Grant John Evatt

Solicitor

SRA ID: 307156

Before the law, Grant enlisted in the British Army straight from school aged just 16. After a compulsory 12-months of leadership training at the Junior Leaders Regiment Royal Artillery he volunteered for Commando Forces. At a fresh faced 18 years of age, Grant passed the All-Arms Commando Course at the Commando Training Centre Royal Marines and was awarded the coveted Green Beret. He was posted to 8 (Alma) Commando Battery of 29 Commando Regiment Royal Artillery in Plymouth where, for the next decade, he trained and operated worldwide as an Arctic and Jungle Warfare specialist; military skiing instructor; artillery surveyor; military parachutist; combat driver; combat medic; diver and Platoon Weapons Instructor. A serious knee injury playing football for his Regiment caused Grant to prematurely volunteer to end his military career with 29 Commando. He swiftly left the UK to then operate in treacherous waters as a deep-sea diver on the nautical landfill project to build the then brand-new Hong Kong International Airport. A year later, refreshed and confident, Grant returned home to embark on a less physically hazardous career in the law. In his last year in the Army, Grant had studied for a University Access course with the Open University. That course enabled him to apply to university and a three-year full time LLB (Honours) degree in Business Law at Bournemouth University was to follow. Meanwhile, Grant was commissioned into the Army Reserves with CVHQ RA and in the 12-months between university and law college, Grant deployed as a Junior Officer to Kenya with his cherished 8 (Alma) Commando Battery RA in support of the Staffordshire Regiment (now the Mercian Regiment). A final year of study at the College of Law on the Legal Practice Course (LPC) brought his academic endeavours to a conclusion and in the summer of 2000, Grant started his legal career as a paralegal for a busy personal injury law firm in Guildford. Grant was admitted as a fully qualified Solicitor in November 2002 and only three years later, he applied for and achieved SRA accreditation as a Personal Injury specialist, a position he holds to this day. He subsequently worked at some of the most distinguished law firms in the UK, honing his craft and rising through the ranks to become a Partner and then Director of a specialist firm in London before setting up in business as Alma Law in 2017. He was for six years the Coordinator of the Military Special Interest group for the Association of Personal Injury Lawyers (APIL), and he is a former elected member of the APIL Executive Committee. His interest in military claims sadly arose out of the tragic death of a close army friend who, with one other, were both killed in a road traffic accident in Kenya in 2000. Grant represented those injured in the accident and the families of the deceased in a group of claims against the MOD, all of which settled out of court. Grant is a knowledgeable, well-connected, and experienced, creative-thinking solicitor and an authority in military claims. He has won £millions for his injured client’s and their grieving families and is much liked and respected by them, and his peers, for his exceptional client care and dedication to their cause. Lastly, Grant is a volunteer and past Secretary of the Hampshire branch of SSAFA the Armed Forces Charity, a member of the Royal Marines Association and he is a proud supporter of the Armed Forces Covenant.