Weekly Update - A Summary Of Recent Developments In Insurance, Reinsurance And Litigation Law - 10/11

This Week's Caselaw

Sienkiewicz v Grief (UK) Ltd

Supreme Court rules on causation test for mesothelioma in "single exposure" cases

http://www.bailii.org/uk/cases/UKSC/2011/10.html

The unusual features of mesothelioma (see Weekly Update 38/10 for further details) have led to the development of a special test of causation for the disease (it being impossible for a claimant to prove causation according to the conventional "but for" test). The case of Fairchild v Glenhaven [2002] provided a cause of action "against a defendant who has materially increased the risk that the claimant will suffer damage and may have caused that damage, but cannot be proved to have done so because it is impossible to show, on a balance of probability, that some other exposure to the same risk may not have caused it instead" (as per Lord Hoffmann) (emphasis added). In Barker v Corus [2006] it was established that, where not all those who were responsible for an employee's