October marked the 25th anniversary of a landmark asbestos-related disease (ARD) case – the first of its kind.
The lady that set it all in motion was June Hancock. She’d never worked with asbestos anywhere in her life – but she had grown up in close proximity to a factory where it was produced. She’d spent many sunny afternoons playing in the factory yard with her friends as a child, all of them unaware of the silent threat the asbestos “snowballs” they played with would have on them decades later.
The environmental mesothelioma claim successfully found liability with an asbestos factory in Leeds, even though our client had never worked there.
This single case had immense power, and changed the field of ARD litigation forever. They were no longer restricted to those who’d worked with the substance, paving the way for others with the same situation to seek justice.
June was diagnosed with mesothelioma in 1993, at the age of 57. It wasn’t the first time this disease had tragically claimed someone from her family – she’d lost her mother to the same illness a number of years before her own diagnosis. She instructed our specialist ARD team to launch a legal battle over her environmental exposure to asbestos.
On 27 October 1995, her legal team helped her secure victory after arguing that factory owner should be held responsible for the exposure that residents living close to the site had suffered. June sadly passed away at the age of 61, in July 1997. But her story didn’t end there – her fight for justice helped raise public awareness of the dangers of asbestos, and led to the foundation of the June Hancock Mesothelioma Research Fund. The charity continues her legacy by raising awareness of mesothelioma, supporting people living with the disease, and supporting campaigns to ban the use of asbestos.
June Hancock
A lawyer and a friend
June’s case was handled by Adrian Budgen, a Partner in our Personal Injury team. Adrian and June became close friends during the course of the legal battle – and when asked about the case, he said “June was truly a remarkable woman, and became a great friend to me. She demonstrated such courage and bravery throughout her case. I was absolutely devastated when she passed away.”
He describes working on cases such as this as an immense privilege, knowing that he’s able to help people achieve some measure of justice and giving them peace of mind is a very worthwhile cause to work for.
Adrian recalling his experience as a litigator for June is one in a series of stories our colleagues are sharing to explain how they protect what matters most to their clients. You can read Adrian’s story here.
Things change, but our commitment remains the same
Litigation has changed a lot over the last 25 years. 2020 has seen a huge amount of this change too, with the pandemic driving law firms away from the paper-based work of the past to a new digital future. This has included trials as well – once only conducted face-to-face, these are now held online.
You can read more about this in our recent article on the changing world of litigation.
Even though the world is changing fast - whatever happens next, we’ll always be here to help you protect what matters most.
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