took action against the Roman Catholic Diocese of Leeds for turning a blind eye to the paedophile priest David Crowley, who sexually abused numerous alter boys.
In 2008-2010 Richard successfully took civil action against the Roman Catholic Diocese of Salford on behalf of the victims of Father William Green, who abused a string of boys more than 20 years ago at St Bede's College in Manchester.
Other abuse and assault cases
In 2002-2004 Richard represented 110 victims of child sexual abuse at Tennel Assessment Centre in Harborne, Birmingham. According to a report in the Sunday Mercury, Birmingham City Council paid over £1 million in 'hush money' to settle the class action.
In 2006 Richard represented a dozen 18-29 year olds who as children in 1990 had been at the centre of the so-called 'Rochdale satanic abuse' scandal. They claimed damages and an apology for their unwarranted removal into care. The cases were the subject of a BBC 'Real Story' documentary. Rochdale Council subsequently settled the claims.
In 2007 Richard represented Hailey Giblin, who ten years earlier had been sexually assaulted by Soham murderer Ian Huntley. Richard acted for her in a civil claim against Huntley.
In 2009 Richard was successful in achieving an out-of-court settlement for his client who was subject to child abuse at the hands of his teacher at Broughton Towers Special School in Cumbria in 1979-80 .
Other high profile cases
Richard acted for the widow of the helicopter pilot killed in the 1998 . Despite the precise cause of the accident being unknown, she was successful in clearing her husband's name and winning damages for his death.
In 2005 Richard acted for Malcolm New, the first soldier to win a court award of compensation from the Ministry of Defence, in respect of the army's failure to diagnose New's post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
In 2007 Richard represented Jordan Fitton, a 6 year old boy with severe epilepsy, who sought to challenge the downgrading of Accident and Emergency facilities at Rochdale General Hospital. Jordan's parents claimed that the downgrading put their son's life at risk, but their application for judicial review was unsuccessful.
Richard represented the victims of the Ramsgate walkway tragedy in 1994. The shore-to-ferry walkway collapsed, resulting in six fatalities, and seven other people seriously injured. The Swedish company which designed the walkway was eventually fined over £1 million for breaches of health and safety laws .
Books
Child Abuse Compensation Claims (coauthored with Elizabeth-Anne Gumbel QC and Malcolm Johnson) first edition 2002, revised edition Jan 2011

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