Hodge Jones & Allen

Riffat Yaqub

Riffat Yaqub is a Partner in the Personal Injury team, specialising in high-value claims involving spinal cord injury, brain damage and serious orthopaedic injuries resulting in amputations and fatalities. She is a hugely talented claimant personal injury solicitor with a calm, empathetic and measured approach who gets results. Riffat is known for adopting a client-focussed, holistic approach whilst being committed and a fierce litigator. She is not afraid to take cases to trial when necessary. She acts for vulnerable clients and is a strong advocate for securing early rehabilitation, ensuring her clients can get their lives back on track as quickly as possible. Throughout her career of 26 years, Riffat has developed a formidable reputation for consistently achieving strong results for her clients who have suffered serious life changing injuries arising from road traffic accidents, workplace accidents, accidents in public places and medical accidents. She is dedicated to her clients’ wellbeing to meet their every care, treatment need and secure their future financially. Riffat works effectively with case managers, medics and professionals to achieve the right outcome. Riffat has pursued a number of high-profile cases involving foreign nationals who have been injured in the UK, including a Ukrainian national injured in a workplace accident, three UAE nationals who were viciously attacked whilst staying at a London hotel and a French national who suffered devastating life-changing injuries after being thrown from a viewing gallery. Riffat has set up what is perhaps the first community based neuro rehabilitation package for her brain injured client in Ukraine where there is a complete dearth of brain injury services. When war broke out, Riffat was determined to help her client, to return to the UK and worked tirelessly to get UK authorities to grant visas to her client, his family, and his Ukrainian based community rehabilitation team. Whilst running her complex catastrophic caseload, Riffat also leads and co-ordinates support work with CBIT. Attending meetings with caseworkers, events and fundraising. Riffat is a confident public speaker and regularly presents on HJA’s London Legal Podcast and Facebook Live sessions with CBIT and other groups. Riffat works closely with junior HJA colleagues to provide mentoring and coaching. Riffat works closely with charities including CBIT, Brake, Headway and others. Work Highlights Impressive successes, over last twelve months, include: • French national (Tate Modern). Widely reported event – Claimant thrown over viewing terrace resulting in catastrophic injuries. Involved three potential defendants who all deny liability. Riffat works with French lawyers. Supports her client with ongoing complex rehabilitation for this multi-million pound case. • Swedish National knocked down by a car when visiting London suffered catastrophic injuries. Riffat’s client was incompletely tetraplegic, doubly incontinent, dependent on constant care. Liability disputed throughout. Riffat engaged Swedish solicitor and replaced Guardian when it became apparent they were not acting in her client’s best interests. Settlement: £2.85 million. • Cambridge undergraduate suffered serious injury when knocked off her bicycle. Working collaboratively with the defendant, Riffat employed a Case manager and put together an intensive rehabilitation programme to support Claimant both mentally and physically, to help re-build her confidence, strength and resilience. Settlement: £2.25 million. PROFESSIONAL TESTIMONIALS Dr Jackson, Clinical Neuropsychologist “Without reservation You -Riffat have been outstanding in such unusual and challenging circumstances, with unselfishness, resilience and humanitarianism. It has been a pleasure to work with you, being creative in providing an effective rehabilitation programme partly remotely in the Ukraine. After the onset of war, you were unnerving in finding the best way to arrange the evacuation of your severely brain injured client and his family to the UK. In my 30 years of medico-legal work I have rarely seen a solicitor with such concern for their clients and the capacity to work so insightfully with the Neuro-rehabilitation services.” Dr Mark Holloway, Senior Brain Injury Case Manager “Throughout the whole process Riffat has sought to understand the complexities faced, she has been a committed advocate for her client and his family, and, whilst rightly holding us all to account, has recognised just how difficult this has been. She has liaised collegiately and robustly with her defendant counterpart and has ensured we have a shared vision of what we aim to achieve”. William Latimer-Sayer QC, Cloisters “Riffat cleverly negotiated with the Defendant’s representatives to make further payments under the Rehab Code, which therefore are not subject to the contributory negligence discount. Her dedication and commitment to the client has been truly inspirational, and we are now working to secure the necessary expert evidence to quantify and resolve the claim.” Beth Bartlett, Clinical Manager, Harrison Associates “I worked with Riffat on the case of a young woman who sustained life changing injury to her upper limb. Whilst her tenacity and resilience helped maximise her rehabilitation and recovery potential, having an equally tenacious and resilient solicitor fighting her corner was just as important: Riffat really supported both her client and me as the case manager enabling the young lady to access rehabilitation tailored to her needs, as expediently as possible. Riffat has a terrific manner, is very innovative, calm, emphatic, caring and an extremely bright capable lawyer who is very client focussed. Working so collaboratively with Riffat made the whole rehabilitation process so much easier, not to mention such a pleasure!” Graham Lynch, Defendant Solicitor Riffat adopted a pragmatic and collaborative approach throughout the process including early notification of the claim, dialogue in relation to liability resolution, rehabilitation, quantum evidence and overall settlement. Throughout I found Riffat to be a, pragmatic, skilled negotiator. She was a formidable opponent, very determined, who clearly cared for her client. Riffat was very approachable, highly experienced litigator”.

Isobel Lovett

Isobel, a Partner and Head of the Asbestos Disease Team has, for over 20 years, specialised in asbestos disease cases for Claimants. Consequently, she has vast experience in this specialist litigation. Isobel’s work includes securing high value settlements for mesothelioma sufferers, enabling her clients to access novel, non-NHS funded treatments paid for by Defendants’ insurers. Her clients’ lives have thereby been extended and they have the security of having approved treatment paid for by the Defendants’ insurers for the rest of their lives. Isobel’s recent successes include persuading the Government Legal Department representing the Ministry of Defence, to agree to mediation in a long-running, disputed, fatal mesothelioma claim for the family of a man who had been exposed to asbestos dust while employed in the late 1960s to work on board UK naval vessels in the MoD dockyard in Singapore. The case involved complex issues of conflict of laws and of Crown Immunity. At mediation, a six-figure settlement for the family was agreed. This was a case which had previously been vigorously defended and was destined for a lengthy and costly trial. In another case against the Ministry of Defence, this year, Isobel was able to secure a six-figure sum and the costs of private medical treatment, for a woman developed mesothelioma in unusual circumstances: she had worked as a Buildings Manager and was exposed to asbestos dust while managing the fall-out from contamination of an MoD building as a result of work done by external contractors. She had to manage the eventual evacuation of the building of all staff and property, including high level security items. The claim was initially denied on the basis the exposure was “too low” to have caused mesothelioma. However, an admission of liability followed quickly issue of proceedings and the case was settled soon afterwards. Isobel has also successfully handled asbestos product liability claims and advises and assists clients in bringing claims in the US for mesothelioma caused by asbestos contaminated talc in powder and make-up. Isobel does not shy away from difficult cases. She achieved success early in her career in asbestos litigation in the case of Cox v Industrial Power (India) Ltd CA 2007, the first in a series of defining so-called “low exposure” cases in which Defendants have sought to test causation in mesothelioma cases by reference to exposure levels. The Claimant had worked seasonally in power stations and for the Defendant for a matter of weeks. Despite the Defendant arguing that any exposure he had would have been de minimis and therefore, not actionable, the Court held that the exposure was not minimal and found for the Claimant’s widow, the Claimant, having sadly succumbed to his illness.by the time of the trial. The judgment was upheld by the Court of Appeal on appeal by the Defendant. The case is still referred to in other similar cases today. Isobel takes a holistic approach to client care: not only does he help her clients to obtain compensation and treatment, but she also ensures they obtain their full state benefit entitlement and has helped put care regimes in place, where needed. She works closely with medical professionals, local support groups and related charities to ensure the support needs of victims of mesothelioma and other asbestos diseases are met. She is known for being tremendously calm, reassuring, helpful and supportive of her clients and their families, as well as a tenacious and skilled litigator and negotiator. Isobel’s commitment to supporting asbestos victims means she has been involved with many support groups over the years, her involvement culminating in her working to establish the London Asbestos Support Awareness Group, a charity covering London and the South East. She has also fundraised for research into treatment for mesothelioma over the years. Isobel’s expertise is recognised by those she works with and through independent accreditation by The Association of Personal Injury Lawyers of which she is a Fellow and Asbestos and Occupational Disease specialist. She also assesses others seeking this accreditation. Whilst specialising in asbestos disease work, Isobel has past experience of other industrial diseases, particularly other occupational respiratory conditions and work – related cancers.

Leticia Williams

She has more than 15 years of experience dealing with all areas of personal injury, specialising in repetitive strain injury claims, complex road traffic accident claims and employment matters. Leticia also takes a keen interest in accident abroad cases, often taking cases on with limitation and jurisdictional issues. Leticia has a track record of consistently achieving positive results for her clients who have serious and debilitating injuries. She is focussed on obtaining early rehabilitation for her Clients to ensure they start rebuilding their lives as quickly as possible. The medical evidence for these types of cases is often challenging when proving causation. Leticia’s measured and calm approach means she is able to analyse the evidence and is not afraid of taking cases to trial. She is an excellent litigator.