Latest Disease Blogs | Ropewalk Chambers

26 February 2021 - Written by Kam Jaspal

Long Covid: An Industrial Disease?

Long Covid is the term used to describe the lasting effects of contracting COVID-19 and has been referred to as the “hidden health crisis of the pandemic”. There is growing support for Long Covid (also known as...

24 February 2021 - Written by Nicholas Robinson

Aerotoxicity Litigation: The Global Cabin Air Quality Executive Launches a 'Clean Air Campaign'

A global campaign has been launched to mandate the introduction of filtration and warning systems on commercial aircraft and address concerns over alleged ‘aerotoxic syndrome’. The ‘Aerotoxicity Litigation’ ...

19 January 2021 - Written by Thomas Herbert

Court of Appeal Considers 'Lost Years' Claims in Head v The Culver Heating Co Ltd

In a judgment handed down on 18 January 2021 in Head v The Culver Heating Co Ltd [2021] EWCA Civ 34, the Court of Appeal unanimously allowed an appeal against the decision of HHJ Melissa Clarke dismissing the Claimant's 'lost years' claim. The judge had dismi...

18 January 2021 - Written by Jessica Woodliffe

Latest Instalment in Insurers' Challenge to CRU Provisions

In R (on the application of (1) Aviva Insurance Ltd (2) Swiss Reinsurance Company Ltd) v The Secretary of State for Work and Pensions [2021] EWHC 30 (Admin), Henshaw J dealt with certain consequential matters arising from his ...

17 December 2020 - Written by Thomas Herbert

Inquest Concludes that Air Pollution Exposure Contributed to Child's Death

On 16 December 2020, HM Assistant Coroner for Inner South London, Philip Barlow, concluded that “air pollution exposure” was a contributory cause of nine-year-old Ella Adoo Kissi-Debrah’s death in 2013. This is the first time that a coroner ...

14 December 2020 - Written by Abigail Scott

IIAC Announces Review of the Relationship Between Respiratory Diseases and Occupational Exposures

The Industrial Injuries Advisory Council (IIAC) has announced its intention to conduct a review of selected malignant and non-malignant respiratory diseases and their relationships with occupational exposures. The IIAC is the advis...

9 December 2020 - Written by Gareth McAloon & Alex Denton

Proposed Claim on behalf of Ex-Rugby Players with Early Onset Dementia

Followers of our Disease Blog may have noticed a slight trend in some of our posts which have focused on the potential for future claims for damages in respect of early onset dementia and Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (“CTE”) for ex-sportsmen and s...

30 November 2020 - Written by Jessica Woodliffe

Certain Compensation Recovery Unit Payments Declared Incompatible with the European Convention on Human Rights

In R (on the application of (1) Aviva Insurance Ltd (2) Swiss Reinsurance Company Ltd) v The Secretary of State for Work and Pensions [2020] EWHC 3118 (Admin), the Claimants challenged the unintended and onerous consequences of the Compensation Recovery Unit ...

24 November 2020 - Written by Richard Seabrook & Jessica Woodliffe

Occupational Stress in the Coronavirus Pandemic: What Has Changed?

The coronavirus pandemic has transformed the way many of us work. This blog post primarily considers the potential implications of home working on occupational stress claims by looking closely at the key case law in this area. Some observations are also offered as to ...

20 November 2020 - Written by Gareth McAloon

Asbestos in Schools

It may be recalled that we previously blogged on asbestos in schools in June 2020. In that feature, we reported that the Department for Education’s survey, l...

18 November 2020 - Written by Gareth McAloon

Permission to Appeal Refused in Holmes v S&B Concrete Ltd [2020] EWHC 2277 (QB)

The Court of Appeal has refused the Claimant permission to appeal the decision of Martin Spencer J in Holmes v S&B Concrete Ltd [2020] EWHC 2277 (QB). Philip Godfrey analys...

17 November 2020 - Written by Jack McCracken & Sarah Hopkinson

A Look at Two US Cases on Potential Liability for COVID-19

Jack McCracken and Sarah Hopkinson revisit the question of liability for COVID-19 infections, this ti...

6 November 2020 - Written by Patrick Limb QC & Kam Jaspal

Paris: Match Postponed

Last month nothing happened and that matters. The International Conference on Concussion in Sport (organised by the Concussion in Sport Group) is a key meeting at which, on a broadly quadrennial basis, a group of approximately 40 e...

3 November 2020 - Written by Richard Seabrook

The Correct Application of the Judicial College Guidelines to the Assessment of Damages for Asbestosis and Pleural Thickening

In Hamilton v NG Bailey Ltd [2020] EWHC 2910 (QB), the High Court sought clarity from the editors of the Judicial College Guidelines for the Assessment of General Damages in Personal Injury Cases (the "JC Guidelines") about their proper applicat...

26 October 2020 - Written by Thomas Herbert

Occupational Bladder Cancer: Is There a Link Between Occupation and Severity?

A peer-reviewed study published on 21 October 2020 by academics from the University of Sheffield suggests that workers exposed to diesel fumes or who undertake plumbing, gas f...

23 October 2020

Ropewalk Chambers One of Only Four Sets Ranked for Industrial Disease in Chambers & Partners 2021

Following our recent success in the Legal 500 2021, Chambers' expertise in the field of industrial dis...

21 October 2020 - Written by Alex Denton

Footballer's Death Attributed to Dementia Induced by Professional Football

Last week HM Senior Coroner John Gittins found that the death of former international footballer, Alan Jarvis, was caused by his participation in professional sport. During the 1960s and 1970s, Mr Jarvis played for Everton, Hull Ci...

6 October 2020 - Written by Patrick Limb QC

The Sins of the Father: A Note on the Liability of Parent Companies

When considering claims against parent companies, a useful starting-point is the digest provided by Sales LJ (as he then was) in AAA v Unilever plc [2018] BCC 959 at [36]: “There is no special...

5 October 2020 - Written by Gareth McAloon

Asbestos Training Numbers Plummet During Lockdown as HSE Targets the Construction Industry Again

Even during the strange times of this pandemic, there has been a persistent desire to ensure that awareness of asbestos risks is maintained. There is no doubt, however, that the pandemic has curtailed those endeavours. Large sections of the workforce have been pl...

3 October 2020 - Written by Philip Turton

Nivolumab and Ipilimumab Approved as Immunotherapy Treatments in the USA

On 2 October 2020, the American Food & Drug Administration approved a combination of nivolumab (OPDIVO, Bristol-Myers Squibb Co) and ipilimumab (YERVOY, Bristol-Myers Squibb Co) as a first-line treatment for adults with unresectable mesothelioma. Randomi...

1 October 2020 - Written by Jessica Woodliffe

Obtaining Your Own Expert Evidence After Instructing a Single Joint Expert

In Hinson v Hare Realizations Ltd [2020] EWHC 2386 (QB), the High Court reaffirmed the factors relevant to an application to abandon a single joint expert report and rely on one’s own expert evidence. To read the judgment, please click ...

30 September 2020

Ropewalk Chambers Cited as a Go-To Set for Industrial Disease in the Legal 500 2021

Chambers' expertise in the field of industrial disease has been acknowledged in the latest edition of the Legal 500. Along with our description as a "go-to" set for industrial disease, Jayne Adams QC...

24 September 2020 - Written by Philip Turton

Showing Cause: Getting What You Want in the Asbestos List

Practice Direction 3D provides for an expedited system of civil procedure to be applied to claims for damages for mesothelioma. In practice it is now applied by the High Court Masters to all asbestos claims. One of its significant innovations is the “Show Ca...

24 August 2020 - Written by Philip Godfrey

Limitation in Disease Cases Where the Defendant is Insolvent

The High Court has handed down judgment in the case of Holmes v S & B Concrete Ltd [2020] EWHC 2277 (QB), holding that a Claimant bringing a claim for personal injury cannot generally rely upon the provisions of the Companies Act 2006 to avoid a...

3 June 2020 - Written by Kam Jaspal

Asbestos Claims Update

In this article, Kam Jaspal provides an update on asbestos litigation in the time of the COVID-19 pandemic and summarises recent developments in the area, from asbestos in schools to low exposure claims and limitation. As...

18 May 2020 - Written by Jack McCracken & Sarah Hopkinson

Liability of Employers for COVID-19

Jack McCracken and Sarah Hopkinson have published a series of five articles addressing possible liabi...

6 May 2020 - Written by Gareth McAloon

Silica: The Next Asbestos?

In July 2019, the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Respiratory Health, in partnership with not-for-profit organisation B&CE, commenced an enquiry into the issue of silicosis in the construction industry. The ...

8 March 2020 - Written by Gareth McAloon

Restoration of Companies to the Register in NIHL claims

The Court of Appeal recently handed down a decision of particular interest in noise-induced hearing loss ("NIHL") claims. Cowley v LW Carlisle & Company Ltd [2020] EWCA Civ 227 deals with the thorny issue of restoration of a company to the ...

24 February 2020 - Written by Gareth McAloon

Dupuytren's Contracture is Now a Prescribed Disease

On 19 September 2019, the Social Security (Industrial Injuries) (Prescribed Disease) Amendment Regulations 2019 were tabled in Parliament. They came into force on ...

29 November 2019 - Written by Patrick Limb QC & Gareth McAloon

Unanimous Decision in Mackenzie v Alcoa Manufacturing (GB) Ltd

Patrick Limb QC & Gareth McAloon have suceeded in the Court of Appeal for the Appellant in ...

Ropewalk Chambers has, over many decades, established a market-leading reputation for detailed and specialist expertise in the field of Industrial Disease litigation.

Whether asbestos, noise, dust, vibration, stress or any other insidious process, including those which are newly emerging, its members have consistently appeared in the leading cases, determining the limits of liability, causation and quantum at first instance and appellate level.

Work is distributed within Chambers to enable Members of Chambers to represent both Claimants and Defendants in this field.

To find out more about our Disease barristers, click here.

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