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Austin Thornton is a director of Wrigleys Trustees Ltd, a trust corporation appointed as Court of Protection as deputy for property and affairs. His particular role as deputy is to deal with the property and affairs aspects of health and care commissioning for clients including making best interests care commissioning recommendations; advising on the management of funds for care; deprivation of liberty; safeguarding; liaising with statutory services and resolving disputes over the provision of care. Austin also runs a community care law practice for the general public.

Austin began his legal career in the advice sector providing debt and welfare benefits and general advice at a Citizens Advice Bureau in the 1980s and early 1990s. He qualified as a solicitor in 1995, working in Salford for the GLP group. He provided a legal aid social welfare law service in the areas of family, crime and housing law and in the latter area was legal aid franchise supervisor. During this period Austin also worked in personal injury law and left GLP to specialise in this area from 2000 to 2009, during which period he was promoted to partner at a major northern firm. Wishing to return to social welfare law, Austin joined the Sheffield office of Wrigleys Solicitors LLP in 2010 where he specialises in community care and Court of Protection law.

Austin is the author of “Paying for Residential Care: A Guide for Private Client Practitioners" – Ark 2017. He has had several articles published in the Journal of Personal Injury Law relating community care law to personal injury litigation issues. Austin has also published articles in Private Client Adviser and Journal of Social Care and Neurodisability.

He has spoken at many conferences to a diversity of audiences. Austin has provided expert witness reports with regard to the impact of statutory funding considerations on damages recovery in personal injury cases and on the drafting of reverse indemnity agreements.