MESOTHELIOMA CLAIM – FAST TRACK PROCEDURE

Mr E of Portsmouth contacted us in June 2006 having just been diagnosed as suffering from mesothelioma.

He had worked in the drawing office at Vosper Thornycroft’s shipyard in Portsmouth between 1969 and 1990 and previously he had been employed as a shipwright at two shipyards in the North of England between 1953 and 1959.

We arranged to visit our client at his home to take a detailed statement of his evidence and to obtain all the necessary information from him in relation to his medical condition and the potential claim for financial losses. We visited Mr E on 5 July 2006 and submitted letters of claim to the three potential Defendants on 10 July 2006. We then obtained our client’s medical records and instructed Dr Robin Rudd of Harley Street, one of the country’s foremost experts on asbestos conditions, to consider the records and prepare a medical report on the papers. We received the medical report from Dr Rudd on 22 August 2006. Dr Rudd’s medical report confirmed the diagnosis of malignant mesothelioma and that this was caused by occupational exposure to asbestos. We disclosed Dr Rudd's medical report to the Defendants’ insurers and invited them to put forward their settlement proposals for our client’s claim. No offers were forthcoming. The insurers for Vosper Thornycroft Ltd denied that Mr E could have been exposed to asbestos during his employment at their Porchester Yard and, as Mr E’s evidence was not strong on this point, we decided to pursue the claim against the remaining two Defendants, Richard Dunston (Hessle) Ltd and Smiths Dock Ltd. As Mr E had a limited life expectancy speed was of the essence and we therefore started the court proceedings at the Royal Courts of Justice in London to take advantage of the fast track procedure for mesothelioma claims. The court proceedings were commenced on 22 November 2006 and served on the Defendants on 12 December 2006. The matter was listed for a directions hearing, which took place by way of a telephone conference, on 18 January 2007. At this hearing Master Whittaker entered Judgment against Smiths Dock and ordered them to make an interim payment to Mr E £47,000. He also ordered that Mr E’s evidence should be taken on oath prior to the assessment of damages hearing fixed for 28 February 2007. We made arrangements for Mr E’s evidence to be given on oath at a local hotel in Portsmouth on 13 February 2007. In advance of this meeting we evaluated Mr E’s claim and put forward settlement proposals. On 13 February Smiths Dock made an offer to settle Mr E’s claim for £83,000 in addition to the interim payment he had already received of £47,000, making the total damages he received £130,000.

The claim was therefore concluded in just under nine months from Mr E’s first contact with our office. In this case the speed of concluding the claim was particularly important as Mr E was a single man with no dependent family and, consequently, if the claim had not settled in his lifetime it would have resulted in a reduction in the value of the claim by approximately £68,000. Mr E was very happy with the settlement of his claim, which enabled him to enjoy a number of holidays before his condition deteriorated. He also had the peace of mind that he now had the means to pay for any care he required at the end of his illness, as he did not have any close family who could provide this care for him.