Field Fisher Waterhouse reports record year for Asbestos Claims Group
Released on: February 17, 2009, 3:36 am
Author: Field Fisher Waterhouse
Industry: Law
In 2008, the Asbestos Claims Group at law firm Field
Fisher Waterhouse LLP recovered record levels of compensation for victims of
asbestos-related diseases in 124 successful cases, resulting in over £16
million. Over the years, the lawyers in the firm's Asbestos Claims Group have
recovered a total of £132 million in 2025 successful claims.
Some of the significant asbestos claims cases over the past
year have included:
- Negotiating an award of £703,000 for the widow and family of a 52 year old
partner in an engineering firm who died from mesothelioma following exposure to
asbestos at work. This is amongst only a handful of awards exceeding £500,000
across England and Wales.*
- Winning £100,000 damages (plus legal costs) for a retired teacher who
developed mesothelioma by using drawing pins to pin children's work to the
walls of her prefab classroom, which contained asbestos.**
- In a landmark case the firm recovered £12,500 for the value of hospice care
as part of a £170,000 settlement for a man who worked with asbestos in 1963 and
contracted mesothelioma in 2005. The funding of hospice care is almost
exclusively by charitable donation and this is thought to be the first time a
firm of solicitors has recovered the cost of care in this way.***
- Field Fisher Waterhouse acted for the family of a 75 year old man who died
due to mesothelioma, and who used to take care of his grandchildren after school
in term times. The defendants initially denied that this was compensatable,
since there was no reported precedent for it, however the firm recovered£109,352 at a High Court hearing including £27,960 for the grandchildren's
care.****
The FFW team of asbestos lawyers has also been actively lobbying the House of
Commons, requesting that the Government overturn the House of Lords ruling that
pleural plaques - a scarring of the lining of the lungs as a result of exposure
to asbestos - is not a compensatable disease. The team also responded to the
Ministry of Justice's consultation on the Law Lords' pleural plaques ruling.
Asbestos-related diseases affect thousands of people in the UK each year.
Factory workers and labourers are amongst those who are commonly affected, but
Field Fisher Waterhouse has also acted on behalf of professionals such as
doctors, nurses and teachers who have been exposed to asbestos through their
work. Field Fisher Waterhouse LLP is a leader in the field of Asbestos Claims.
Rodney Nelson-Jones, head of the Asbestos Claims group at Field Fisher
Waterhouse, said: "I am delighted that in 2008 we were able to win over £16
million in compensation for the victims of these terrible diseases. It is
crucial that sufferers and their families receive the compensation they
deserve."
About Field Fisher Waterhouse
Field Fisher Waterhouse LLP is a full-service European law firm with offices in
Brussels, Hamburg and London. With 119 partners, over 200 other lawyers and
nearly 300 support staff, FFW assist a wide range of international clients,
advising across a full range of legal issues.
The main areas of practice are corporate and commercial, IP and technology,
banking and finance, regulatory and real estate. Field Fisher Waterhouse LLP
also have particular expertise in competition & EU law, dispute resolution,
employment, asbestos claims and mesothelioma claims, personal injury, spinal injury cases and medical
negligence,
public sector and tax.
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For further press information please contact:
Louise Eckersley
PR Manager
Field Fisher Waterhouse LLP
35 Vine Street
London
EC3N 2AA
United Kingdom
020 7861 4120
www.personalinjury.ffw.com
2025
