Kirk Hartley (LexBlog United Kingdom)

In the UK, an “overalls” case is a shorthand term for a “take home” case, as we refer to them in the US. Of greater note, a UK plaintiff recently succeeded  in such a case, as described in a February 18, 2019 post at AsbestosLaw blog, which is published by UK Barristers who acted for...

Another step forward is happening in the effort to find lung cancers early.  It’s an early detection study – in the UK – using both liquid biopsy and LDCT scans.  The program will start in 2019. The program is a joint effort between Grail, UK government agencies and UK medical centers. The pace of change...

As explained by Laurie Kazan Allen at the Ban Asbestos Secretariat, the UK’s annual mesothelioma audit report is out. It provides interesting but depressing data on the frequency of and types of mesothelioma treatments. The report also provides data on the frequency of mesothelioma in the UK, including age group data.

As explained by Laurie Kazan Allen at the Ban Asbestos Secretariat, the UK’s annual Parliamentary Asbestos Seminar took place on June 26, 2018. It’s an event certainly unlike many of the hearings we see in the US.

We continue to see increases in the the scale and pace of the development of molecular and genetic knowledge. A recent example arises from the announcement of serious plans for detailed analysis of 500,000 blood samples for 200 biomarkers. That’s impressive by itself. Then, note the related factors. The new data will be related back...

According to various UK lawyers, the privilege issues inn SFO v. ENRC are critical for companies and lawyers involved in allegations of criminal misconduct.  Three days of argument start today. This January 3, 2018 article at Lexology provides a summary.

Today, law firms are businesses, not genteel partnerships. The point is highlighted by the fact that over the last 3 years, four UK law firms sold themselves through IPOs on UK stock markets and a fifth is about to do the same, as is highlighted by a June 4,  2018 article in the Financial Times. ...

As work continues to change, it seems more and more cases are litigated to define when a person is an employee. The UK Supreme Court recently provided an an answer that deemed a person an “employee,” despite arguments to the contrary. The UK Supreme Court blog covered the case in a helpful June 13, 2018...

Over the past few years, “low level exposure” issues have loomed larger these days in both the US and the UK.  A then-current summary overview for the UK  is set out in an August 19, 2015 article from Hill Dickinson. Much more recently,  the following headline popped up after a trial court ruling in a...

Different technologies are deployed into different courts at different times. According to a new article, predictive coding has now been used in trial in the High Court in the UK.  The story is explained in a 3 March 2018 article from Berwin Laighton Paisner. The introduction is pasted below: “As we reported previously, in May...

Despite the many who said Europe would never allow class actions, it has happened, in varying ways and to varying degrees. The big news of late is a UK ruling disallowing an opt-out class action. The ruling, and other UK developments, are summarized in a July 23,  2017 post at D & O Diary. The...

The litigation industry in the UK will continue to grow, according to litigation funders. Some of the projections are set out in an April 28, 2016 post at CII.ClaimsMedia. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce is not pleased by the news, as it noted in a May 1, 2017 article flagging the other article. SCOTUS, the...

Claims for legal advice privilege are becoming more difficult and narrower in the EU, according to a February 10, 2017 article published at JD Supra by Latham & Watkins. The article is: Reserving Privilege for the Few: The High Court Confirms the Narrow Interpretation of “Client” for the Purposes of Legal Advice Privilege. The article...

MesobanK UK published the chart as part of its September 2016 update. It’s good to see more progress in gathering samples and data. See http://www.mesobank.com/news/.   Pasted below is a description of MesobanK published at iMig.org as part of its summary of iMig 2014 “MesobanK UK – An International Bioresource of Mesothelioma Tissue – Robert...

John Biesner (of Skadden Arps) and the US Chamber of Commerce should be cheering today. Why? Because a litigation funding firm is backing a securities class action against Slater & Gordon, the publicly traded plaintiff’s firm which recently announced massive losses, apparently from lousy due diligence before purchasing a UK firm. The newest story is...

All is not peaches and cream for plaintiff lawyers who acquire abroad after IPOs. Slater & Gordon just announced almost $500 million of losses, and a major restructuring. The losses follow big moves into the UK and at least one apparently awful acquisition. The Global Legal Post has more specifics in a March 1, 2016...

Slater & Gordon is a publicly traded, global plaintiff’s firm. It’s now restructuring to cope with too much expansion too quickly, and defense friendly changes to UK tort law as to car crashes, as described in a January 31 , 2016 post at  City A.M.  Yet another example of how the litigation industry is always...

Specialty courts provide a favored group of litigants with access to special judicial processes and jurists. Some say the courts are part of a race to the bottom, and are often offered by tiny jurisdictions that rank low in other options for producing economic value. Apparantly further proving the thesis, the UK’s High Court now...

A July 3, 2015 article in The Northern Echo in the UK brings news of another suit against Cape entities. Mr. Stephenson, the plaintiff, has gone three rounds with cancer:  “Colin Stephenson, 66, had his voicebox removed due to cancer in 2009, lost part of his lung to the disease six months later and is...

For companies operating in the UK, there are more issues for public company directors and risk managers to consider when evaluating whether management’s operational philosophy poses risks that are not acceptable to the company and its shareholders. Among other things, a question to ask is whether an enterprise is prepared to accept the risk of...

The litigation funding industry continues to expand. The punchline is pasted below; for more specifics, see the full April 27, 2015 article at The Global Legal Post : “UK SME litigation funder Augusta Ventures has spent a further £3m in cases in the first quarter of 2015. Unlike other funders which focus on a handful of multi-million pound...

A victory for the plaintiff in a UK in a case that US lawyers would refer to as an asbestos premises case. The case was covered before in detail in a July 22, 2014 post at the UK Supreme Court blog. Now, the Supreme Court has allowed the claim, in a 3-2 ruling. You can...

Cross-border litigation with UK lawyers  and non-lawyers (and others) is becoming easier for US lawyers. An example arises from ABA Formal Opinion 464. An ABA Journal article from November 2013 provides background and color. The bottom line is that the opinion allows cross-border fee sharing with nonlawyers, in some circumstances. It states: “In summary, a division...

In asbestos litigation, propensity to sue is driven in part by information, accurate or not. Therefore, it’s worth noting that the UK continues to have high levels of publicity about asbestos. 

Velocity continues to increase for turning cutting edge molecular biology into businesses and new treatments. On March 14, the UK announced fast advancing plans to emulate the US FDA’s approach to fast-tracking “breakthrough” drugs for “early access” for serious medical conditions with unmet medical needs. E.g. Alzheimer’s, Lou Gerigh’s disease, diabetes, and most cancers. The...

The litigation industry continues to grow and thrive, including change and expansion outside the US. Background –  Slater & Gordon is an entrepreneurial plaintiff’s firm from Australia. It was the first law firm to do an IPO, and it used the proceeds to acquire plaintiff’s firms all across Australia. More recently, it began acquiring UK...

The long-running UK saga of mesothelioma legislation has ended without changes sought by victim’s rights groups to increase compensation. Laurie Kazan-Allen and IBAS have kindly provided access to a transcript of the debates. The IBAS news archive also includes a brief January 8 item regarding the outcome.  Also rejected were amendments proposed to increase funding...

The UK Mesothelioma Act continues to wend its way through the legislative process. The most recent action on specific language occurred at a committee hearing – specifics are here. Further meetings are planned, but the process seems headed to a near term conclusion. Here is the  most recent statement by the UK government on mesothelioma compensation...

According to the Financial Times, the UK government is actively thinking about paying whistleblowers. Screams to follow soon from the US Chamber of Commerce. It would be better to adapt to new realities and find ways to turn whistleblowers into a positive. For example, it could level playing fields and let the best product/service become...

Litigation funding of professional negligence claims is covered in a July 30, 2013 Global Legal Post article by Nick Rowles-Davies of Vannin Capital in the UK.  And, of course, Lisa Rickard complained on August 14, wearing her hat with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.