Leigh Day
Sally Moore oversees the personal injury offering at Leigh Day, alongside head of international law Richard Meeran, and joint heads of industrial disease Harminder Bains and Daniel Easton. The collaboration between the international and personal injury teams compliments the wider firm’s human rights focus, an area in which Martyn Day and Sapna Malik are recognised experts; recent highlights in this space include an action involving allegations of forced labour and abuse of migrant workers in Malaysia. Additionally, the team has expertise in food allergy cases, spearheaded by Michelle Victor. The team also specialises in catastrophic injury cases, sitting on the legal panels of a number of hospital major trauma centres, as well as providing services to the British Cycling Federation and British Triathlon Association – senior associate Rory McCarron is the key name to note for such work. The asbestos and industrial disease team acts both on specific claims, including those involving mesothelioma victims, and wider issues affecting those impacted by asbestos-related diseases, including advising on proposed changes to the law. Ewan Tant is also recommended.
Legal 500 Editorial commentary
Testimonials
Collated independently by Legal 500 research team.
‘The Leigh Day PI team is outstanding. The team members are knowledgeable, personable, organised and efficient.'
‘Sally Moore and Bethany Sanders are extremely experienced, knowledgeable, empathetic and clever practitioners.'
‘Leigh Day have an enviable profile in PI litigation, with particular emphasis on cycling claims.'
‘Sally Moore's reputation as a doyenne of the sector is thoroughly merited. She is knowledgeable, tough and shrewd.'
‘Leigh Day's caseload is unique. They take on cases which require a trip to the Supreme Court in order to be successful, and usually they win them. They specialise in group claims involving claimants domiciled overseas which most firms simply would not be able to cope with. Leigh Day is expert in this work and makes it look easy. They are brilliant in every respect.’
- 'Sapna Malik is a truly brilliant partner who specialises in gender-based violence and torture claims.'
‘The specialist occupational disease team have great depth and experience which places them ahead of other specialist claimant firms in this field. They place the needs of the sufferer first, ahead of commercial considerations. They are leaders in the provision of specialist training for the wider profession.’
- 'Harminder Bains is a formidable litigator and campaigner for asbestos victims.’
Work highlights
- Represented a claimant who was involved in a cyclist versus car road traffic collision and sustained a very severe brain injury, securing settlement of a lump sum of £6m plus variable PPO of £360,919 per annum for life.
- Advising the Asbestos Victims Support Group Forum on a number of different legal challenges and issues which affect the wider asbestos community.
- Secured a settlement on behalf of 31 Malawian claimants, who worked for the Malawian subsidiary of a British tea and nut plantation operator and were subject to alleged systematic sexual abuse and harassment with no protection from their employer.
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Leigh Day
Partner specialising in personal injury, mesothelioma/asbestos, work accidents and road traffic accidents. Harminder has taken numerous cases to trial, the longest one involving a six-week trial relating to a complex multi-party action concerning allegations of fumes and dust exposure in the glass industry. She has a formidable reputation as one of the country’s leading litigators. She has successfully given evidence in court after being cross-examined by the defendant. She has had several cases reported due to being ground-breaking, such as: The Queen (oao Tony Whitston, Asbestos Victims Support Groups Forum UK) v Secretary of State for Justice and Association of British Insurers [2014] EWHC 3044 (Admin); judicial Review regarding LASPO; Coventry and Others (Respondents) v Lawrence and Another (appellant) [2012] EWCA Civ 26 (intervention on behalf of the Asbestos Victims Support Groups Forum UK to prevent victims from paying success fees and ATE premiums); Meenakchi Ghoorah (Widow and Administratrix in the Estate of Gooroochandra Ghoorah deceased) v West Essex Clinical Commissing Group & 4 Others [2014] (after a four day trial, recovered the highest amount for damages for a mesothelioma victim in the sum of £87,500 - Harminder beat her own previous records as set in the cases of Najib and Beesley); Zambarda v Shipbreaking (Queenborough) Limited [2013] EWHC 2263 (QB) (significant win after a 3 day trial in the High Court); Baker v Tate & Lyle PLC Sept 2012 Westlaw & Lawtel (Harminder was instructed by a mesothelioma victim who was unable to trace his former employer/their insurers, she instead pursued the owner of the factory where the claimant was sent to work. At a contested show cause hearing before Master Whitaker, she successfully contended that the Asbestos Industry Regulations 1931 and the Factories Act 1961 both imposed specific duties on occupiers and not just employers and that those duties expressly tended to all the persons working at the relevant factory. Baker is understood to be the first judgment on occupiers’ liability in an asbestos disease case); Mohammed Najib v John Laing Plc [2011] EWHC 1016(QB) (two day trial in the High Court. The judge made the highest award for general damages at that time for a mesothelioma victim and uniquely awarded a sum for alternative treatment); Jacqueline Sloan v Halsen Insulation & Engineering Company Ltd (approved QBD) Senior Master 12/11/2009 (this is the first case in which periodical payments have been awarded to the dependant in a fatal case); Jane Beesley (widow and executrix of the estate of John Lambie deceased) v New Century Group Ltd [2008] EWHC 3033(QB) (the highest care award to date and, at that time, the highest award for general damages for the widow of an asbestos victim).
Leigh Day
Specialises in international claims, group actions and product liability. Pioneered the firm’s ground-breaking cases against UK multinationals: Connelly v RTZ (Namibian uranium miner); Ngcobo & Sithole & Others v Thor Chemicals (South African mercury poisoning victims); Lubbe & others v Cape PLC (7,500 South African asbestos victims). Between 2004 and 2008 he worked with Slater & Gordon in Melbourne, where he initiated the VIOXX class action litigation against Merck. In 2008 he returned to Leigh Day in London where ran the Peruvian alleged torture victims’ litigation against Monterrico Metals, which involved obtaining a worldwide freezing injunction before the case settled (without admission of liability) in July 2011. In September 2013, working in conjunction with the South African Legal Resources Centre, he obtained a landmark settlement of 23 test cases against Anglo-American South Africa. He is currently running a mass tort action against Anglo American South Africa. He is also acting for 11 Tanzanian villagers in a claim against African Barrick Gold plc. He was the 2002 winner of the Liberty/Justice Human Rights Lawyer of the Year Award.
Leigh Day
Michelle Victor, partner: co-ordinator of APIL’s product liability special interest group. Michelle specialises in product liability cases and multi-party actions. Michelle has experience bringing product liability actions and has successfully settled a number of individual product liability claims. Michelle has particular expertise in claims involving defective artificial hip components (DePuy ASR Group Litigation). She supervises a team acting for over 550 clients who were implanted with the now recalled DePuy ASR metal on metal hip components.Michelle also has specialist expertise in food poisoning claims and has successfully pursued legal action against tour operators Thompson Holidays, as well as claims that have arisen out of what is believed to be one of the UK’s largest outbreaks of food poisoning. Michelle currently acts for the family of three young children who contracted foodborne botulism, sustaining significant injuries. Michelle also acts for a number of women who suffered a severe adverse reaction after using hair dye products containing para-phenlenediamine (PPD) and various cosmetic claims.
Practice head
The lawyer(s) leading their teams.
Sally Moore, Richard Meeran, Daniel Easton, Harminder Bains