1. Chambers of Grahame Aldous QC DX: 439 Chancery Lane London
Asbestos Update
Stephen Glynn
Chambers of Grahame Aldous QC
9 Gough Square
London
EC4 3DG
(tel)
(fax)
DX: 439 Chancery Lane London

2. Asbestos Litigation - liability
Willmore v Knowsley Metropolitan BC [2009] EWCA Civ 1211
1972 – 1977 as a pupil
Handling of / work on asbestos ceiling tiles in corridors
Damage to tiles from pupils’ misbehaviour
Damage to tiles in girls toilets / storage of broken tiles
Nicol J accepted this caused dust exposure which materially increased the risk of mesothelioma
“any more than minimal exposure to asbestos dust was foreseeably hazardous”

3. Abraham v (1) Ireson & (2) Reynolds
[2009] EWHC 1958 (QB)
D1 exposure:-
Employee to and 6 months 1961/62
Use of asbestos string to caulk joints
“very light and occurred intermittently”
D2 exposure:-
Employee 1962/3 to late 1965
Limited use of asbestos scorch pads when welding
“somewhat more frequent [but] still modest and infrequent”

4. Abraham v (1) Ireson & (2) Reynolds, cont’d
Negligent? No.
Highly unlikely would be aware
Unless special degree of knowledge / experience
Breach of statutory duty? No.
Building (Health Safety & Welfare) Regs 1948
Construction (General Provisions) Regs 1961
“likely to be injurious”
Likely to = implies foreseeability

5. Sienkiewicz (PR for Enid Costello v
Sienkiewicz (PR for Enid Costello v. Greif (UK) Ltd [2009] EWCA Civ 1159
Mesothelioma
Transport clerk 1966 – 1984
Steel drum factory Ellesmere Port
Walked through factory
Exposure to 18% more than environmental exposure

6. Devoy v William Doxford & Sons Ltd [2009] EWHC 1598; 2009 WL 2207439
Mesothelioma quantum case
General Damages
9 to 12 months symptoms
Considered Cameron –v- Vinters Defence Systems Ltd
Award = £59,000
Non-financial dependency:
Wife suffered from Parkinson’s, increasing symptoms
Relied on her husband for care
Award = £330,000
Loss of love and affection from deceased husband
Award £2,000

7. Storey v James Marmon & Son Ltd
(2008) unreported, Liverpool County Court
Mesothelioma quantum case
PSLA:
Aged 78, 6 years life expectancy but for meso
3 months symptoms
Cameron –v- Vinters considered...
And rejected: award = £47,500

8. Dunn v. National Grid Gas Plc, Walsall CC, 13.1.10, LTL, HHJ Gregory
Mesothelioma damages
6 weeks plus symptoms
Court of Appeal not JSB should set awards
£45,000 for PSLA

9. Watson v Cakebread Robey Ltd
[2009] EWHC 1695 (QB); 2009 WL
Claim for living meso victim on ‘lost years’
General Damages:-
57 years old, 24 years life expectancy but for meso
1st Symptoms Oct 2007, death expected Apr 2010
Peritoneal (stomach) mesothelioma
Award = £75,000
Funeral expenses
not recoverable in lifetime
Claimant cannot step into shoes of the estate

10. Limitation Adams v. Bracknell FBC [2004] UKHL,
Section 14 – “mainly" objective test
Whiston v. London Strategic HA [2010] EWCA Civ 195
Cerebal palsy case – wrong forceps
Symptoms stable until late 20s
Issue claim aged 32
Mother a midwife
Was date of knowledge age 18 per Adams?

11. Lord Hoffman in Adams:
“…section 14(3) requires one to assume that a person
who is aware that he has suffered a personal injury,
serious enough to be something about which he would go
and see a solicitor if he knew he had a claim, will be
sufficiently curious about the causes of the injury to seek
whatever expert advice is appropriate”; (para 47)

12. Lord Justice Dyson in Whiston:
“The apparently absolute language of para 47 [in Adams] does appear to lay down a formula to cover every case. But I doubt whether Lord Hoffman intended to be so prescriptive…”
“…If para. 47 is to be understood as Mr De Navarro contends, then if a claimant knows he has a significant injury, he is fixed in all cases with knowledge of such facts as he would have ascertained if he had made appropriate enquiries”
“Thus the court should consider what is reasonably to have been expected of the claimant in all the circumstances of the case…I accept that the decision in Adams requires the court to expect a heightened degree of curiosity of the reasonable claimant that it would do absent section 33…”

13. Government News
Whither the Third Party (Rights Against Insurers) Act 2010?
Pleural plaques claims “already begun” - £5K
Issued or letter of claim?

14. Occupational Health Update
Stephen Glynn
Chambers of Grahame Aldous QC
9 Gough Square
London
EC4 3DG
(tel)
(fax)
DX: 439 Chancery Lane London