Joanne Candlish

Notable Cases

• The Employers Liability Insurance “Tigger” Litigation [2012] UKSC14
  Joanne represented one of the lead families in the landmark Supreme Court case known as the Employers’ Liability Trigger Litigation, which ruled that employers’ liability insurance was ‘triggered’ at the time of exposure to asbestos and not development of the disease. This decision protected the right to compensation for thousands of mesothelioma victims and many more victims of asbestos.

• Sir Robert Lloyd & Co Ltd And Others v Bernard Hoey (2011), Ewca Civ, 1060, 09/09/11
  Joanne also represented a seriously ill asbestos victim to a unanimous victory in the Court of Appeal in Sir Robert Lloyd and others against Hoey. The Defendants having appealed against His Honour Judge Gore’s decision that the case was not time barred.

• R (On The Application Of The Commissioners For HMRC) v HM Coroner For The City Of Liverpool And Others EWHC [2014] 1586 (Admin)
  Joanne acted on behalf of the family of a deceased asbestos victim and worked alongside HM Coroner for Liverpool in the Judicial Review. The case challenged the HMRC’s policy decision not to disclose employment records to coroners and families in fatal disease cases. This successful challenge eventually led to the policy being over-turned.

• Taylor v Fascia Future Ltd [2018] EWHC 3049 (QB)
  Preliminary issue trial on the facts in an Asbestos related lung cancer claim. It is the only reported case in which Keefe v The Isle of Man Steam Packet [2010] has been applied in an asbestos case.

Mr Taylor, a life-long non-smoker developed asbestos-related lung cancer at just 37 years old. It was alleged that this deadly disease was caused by exposure to large amounts of toxic asbestos throughout his career working for the Defendants from 1994 when he was just 16 years old to 2006 as a labourer in the roofing trade.

The Claimant’s case was that he removed asbestos soffits, fascias and guttering from residential properties in the Northampton area. He alleged that he encountered asbestos on the majority of jobs he undertook. He alleged that in order to remove the materials he would have to cut them with handsaws and sometimes with an angle grinder, he would then break the materials up on the ground and place them in a van for disposal. The materials would be taken to the tip, however, in the late 1990s the tip refused asbestos materials and the Claimant was instructed to take them to his employer’s mother in law’s garage. He alleged that he smashed up the asbestos materials in this garage.

The Defendant’s case was starkly different. It was alleged that only a very small percentage of the Claimant’s jobs involved asbestos and that these would typically involve asbestos cement guttering and sometimes soffits. It was said that the materials came off in one piece and would be placed in the van. It was flatly denied that asbestos materials were stored in the garage.

The judge was asked to accept that had the Claimant’s employer complied with the relevant regulatory regime at the time (The Control of Asbestos at Work Regulations 1987 SI 1987/2115, and 2002 SI 2002/2675) then, to put it at its lowest, the task of establishing the extent of his exposure would have been very much easier because there would have been relevant records. The Defendant argued that Keefe had no application as it was concerned with breach of duty, which had been admitted.

The judge largely accepted the Claimant’s evidence. It was found that the Claimant’s evidence was ‘consistent with a factual situation in which asbestos was encountered frequently, more often than not…I am satisfied that it would be fair to say, as a very general average, Mr Taylor encountered asbestos in as many as three quarters of the jobs he did.’ Further, it was accepted that the materials were broken up on removal and that they were disposed of in the garage and smashed up by the Claimant.

Membership & Appointments

• Association of Personal Injury Solicitors (APIL) – Senior Litigator

• Admitted as a solicitor in 2001

Career & Personal Interests

Career

• 2021- present: Hodge Jones & Allen
  Position held: Partner

• 2017- 2021: 2020 Legal Limited
  Position held: Solicitor & Department Manager

• 2004 – 2017: Thompsons Solicitors
  Position held: Asbestos Solicitor & Head of North West Regional Asbestos Team

• 2003 – 2004 BBH Solicitors,
  Position held: Solicitor & Team Leader

• 2001 – 2003 Carpenters Solicitors
  Position held: Solicitor & Team Leader

• 2000 – 2001 Weightmans Solicitors
  Position held: Solicitor

• 1992 – 1999 Norman Jones Grayston
  Position held: Legal Executive