Leading industrial disease solicitor Brigitte Chandler, a partner in law firm Charles Lucas & Marshall’s Swindon office, has welcomed a legal ruling meaning people dying from cancer caused by asbestos exposure will not have to pay legal fees out of damages they have been awarded. 
Ms Chandler, pictured, said the move would lift the burden of fear from thousands of sufferers of mesothelioma – often called the ‘Swindon disease’ due to the high number of cases linked to working conditions in the town’s former railworks.
“People ask about legal action because they want to look after their families after they've died, but they're scared by the legal fees. Now they know it won’t cost them anything,” she said.
The High Court has ruled that such a move would have been unlawful. The Asbestos Victims' Support Groups Forum UK had brought the action against the Government who wanted to allow 25% of damages awarded to mesothelioma sufferers to be used to pay legal insurance premiums and costs. These costs had previously been paid by the defendant’s insurers.
Ms Chandler, one of the UK’s leading specialists in asbestos litigation, described the Government plan as unfair and a move designed purely for the benefit of the insurance industry.
“Under the Legal Aid and Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act they were supposed to carry out a formal review,” she said. “But they failed to do so and just tried to change the law. The High Court has declared it unlawful.
“It is obviously good news for mesothelioma victims as it means a continuation of the recovery of success fees and insurance premiums in the foreseeable future.”
A shift in the legal system last year and the Legal Aid Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act (LASPO) moved the responsibility of legal costs from the losing party – for mesothelioma cases this meant invariably the employers’ insurance company – to the person making the claim.
However, people with mesothelioma were exempt from the new rules until there was a full review of the implications for this group of claimants.
