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PI Brief Update

Heneghan v Manchester Dry Docks Ltd & Others - Nick Pargeter, BLM

13/12/14. In a successful BLM asbestos-related lung cancer case, the High Court has today held that where the claimant has been exposed to asbestos in breach of duty by more than one defendant, and no defendant is responsible for more than half the total cumulative exposure, damages should be apportioned in line with the relative share of exposure. Damages in asbestos-related lung cancer cases are divisible.

The deceased died from asbestos-related lung cancer in January 2013. He was exposed to asbestos by ten employers. Of these, six were sued by the claimant. The deceased worked for these six (the defendants) between 1961 and 1974. Asbestos exposure with the defendants accounted for 35.2% of the deceased’s total asbestos exposure. Liability was admitted. If the defendants were liable in full, damages totalled £175,000. 35.2% of damages equalled £61,600. The sole issue for the High Court was whether the defendants were liable for damages in full (as the claimant argued), or in proportion to their 32.5% share of exposure (as the defendants submitted).

As Jay J observed, this issue has not been dealt with by previous authority...

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The opinions expressed in the articles are the authors' own, not those of Law Brief Publishing Ltd, and are not necessarily commensurate with general legal or medico-legal expert consensus of opinion and/or literature. Any medical content is not exhaustive but at a level for the non-medical reader to understand. 

Professional advice should always be obtained before applying any information to particular circumstances.

Excerpts from judgments and statutes are Crown copyright. Any Crown Copyright material is reproduced with the permission of the Controller of OPSI and the Queen’s Printer for Scotland under the Open Government Licence.