January - March 2018

The Asbestos Newsletter

Welcome...Welcome to our January to March 2018 Asbestos Newsletter.

I’m very proud of the work our asbestos teams have been doing over the last several months.

As part of this edition, I would like to share an example of a recent case of mine involving Mr Godfrey Currier who was diagnosed with mesothelioma.

Madelene HoldsworthHead of Industrial Disease

He was initially sceptical about the process and cautious about involving solicitors.

Mr Currier was exposed to asbestos when he worked as an apprentice joiner for Johnston Brothers in Shropshire. Part of Mr Currier’s job involved making moulds for concrete. These moulds were made from timber but each mould had one small square of an asbestos sheet in the base. Mr Currier’s exposure to asbestos was limited to less than two years of scoring and snapping or occasionally cutting the asbestos sheets to form the

base of these concrete sections.

I visited Mr Currier and his family at home on a couple of occasions to get full information of his exposure to asbestos and his condition for his witness statement.

After exhaustive and extensive searches, we also managed to locate an estranged colleague and friend of Mr Currier, who also provided witness evidence about the exposure which took place at Johnston Brothers.

With this additional evidence, we managed to secured Mr Currier a six figure compensation award

within six months.

Mr Currier was delighted with his settlement and commented:

“If I had not contacted Slater and Gordon I would not have the comfort that will enable me to enjoy the rest of my life and not worry about where the money is coming from.”

Should you wish to contact Madelene Holdsworth, please email madelene.holdsworth@slatergordon.co.uk

Mr Godfrey Currier and Johnston Brothers, Shropshire

Mr Godfrey Currier developed mesothelioma approximately 12 months before he instructed Slater and Gordon to investigate a claim for compensation on his behalf.

Mr Currier took our details from the fantastic ‘Asbestos Support Central England’ charity who had assisted Mr Currier in getting Government benefits in respect of his condition.

Lawyer In the Spotlight

Meet Pauline Chandler Principal Lawyer Manchester office

Q: Tell us a little bit about what you do at Slater and Gordon.

I’ve spent my entire professional life, 45 years or so, fighting for compensation for people who’ve been injured at work.

For many years I’ve specialised in industrial disease claims – asbestos and other lung diseases, nasal cancer from wood dust, bladder cancer from chemicals, dermatitis from oil and other skin irritants, VWF from vibrating tools and neurological damage from solvent exposure. There’s such a wide range of horrible diseases that working people are exposed to.

I also train and supervise other members of the team. I like to help them develop a commitment to this kind of work rather than simply treating it as a job.

Q: What inspired you to become a lawyer?

My dad left school at age 15 when his father died, as he had to work to support his mother and sister. He never had the opportunity of going to University or becoming a lawyer which he would have loved.

He became a personnel manager for the Co-op and told many tales of wage negotiations with trade unions that involved all sorts of trades and factories. He was the one who encouraged me to be a lawyer because legal training would stand me in good stead for many other occupations but he always said I would have to work twice as hard as any man to get anywhere - and he was right.

There weren’t many female lawyers around when I left University.I applied to work for the biggest trade union firm in the country but was rejected, not once but twice, because I was a woman. Fortunately, they relented and I went on to become their first female Partner.

Whilst there I worked with the amazing and truly inspirational The Rt. Hon. Dame Janet Smith, DBE both when she was a junior barrister and when

she was a QC. She fought my landmark welders lung case of Knox and oths v Cammell Laird which went to a four week trial. She later became a High Court Judge and when sitting in the Court of Appeal heard my case of Cookson v Novartis – a very difficult bladder cancer case which went in my clients favour. I’ve recently settled four more bladder cancer cases against the same company, previously known as Clayton Aniline.

I’ve also had the privilege of working with other inspirational legal women over the years including The Rt. Hon. Baroness Hale of Richmond DBE, now the President of the Supreme Court – who was my family law tutor at Manchester University and who sat on the Court of Appeal which heard my mesothelioma case of Jeromson v Shell; and The Hon. Dame Caroline Jane Swift, Lady Openshaw DBE who went on to become a High Court Judge and adjudicated on my case of Sabin v BR (a landmark case which changed the criteria for determining what dose of asbestos might be required to cause asbestosis). I’ve had the pleasure and privilege of working with so many truly amazing women during over my 45 years in law.

Q: What do you enjoy the most about your role?

I love my job because it’s not just a job. It’s much more than that. It’s intellectually stimulating but also rewarding because we’re representing vulnerable people.

Q: To date, what’s your greatest achievement during your career as a lawyer?

I’ve been lucky enough to have won quite a few cases that have become precedents in industrial disease law but probably the most rewarding was the case of a young man who drank cleaning fluid out of a lemonade bottle. It burnt away his insides leaving him permanently disabled and unable to eat through his mouth. His vomit in the ambulance took the paint off the ambulance floor. Previous solicitors had not been able pursue the case because they couldn’t find any relevant insurers and by the time I did, he was practically suicidal. He said I’d saved his life. There can’t be any greater reward than that.

Q: What do you do in your spare time?

In my spare time, I do a bit of gardening and some grandparenting and I’m addicted to Coronation Street and Eastenders.

Law Update

What our clients say

Here’s some recent feedback from one of our clients.

Thank you for all your hard work through what was a very difficult and sad case for us. You persevered when we hit challenging obstacles and we are very pleased with the result you achieved for us. Your staff were always very understanding and supportive. We feel that you offered us a personalised service in a careful and sensitive way. Your knowledge in relation to mesothelioma is clearly extensive. We could not have asked for a better service.

Mrs W, South Wales

is public buildings, asbestos removal regimes and the like. The meetings are informative and educational and invariably include a presentation as well as informed and actioned discussions. The last meeting took place on Thursday, 18 January 2018 and was chaired by Dawn Bowden A.M. The meeting included an informative and interesting presentation by John Evans of Santia Asbestos Management Limited, on asbestos in schools and public buildings. It’s clear even now that it’s not certain that a full picture of the size of the problem is properly understood.

The presentation led naturally in to discussions upon securing and completing a comprehensive removal program. It showed yet again how this is still very much with us today and the discussions which take place at this forum are the first steps to hopefully lead to legislation to tackle and expedite resolution of asbestos related problems. The realisation that asbestos will inevitably claim further victims for years to come, decades after its deadly nature first became widely known, is brought into sharper focus. The Cross-Party Group raises awareness of asbestos related issues in an

open forum and informs the Welsh Assembly Government via the AMs themselves and via NGOs in order that these issues can be properly considered and addressed by the Government. The Senedd building has provided a stunning backdrop to a number of national mesothelioma events but of far more importance is the work that is being pursued quietly in its corridors and chambers.

Should you wish to contact John Browne,please email john.browne@slatergordon.co.uk

An update on the Wales Cross Party Group meeting

The Welsh Assembly Government Cross-Party Asbestos Group meet in the Welsh Senedd building several times a year. It brings together assembly members, specialist legal practitioners and other key parties including Trade Union activists and officials, medical professionals and engineering experts in order to discuss and implement policy in respect of all issues regarding asbestos such as regulation, asbestos in schools, asbestos

Article by Julian Cason

kitchen with all the previous dates chronologically and methodically crossed through neatly in biro. However, the very last four days remained untouched.

Nothing they’d said was as visceral or as powerful as seeing that calendar. It helped me understand a little how time for that family really had stood still since receiving the diagnosis.

It’s the cruelty of a latency period spanning many decades that ensures asbestos diseases can’t yet be confined to the history of black and white Pathé newsreels. Instead far too many families still have to cope with the enormity and devastation of such similar diagnoses today.

This is why support groups are so invaluable. They do exactly what it says on the tin! Slater and Gordon are involved with many of these groups. These include for instance Asbestos Awareness and Support Cymru, driven so ably by Jo and Lorna and aimed at helping sufferers in Wales. AASC rightly take great pride in offering unfettered access to a friendly voice at any hour of the day, aside from all their other

activities and campaigning.

Most recently we’ve also become one of the approved solicitors for HASAG. This group provides rallying points for those based along the south coast and in southern counties of England. Lynne and her colleagues offer venues for comradeship and practical support to those directly affected by asbestos conditions. Whether benefits advice, visits to the group from specialist nurses or celebratory Christmas meals, the support comes in all forms!

It would be trite to say that a mesothelioma diagnosis is anything less than a life changing event. Yet perversely perhaps the very act of joining up with others similarly touched by these conditions allows the illness to recede a little and become less of an all-encompassing and overwhelming experience.

At my last HASAG meeting, one of its members, and no spring chicken at that, described his first abseil the year before to raise much needed funds. He said his only regret was that he didn’t pause and look around enough as he made his descent. He’s

already committed to rectifying that omission this year!

Hitching a rope to the side of a building is not a mandatory requirement for membership of any of these groups! You may feel like nothing more adventurous than sharing a hob-nob with friends. But as a contact point for companionship and practical, rolled-up sleeves support, these and other similar groups around the country are an invaluable resource, and one that will almost certainly sadly still be needed for many years to come.

There are glimmers below the horizon of better days ahead in the fight against mesothelioma, particularly with immunotherapy research. But whilst the armoury remains limited, support groups are in the vanguard of this battle and one of the best ways to feel that time is something that must still be spent and hopefully enjoyed, rather than ever just endured.

Should you wish to contact Julian Cason,please email julian.cason@slatergordon.co.uk

Time doesn’t have to stop

Sometimes it’s the mundane that continues to haunt. Many years back I visited a family who were quietly reeling from the confirmation of a recent discovery of mesothelioma. In the course of our conversation they told me that they’d only received the news four days earlier.

As I was leaving, I saw a calendar in the corner of their

dinner will go to PRASAG, Mesothelioma UK and Mick Knighton Mesothelioma UK Research Fund.

Samantha Cox, who set up PRASAG in October 2015 in memory of her father Paul Redhead, has been instrumental in organising this event.

Samantha’s personal experience of mesothelioma after caring for her father during his illness, highlighted to her the need for a holistic approach, encompassing emotional, physical, social and financial well-being. She was assisted in this

mission by Leah Taylor (clinical nurse specialist at Mesothelioma UK) reaching out to sufferers, supporters and families through their work with PRASAG.

The evening itself promises to be a fabulous event comprising of three course dinner and auction with a grand draw.

For tickets or further information, contact Samantha Cox on 07929 391529 or email prasag@outlook.com

Supporting PRASAG’s Grand Prix Dinner

Slater and Gordon are delighted to be supporting the Grand Prix Dinner hosted by Rob Smedley, F1 Williams’ Head of Performance Engineering, on Saturday, 2 June 2018 at the Bishop Suite, Ramside Hall, Durham. All proceeds from this charity

go, and our Cardiff team had prepared a special quiz (and prizes) to help raise as much money as possible for this fantastic cause.

However Storm Emma had other ideas. The snow struck full force in Cardiff and unfortunately the Cardiff office closed for safety reasons.

Although the event could not go ahead as planned on Friday, 2 March 2018 we are now planning to host the event in early April. We’ll keep you posted on the progress, funds raised, and of course, the winners of the quiz.

The Big Welsh Brew affected by the Beast from the East

Our Cardiff industrial disease team had planned to take part in the Big Welsh Brew for raise money for St David’s Hospice Care on Friday, 2 March2018.

The bakers were poised, tea and coffee ready to

Charity Update

0800 884 9011slatergordon.co.uk

Slater and Gordon (UK) LLP is authorised and regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority. www.slatergordon.co.uk

12KBW and Mavis Nye Foundation Seminar

Asbestos lawyers from our London, Manchester and Cambridge offices attended the annual 12KBW asbestos seminar on Wednesday, 21 March 2018.

Excellent talks were presented by members of 12KBW Chambers, as well as by Mesothelioma UK and meso warrior Mavis Nye. The event raised

funds for the Mavis Nye Foundation and was a well-attended and hugely successful day.