Product liability: claimant

Senior Partner

Mark Harvey is a Partner in the claimant division. He has obtained compensation for many individual victims of common but defective consumer products as well as victims of accidents overseas and arising out of travel generally.Mark is the court appointed lead solicitor coordinating over 1,000 claimants in a group litigation order (GLO) arising out of the recall and health alert relating to the French manufacturer’s PIP silicone breast implants. He is also the lead solicitor in the Wright Medical Conserve metal on metal hip GLO as well as a member of the claimants’ steering committees in both the Pinnacle and Zimmer metal on metal hip GLOs. He is responsible for leading claims concerning various injuries and complaints from medical devices. He negotiated a settlement protocol for patients who alleged visual problems from their cataract remedial intraocular lenses as well as obtaining compensation for one individual who complained of a defective hip prosthesis, and another who suffered injury from a piece of aircraft furniture in a first class cabin. He is currently investigating new claims relating to hearing implants and two other cataract remedial intraocular lenses complaints.Mark has represented victims in many travel disasters, including Zeebrugge, Clapham, P&O Lifeboat accident in Cherbourg, the Maidenhead rail fire and the Ufton Nervet rail crossing accident. He was a member of the Steering Committees for both the Southall and Ladbroke Grove rail crashes. He is currently representing the passengers and driver of the Edwards’ Coaches bus crash in Switzerland who are pursuing claims against the Swiss insurers of the lorry that caused the accident.Mark successfully concluded claims on behalf of the foreign victims of an air accident concerning four separate countries and obtained Euro compensation for the foreign victims of an explosion at sea this time involving three separate countries and their jurisdictions. He is helping British citizens with accidents they sustained in various European and African countries as well as providing expert advice to and representation of clients of lawyers from overseas jurisdictions.He represented the first professional rugby player to successfully sue another for an incident arising from an international rugby game when he represented Wales professional forward Ricky Evans in suing Oliver Merle of France following a France versus Wales rugby game. He negotiated substantial compensation for another first class rugby player who suffered a career ending injury after losing an eye in a rugby match. He continues to lecture extensively on sports related injuries as well as harmful products and overseas accident law.ExpertiseDisaster claimsAccidents abroadProduct liabilityProfessional negligenceGroup action claimsMark is former President of Cardiff & District Law Society, past member of the Civil Justice Council and is past secretary of the Association of Personal Injury Lawyers (APIL). He is also one of the two UK Governors of the American Association for Justice (AAJ); Co-Chair of their International Practice Section and a Fellow of APIL. Mark was recently accredited by APIL as accidents and illnesses abroad specialist and was appointed an assessor to the same scheme.

Partner  

Partner

Jill specialises in product liability cases, international claims and multi-party actions. Jill has significant experience bringing product liability actions, having worked on the oral contraceptive pill litigation, the DePuy Hylamer group litigation, and the dopamine agonist litigation, as well as successfully settling a number of individual product liability claims. Jill has been involved with a number of Leigh Day’s high profile international group claims, including claims in Kenya, the Ivory Coast and Swaziland. More recently, she successfully represented a group of companies who suffered property damage and serious business interruption following the Buncefield Oil Explosion. Jill currently leads a team of solicitors and paralegals dealing with a wide variety of consumer claims and product liability matters, as well as claims arising out of people’s involvement in clinical trials. Jill’s metal on metal hip claim cases include those relating to the Biomet M2a-38 and Biomet M2a-Magnum, Corin Cormet, and Wright Conserve devices. She also represents people who have been implanted with certain models of Medtronic Sprint Fidelis and St Jude Medical Riata heart defibrillator leads. Jill also acts for a group of women who have suffered adverse health and psychological effects following their implantation with TVT, vaginal slings and surgical mesh products for stress urinary incontinence and prolapse. Jill represents a number of families against such well-known manufacturers as Beko, Bosch and Hotpoint in inquests and/or litigation arising out of fires and carbon monoxide poisoning linked to recalled consumer goods. Jill is an accredited member of the Association of Personal Injury Lawyers (APIL), a member of the Pan European Association of Personal Injury Lawyers (PEOPIL), and is the Co-ordinator of APIL’s Multi-Party Special Interest Group. She became a partner of the firm in April 2011.

Tina has over 13 years’ experience in litigation and is recognised by her peers as a leading lawyer in the area of multi-party actions and product liability, particularly medical device claims. Tina is currently representing a  group of individuals in claims relating to failed Advanced Bionics cochlear implants. Tina also specialises in representing consumers who have suffered injuries from the use of cosmetic products and cosmetic procedures. Past successes include claims for failed gastric bands, anaphylaxis reactions to PPD in hair dye, Methylisothiazolinone (MI) claims and LED/Laser treatment claims. These include settlements negotiated with various cosmetic clinics, salons and manufacturers including cosmetic giant Clarins and the global pharmaceutical company Allergan. Tina previously co-managed a team of lawyers in the high profile ASR hip litigation representing over 600 claimants against DePuy International Limited where many suffered permanent, life changing disabilities. She represented individual Claimants in the group with the most complex claims. Tina is experienced in Alternative Dispute Resolution and is a specialist negotiator; she always seeks to go the extra mile for her clients to recover the maximum damages. As an advocate for promoting consumer safety, she regularly comments on the requirement for greater regulation and transparency particularly in the cosmetic industry. Tina has been quoted in both national and local press on a variety of consumer law related issues.