Leigh Day
The team at Leigh Day specialises in product safety and consumer law with a focus on large group settlement and class actions. Emerging areas of product liability involve cases relating to robotics and artificial intelligence. The team is co-led by Gene Matthews , who focuses on product safety and data breaches and Michelle Victor , who handles liability claims involving faulty medical devices. Senior partner Martyn Day is a vastly experienced name in the space. Jill Paterson is active on the personal injury side while Thomas Jervis, and Shazia Yamin are key names. Tina Patel was promoted to partner in April 2022.
Legal 500 Editorial commentary
Testimonials
Collated independently by Legal 500 research team.
‘A strong team of excellent lawyers with great client skills, attracting high quality work and providing a top service for clients.’
‘Michele Victor's client skills are second to none and she leads a great team of associates.'
‘They are the only team I would recommend a family member or friend use if they were unfortunate enough to need to bring a product liability claim. From technical skills to client care, you want them in your corner.'
- 'They know their way around group actions like few others and are able to marshal the large amounts of information needed to handle mass product liability claims.’
‘Jill Paterson is a constant joy to work with, Jill will always steer a claim exactly where it needs to go and never backs down. She has an innate sense of how to navigate any problem and all the tools in her armoury to get the best outcome.'
‘Leigh Day has unrivalled product liability experience. They have a fabulous team, with great in-depth knowledge of this area. Leigh Day are always looking round corners for their clients and are looking to push the boundaries of product liability law. They are also fantastic to work with.’
- 'Jill Paterson is a leading lawyer in this area, there is nothing she does not know about product liability.’
‘They are efficient, responsive and solution-driven.’
Key clients
- The Volkswagen NOx Emissions Group Litigation
- Follow-on NOx emissions group litigation (various manufacturer defendants)
- Stade de France
- ZB v Dexcom Inc.
- Zimmer Biomet NexGen Knee Replacement components
- HiRes Ultra and Ultra 3D cochlear implants
- Jaguar I-Pace RTA spinal injuries (Phantom Acceleration)
Work highlights
- Represented over 260,000 vehicle owners who are bringing several group claims against leading vehicle manufacturers.
- Represented over 1,000 Liverpool FC fans in claims arising out of the chaos at the Champions League Final in 2022.
Lawyers
Hall of Fame
The lawyers at the very top of the profession, widely known and respected by peers and clients for their longstanding involvement in market-leading work.
Leading individuals
Leigh Day
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.
Next Generation Partners
Leigh Day
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.
Practice head
The lawyer(s) leading their teams.
Gene Matthews