Industrial Disease Action
We recently acted for the Estate of a miner who had died three years previously from the asbestos related condition, mesothelioma.
The deceased had been a miner for the whole of his working life and after he died, his son instructed a well known personal injury firm to bring a claim in respect of his father’s death against the National Coal Board. After many months and after very little action, those solicitors informed the deceased’s son that they did not believe that there was any direct evidence supporting a claim and confirmed that they could therefore no longer act.
The deceased's son then approached us and spoke to one of our experienced industrial disease lawyers. He immediately recognised that the claim may be “statute barred”, i.e. out of time, but despite this obvious hurdle, he decided to consider the matter further. He reviewed his former solicitors’ file and concluded there was good evidence to support a link between exposure to asbestos and the mesothelioma, the cause of the deceased’s death. So we informed the deceased’s son that despite the fact the claim be out of time, we would be prepared to act on behalf of the Estate in a claim and would do so under a Conditional Fee Agreement.
We issued legal proceedings against the National Coal Board’s trustees whose solicitors promptly applied to have the claim struck out particularly because it was out of time. On the day before the hearing of the Defendant’s Application to strike out the case, they made an offer of significant compensation to settle our client’s case. After brief negotiation, and on our advice, our client accepted an increased offer in full and final settlement of its claim. Below is an extract from the deceased’s son to us:
"On behalf of myself and all my family we would like to thank you and your company for the very satisfying outcome to this case, you stepped in to help us at very short notice when our previous solicitors dropped the case and other solicitors in our local area would not help us in our fight for justice. You and your company have shown professionalism and very high standards throughout this case".