Occupational disease conference

	Event time - Venue The Lowry Hotel, 50 Dearmans Place, Chapel Wharf, Manchester M3 5LH. Price £170 + VAT Contact Jo Cooper Telephone 020 7638 2811
Download the programme

This event attracts the following CPD:   15 credits (CII) 5 hours (SRA)

Berrymans Lace Mawer’s Manchester disease conference has been designed to provide an update on the key legal and medical developments in disease claims during the last year as well as helping to apply technical knowledge through practical workshops.

 

We first cover the policy aspects which give disease claims a high profile – in particular the political dimension to asbestos claims, and evolving or new disease types. Alistair Kinley, head of policy development at BLM, will review the year’s English and Scottish legislative activity on pleural plaques and asbestos and will also look at the new battleground on legal costs, where Lord Justice Jackson is spearheading a detailed review.

 

We have again given emphasis to asbestos – the subject of several recent decisions. These include EL trigger; asymptomatic asbestosis/pleural thickening; the standard of proof required to establish asbestos exposure and breach in minimal asbestos exposure claims. Dr Charles Hind will provide the medical expert’s perspective, while Toby Scott’s legal update will also cover the important 2008 Asbestos Working Party Report estimating the future incidence and cost of asbestos claims.

 

Following this, Simon Morrow will review and attempt to reconcile four Court of Appeal judgments affecting causation and apportionment. As a significant proportion of all disease claims defended by BLM are successful limitation defences, Brian Goodwin will then cover the important developments over the last year on limitation.

 

Building on the success of our 2008 conferences, the workshops this year will be jointly presented by an external expert and a BLM specialist. Each workshop will refer to a case study based on an actual claim. There will be particular emphasis on recognising fraudulent/exaggerated claims and dissecting and explaining terminology in experts’ reports.

 

We hope you will accept this invitation to join us at what promises to be a very useful and interesting seminar.