Lawyers welcome asbestos ruling

Claimant personal injury lawyers have welcomed last week's House of Lords ruling on asbestos appeals as 'a huge relief', but those acting for the insurance industry are holding their breath for more details on how hard the decision may hit their clients.

In an oral judgment, the Lords overturned December's Court of Appeal decision on three linked appeals led by widow Judith Fairchild, which said that where employees had been exposed to asbestos fibres by more than one organisation, none would be liable.

Patrick Walsh, partner at Manchester-based John Pickering & Partners, which acted for two of the claimants, said the decision would affect hundreds of cases immediately and thousands in the future.

'This is not a radical extension of the law, but it is a clarification which restores the position to what it was before February 2001, when Fairchild was first decided,' he said.

'We are delighted.'

Spencer Wood, partner in west London firm OH Parsons & Partners - which acted for the third claimant - said he hoped that when the Lords gave the reasons for their decision, they would not introduce any element of apportionment but would allow a single defendant to be held fully liable for a claimant's injuries.

Tim Wallis, president of the Forum of Insurance Lawyers, said: 'The issues of law considered by the House of Lords in Fairchild are difficult and complex.

Clearly, these cases have considerable implications in human terms, for all of the people concerned, and in economic terms for insurers and those who pay premiums to insurers.

Their Lordships' judgment is awaited before any sensible legal comment can be given on the decision.'

Paula Rohan