2006 saw FFW recover £10 million in compensation for asbestos victims
01 February 2007
In 2006, the Personal Injury
Practice at Field Fisher Waterhouse LLP (FFW) recovered over £10
million in compensation for victims of asbestos-related
diseases in 87 successful cases. The lawyers in FFW’s Personal
Injury Practice have recovered over £106 million in 1800 successful
claims.
Some of the significant cases over the past year have
included:
- FFW won a £400,000 damages payout in the High Court for a
carpenter who has mesothelioma, an asbestos-related cancer on the
lining of the lungs or abdomen. This was believed to be one of the
highest ever payouts made in such a case and it allowed the
claimant, Amarjeet Singh Dahele to continue treatment with the drug
Alimta which was not available to him through the NHS.
- FFW represented an 83-year-old man who had developed
mesothelioma from time spent working as an apprentice in the
mechanical department at Beckton Gas Works. FFW recovered £107,500
in compensation for the man, which took into account that his wife,
for whom he had been the full-time carer, had to be moved into a
home following the development of his disease.
- In March, FFW recovered further damages worth £385,000 for a
former lagger, who suffers from asbestosis, a serious,
long-term lung disease caused by inhaling asbestos dust over a
period of time. His condition had seriously deteriorated since FFW
recovered provisional damages for him in 1990.
- FFW represented a former BT installation engineer, who had
developed mesothelioma whilst working for the company for 14
years. Sadly, the claimant died in April 2005, but left a
widow who carried on with the claim. FFW recovered £148,000 in
compensation from BT who also paid the claimant’s legal fees.
- Asbestos-related diseases affect thousands of people in the UK
each year. Factory workers and labourers are amongst those who are
commonly affected, but FFW have also acted on behalf of
professionals such as doctors, nurses and teachers who have been
exposed to asbestos through their work.
Rodney
Nelson-Jones, head of the Personal Injury
Practice at FFW, said: “I am delighted that in 2006 we were able to
win over £10 million in compensation for the victims of these
terrible diseases. It is crucial that sufferers and their families
receive the compensation they deserve.”
For further press information please contact:
Louise Eckersley, PR Executive on +44 (0)20 7861 4120
Scarlett Yianni, PR Assistant on +44 (0)20 7861 4968