"I grew up in a family of medics, which is where my interest in personal injury law comes from. I was always far too squeamish to go into medicine and knew I wanted to work in law. I decided that by becoming a solicitor I’d be directly supporting clients and could see a case through from beginning to end.
It’s the 25th anniversary this week of a landmark case I worked on, for a wonderful lady called June Hancock. June had pleural mesothelioma – an asbestos-related cancer of the lining of the lungs.
She was exposed to asbestos as a child, when she played on the grounds of an asbestos factory very close to where she grew up in Leeds. June and her friends used to innocently jump around on bales of asbestos, creating clouds of dust around the factory site. At that time, the long-term effects of the substance weren’t known to the people living near to the factory.
In October 1993, June was diagnosed with mesothelioma, aged 57. She had lost her mother to the disease about 13 years before she was diagnosed herself.
The claim she made through us was against the factory owners, for environmental exposure to the substance. It was the first case of its kind. Until then, asbestos claims had involved people being exposed to it at work.
On 27 October 1995, we helped June secure a landmark victory after arguing that factory owner J W Roberts Ltd - part of the Turner and Newall group of companies - should be held responsible for the exposure suffered by residents living in close proximity to the site in Armley.
June was awarded a five-figure sum at the High Court. There were more than thirty other people awaiting the outcome of June’s case because they had also contracted mesothelioma from either environmental or domestic exposure.
I was absolutely devastated when June died in 1997. She had lived with the disease for almost four years. The average survival then was 12 months. Her legacy of raising awareness of mesothelioma continues, thanks to the work of the June Hancock Mesothelioma Research Fund, of which I’m a founding trustee.
It’s an immense privilege to represent those affected by mesothelioma and their families. If we can get the necessary funds so they can access better and more effective treatment, for example immunotherapy treatment not available on the NHS, which has the potential to extend people’s lives. Knowing this, along with helping people to achieve some measure of justice and giving them some peace of mind, I find incredibly worthwhile."
Adrian Budgen is a Partner specialising in asbestos-related disease claims, based in our Sheffield office.
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