Mesothelioma and asbestos claims

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Mesothelioma and asbestos claims

Mesothelioma and Asbestos

www.ffw.com/personalinjury Freephone 0800 358 3848

2013 marks the 30 year anniversary of Field Fisher

Waterhouse helping those with Asbestos Disease.

• We have recovered close to £200 million for victims of asbestos disease from all over the UK and overseas • We have established a database of over 2000 companies we have previously sued. This helps new clients who contact us today • We only act for victims of asbestos disease and conduct cases on “no win no fee” basis.

"Head and shoulders

above the rest in terms

of skills, experience and

quality.”

The Legal 500

Directory of leading law firms Proud Sponsors of

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At Field Fisher Waterhouse we understand what a difficult time patients and their families may be going through when there is a diagnosis of an asbestos related disease. Our clients have the right to compensation for a terrible illness which they have contracted through no fault of their own, but through the negligence of their employers and others. We have recovered nearly £200 million for our clients and concluded over 2,500 successful cases. Our lawyers are renowned for their expertise, their commitment and the care they take in such sensitive situations. The three partners here each have over 20 years experience in acting almost exclusively for clients suffering from mesothelioma and other asbestos diseases. We have been instrumental in changing the law for the benefit of victims both at Government level and through cases in the House of Lords. Cases conducted by our partners have resulted in changes to the law to allow hospices to recover the cost of looking after mesothelioma patients from those who we sue on their behalf. We deal with cases very quickly, with minimal fuss and disruption, allowing clients to focus on enjoying time with their families. You only have to read the quotes from our clients and from the independent legal directories to know that we work quickly and compassionately to win the best settlements that our clients deserve. If you would like to discuss a mesothelioma or asbestos claim, or you would like more information about the legal claims process, please call me on 020 7861 4825 or email peter.williams@ffw.com

We are here to help...

Field Fisher Waterhouse has acted on behalf of claimants

in asbestos cases for over 30 years.

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Case study: £400,000 for ex-railway man from Cornwall How we work with you The legal steps explained Case study: Case win for electrician in Multi Defendant action Our charity work Meet the team Introduction

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2 How we work with you

“In a class of its own for disease cases”

The Legal 500: Directory of leading law firms

Best Awards

The best awards

We ensure our clients and their families get the best awards they deserve.

We have recovered the highest award for pain and suffering from the courts, £80,000, and the highest award to compensate for nursing care provided by a spouse in the sum of £25,000.

Speedy

Speedy settlements

We complete mesothelioma claims quickly and effectively. We helped set up the fast-track litigation process at the High Court. Peter Williams recovered £250,000 for Alan Hawkins within 12 weeks of instruction. Associate Dushal Mehta recovered £175,000 for Victor Shipton within 12 weeks.

Partner Andrew Morgan obtained £130,000 for Mr G within 7 weeks.

Caring

Caring for our clients

Our clients come first and we will do everything in our power to make the claims process as easy as possible. We will visit you at home and ensure that you get the best settlement possible.

Peter Williams obtained compensation for Jean Ambrose who had been turned down by two other law firms. He negotiated a settlement for Jean, whose husband had died from mesothelioma.

Innovative

Innovative claims

We were the first firm to recover compensation for hospices that provide charitable care to mesothelioma victims. We have recovered £200,000 to date. Many firms follow our pioneering approach which is now accepted as part of the law. Caroline Pinfold acted for the claimant in the landmark case.

Leading

Leading the way

We recovered the first award of annual payments for the widow of a mesothelioma victim, known as “periodical payments”. Our client is blind and her husband was her primary carer.

We argued that she needed year-on-year payments to cover the costs of her care. She will receive £23,500 every year for the rest of

her life.

International

In the UK and abroad

We act for victims living anywhere in the UK and abroad. Andrew Morgan travelled to Florida to take evidence from a mesothelioma sufferer who was unable to travel.

We will visit you at home - we don’t expect you to come to our offices.

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William Searle worked for GWR at their railway depot in Truro, Cornwall. Laggers undertook running repairs on the lagging that insulated the steam engine boilers; this created asbestos debris. It was Mr Searle’s job to clean up this debris. 50 years later he was diagnosed with mesothelioma. He instructed Andrew Morgan to make a claim. By this time Mr Searle ran Cutlass Mechanical Engineering, working on projects in Devon and Cornwall. He planned to move into high quality work for specialist markets and to work full time to age 70. He wanted to invest heavily in new machinery to improve the business. Andrew obtained interim payments of £125,000 so he could do this. Mr Searle’s greatest financial loss was the loss of income and capital from the business after retirement. Andrew obtained an accountant’s report based on statements from Mr Searle’s clients. Just a few days before the trial Andrew negotiated a settlement of £400,000. Obtaining the interim payments and then settling the case in July 2012 allowed Mr Searle to move his business to improved premises and to install the new water jet, the future engine of his business, in August 2012.

Case study

Andrew Morgan secures £400,000 for

ex-railway man from Cornwall

Case study www.ffw.com/personalinjury Freephone 0800 358 3848

Field Fisher

Waterhouse were excellent

to work with. Andrew

handled my mesothelioma

claim in an efficient and

professional manner. I really

couldn’t have asked for

any more, the service was

excellent. I have already

recommended Andrew to

others.

William Searle

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The legal steps explained

Andrew Morgan, partner, explains how we conduct

successful mesothelioma and asbestos claims.

1 Who’s at fault?

If you were exposed to asbestos at work, we will need to identify the relevant employers and/or their insurers. We will undertake detailed investigations to locate the relevant companies or their insurers. In many cases, we will be able to pursue a claim even if an employer and/or its insurers no longer exist. We have established a database of over 2,000 companies and their insurers, who have previously been investigated.

2 How was your illness caused?

Once the appropriate parties have been identified and the evidence of exposure reviewed, we will assess whether there is a reasonable prospect of proving that they were responsible for your condition. Where there is a reasonable prospect of success, we will obtain a medical report from a consultant who is a specialist in asbestos related diseases.

3 How have you suffered?

We will obtain information and documents relating to financial loss including pension, loss of earnings and out-of-pocket expenses (both past and future) which can reasonably be attributed to your condition.

We will also quantify your claim for pain and suffering as well as any care requirements and other financial consequences of your illness.

As with all asbestos-related claims, it is necessary to show that a duty of care was owed to you, the injured person, by the party who exposed you to asbestos.

If you have been exposed to asbestos in the course of your employment, there is usually no difficulty in showing that you were owed a duty of care in those circumstances.

Sometimes there is exposure to members of employees’ families, for example, as a result of dust carried home on clothing and tools. Alternatively you may have lived near to a factory manufacturing asbestos products. It is usually possible to show a duty of care existed in these cases.

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4 Asbestos conditions

Ask your GP or consultant exactly what the diagnosis is. Asbestos exposure can lead to various conditions – some more serious than others.

If you are suffering from an asbestos-related condition (like mesothelioma, asbestosis, or lung cancer) you may be able to claim damages for this condition, for the risks of your condition worsening and for the risks of you contracting another asbestos-related condi-tion in the future.

You may also be entitled to some state benefits.

8 Next steps

We will:

• visit you at home

• take a detailed statement of your work history • obtain your hospital and GP notes, scans and x-rays • trace and contact any necessary witnesses

• draw on our archive of witness statements to help support your claim (if necessary)

5 Timescales

We recommend that you speak to one of our lawyers as soon as you are diagnosed. If you or one of your family suffer from mesothelioma your case can be fast tracked. We can often complete your claim in weeks.

Your claim must be issued at court within three years of your date of knowledge. In most cases, this is the date of diagnosis.

The rules can be complex but in some circumstances we can apply to the court to extend the time limit. However, delay does prejudice any claim so it is important to set the wheels in motion as quickly as possible.

6 Are court proceedings necessary?

Court proceedings are not always necessary. If they are, we aim to start them as soon as possible. With your permission we will approach the other side first with a view to negotiating a settlement. This allows us to settle claims very quickly, often within three to four months. The vast majority of claims are resolved without the need for a trial.

7 Compensation

We cannot say how much you will recover before our investigations have been completed.

Claims are valued according to your personal circumstances and the severity of your condition.

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Brian Morrow began work as an apprentice electrician at the age of 16 in 1956. He was exposed to asbestos during the course of this work by several employers in a variety of ways. He often worked alongside laggers who were applying asbestos insulation to pipes where he was running cables. Mr Morrow also worked in boiler houses where asbestos was stripped down during annual maintenance checks and when carrying out other electrical installation work as a result of which asbestos lagging on pipes was unavoidably disturbed. His work as an electrician frequently required him to drill into walls where there was asbestos in order to carry out electrical wiring and to run cables along ducts where there was asbestos lagging in a poor state of repair. His exposure to asbestos continued into the 1990s and none of the employers provided him with any equipment to protect him from asbestos dust and fibres. Furthermore they gave him no information or warnings about the possible risk to his health from asbestos exposure. Mr Morrow developed a cough at the end of February 2012; when this did not clear after a course of antibiotics he was referred by his GP to the local hospital where further investigations led to a diagnosis of mesothelioma in May 2012. The diagnosis was devastating for Mr Morrow and his family. He instructed Caroline Pinfold to pursue a claim for compensation against the relevant employers. After ensuring that Mr Morrow received all of the state benefits to which he is entitled for this condition, Caroline pursued the claim which settled in March 2013. The money will enable Mr Morrow to provide financial security for his wife and to pay for further care and equipment which he may require as a result of the mesothelioma in the future.

Case study

Caroline Pinfold wins case for electrician in

Multi Defendant action

Caroline handled the

case in a caring manner.

I have no complaints

whatsoever, she was

superb!

“ “

Case study www.ffw.com/personalinjury Freephone 0800 358 3848

Brian Morrow

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Leading the way in securing

compensation for hospices

In 2008, we started to claim a new type of compensation in mesothelioma cases. It had long been possible to include in claims the value of care and assistance given to mesothelioma victims by their relatives.

Our innovation was to extend this to charitable care provided by hospices. In 2010, after the insurers had contested this principle, a judge ruled at the High Court that it was valid for hospices to be compensated in this way for the proportion of their costs funded by voluntary donations.

Useful organisations

Mesothelioma UK

www.mesothelioma.uk.com

Department for Work and

Pensions

www.dwp.gov.uk

British Lung Foundation

www.lunguk.org

08458 50 50 20

Macmillan Cancer Support

www.macmillan.org.uk

020 7840 7840

Cancer Research UK

www.cancerhelp.org.uk

0800 226 237

Our charity work

Charity work Caroline Pinfold acted for the claimants in that landmark case. We have now repaid £200,000+ to hospices in our own cases. It is estimated that £1m has been recovered for hospices nationwide in mesothelioma cases. Now all hospices which receive some funding from voluntary donations are entitled to recover a proportion of those costs where care or other services have been provided in this type of case - providing these charitable institutions with much needed funds.

Raising funds to find a cure

for mesothelioma

We raise funds for mesothelioma research both at St Bart’s Hospital in London and Weston Park Hospital in Sheffield. So far, with the help of the DBL Charitable Trust Committee we have raised over £60,000 for research and treatment of mesothelioma.

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Peter Williams

Head of Asbestos Team

peter.williams@ffw.com 020 7861 4825 Peter is head of the group. He has specialised in asbestos related disease claims for 20 years and he gives annual talks to solicitors on the issues. The legal 500 recommends him as a leading personal injury lawyer who is “universally respected, and superb with clients”.

Caroline Pinfold Partner caroline.pinfold@ffw.com 020 7861 4022 Caroline has specialised in asbestos disease claims for over 25 years. She is a Trustee of the East London Mesothelioma Support Group (ELMS). She is a member of Association of Personal Injury Lawyers and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Medicine. Chambers, a leading legal directory states she is “incredibly hard working, has an eye

for detail and fights very hard for her clients”.

Meet the team

Our mesothelioma and asbestos team act on a ‘no win, no fee’ basis.

We do not expect you to travel to our offices - we are happy to visit you at home

Andrew Morgan Partner andrew.morgan@ffw.com 020 7861 4036 Andrew has specialised in asbestos disease claims since 1993. He is a past coordinator of the Occupational Health Group of the Association of Personal Injury Lawyers (APIL) and is an APIL fellow. The Legal 500 describes Andrew as “clever, hardworking and respected

by opponents”. Dushal Mehta Associate dushal.mehta@ffw.com 020 7861 4033 Dushal specialises in asbestos disease cases, with specific expertise in mesothelioma claims. He joined the firm in 2009 and is a member of the Association of Personal Injury Lawyers. He has developed a reputation for securing early settlements in high profile cases.

The team www.ffw.com/personalinjury Freephone 0800 358 3848

Field Fisher

Waterhouse LLP provides

a ‘first-class’ service to

clients.

The Legal 500 Directory of leading law firms

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