Blogs Archive

A peer-reviewed study published on 21 October 2020 by academics from the University of Sheffield suggests that workers exposed to diesel fumes or who undertake plumbing, gas fitting, ventilation and welding work may be more likely to suffer from high-grade and high-stage bladder cancers. This finding, albeit from a small-scale study that requires validation, is of…

In Needle v Swallowfield plc [2020] EWHC 2759 (QB), the High Court considered the Manual Handling Operations Regulations 1992 and reiterated that risk of injury is a context-specific question. The Court must have regard to the particular place of employment and the particular employees involved, including their training and experience, in deciding whether a workplace…

Following our recent success in the Legal 500 2021, Chambers’ expertise in the field of industrial disease has again been acknowledged in the latest edition of Chambers & Partners. We are one of only four sets across all circuits to be ranked for Industrial Disease work. Jayne Adams QC and Patrick Limb QC are also individually ranked. The…

Last week HM Senior Coroner John Gittins found that the death of former international footballer, Alan Jarvis, was caused by his participation in professional sport. During the 1960s and 1970s, Mr Jarvis played for Everton, Hull City and Mansfield Town, as well as securing international caps for Wales. He died in 2019 from Alzheimer’s disease,…

Adverse inferences are means by which at least an evidential burden can be placed on the Defendant’s side of the litigation fence. They can be drawn where there is a failure to call witnesses that are available or to adduce documents that should be available. In the personal injury arena, there have been efforts to…

The Fatal Accidents Act 1976 (Remedial) Order 2020 (“the Order”) came into force on 6 October 2020. The effect of the Order is to extend the eligibility for bereavement damages under section 1A of the Fatal Accidents Act 1976 (“the Act”) to cohabiting partners, provided that such partners are able to satisfy the same criteria…

When considering claims against parent companies, a useful starting-point is the digest provided by Sales LJ (as he then was) in AAA v Unilever plc [2018] BCC 959 at [36]: “There is no special doctrine in the law of tort of legal responsibility on the part of a parent company in relation to the activities…

Even during the strange times of this pandemic, there has been a persistent desire to ensure that awareness of asbestos risks is maintained. There is no doubt, however, that the pandemic has curtailed those endeavours. Large sections of the workforce have been placed on furlough and redundancies may well follow.  It was thus unsurprising to see, in…

On 2 October 2020, the American Food & Drug Administration approved a combination of nivolumab (OPDIVO, Bristol-Myers Squibb Co) and ipilimumab (YERVOY, Bristol-Myers Squibb Co) as a first-line treatment for adults with unresectable mesothelioma. Randomised open-label trials suggest an improvement in overall survival in the order of approximately 25% when compared with chemotherapy. The full announcement is…

In Hinson v Hare Realizations Ltd [2020] EWHC 2386 (QB), the High Court reaffirmed the factors relevant to an application to abandon a single joint expert report and rely on one’s own expert evidence. To read the judgment, please click here. Background The Claimant claimed that in the 1970s and 1980s, while working in a…

Chambers’ expertise in the field of industrial disease has been acknowledged in the latest edition of the Legal 500. Along with our description as a “go-to” set for industrial disease, Jayne Adams QC and Patrick Limb QC‘s appearance in the country’s first beryllium poisoning case is expressly cited, as is Richard Gregory‘s heavy NIHL workload. The full…

Practice Direction 3D provides for an expedited system of civil procedure to be applied to claims for damages for mesothelioma. In practice it is now applied by the High Court Masters to all asbestos claims. One of its significant innovations is the “Show Cause” procedure. In this article, Philip Turton examines the rules which apply…