Public sector
Sally Moore and Daniel Easton co-head Leigh Day’s claimant personal injury team, which continues to handle a wide range of complex catastrophic injury, industrial disease, and fatal accident cases. Moore focuses on brain and spinal cord injuries, amputations, and cycling accidents, while Easton leads the industrial disease practice with a particular focus on asbestos and silicosis litigation. The team has acted in several high-profile fatal accident cases and inquests, and maintains panel positions with major trauma units and national charities. Harminder Bains leads the asbestos and industrial disease group and regularly handles litigation involving disputed liability and public law issues. Rory McCarron and Michelle Victor are noted for their work on high-value injury claims involving vulnerable clients, while Ewan Tant and Ida Aduwa have developed practices spanning traumatic injury and complex liability disputes. Laura Murphy is noted for her work on fatal claims and life-changing brain injuries. Martyn Day and Sapna Malik continue to advise on matters with international and human rights dimensions, as does Richard Meeran, who is recognised for his human rights practice and his work on cross-border group actions against multinationals.
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Profile
Work Department
International personal injury and human rights
Position
Partner
Career
Specialises in international claims, group actions and product liability.
Richard pioneered litigation against multinational parent companies, starting in the mid 90s with claims against Cape PLC for 7,500 South African asbestos miners and Thor Chemicals for South African workers poisoned by mercury. This included two landmark jurisdiction victories in the House of Lords, Connelly v RTZ Corporation Plc [1997] 3 WLR 373 and Lubbe & Others v Cape Plc 2000 1 WLR 1545.
Since then, Richard has successfully represented:
- Indigenous Peruvian environmental protesters who were tortured and abused by mine security and the police
- Villagers who were shot at a gold mine by the Tanzanian police
- Campesinos whose wetlands were polluted by oil
Between 2004 and September 2013, Richard worked with the South African Legal Resources Centre, Legal Aid South Africa and attorneys, Mbuyisa Molele on silicosis litigation against Anglo American and AngloGold Ashanti in South Africa by more than 4000 former South African gold miners. Following arbitration, this led to the establishment of the landmark Q(h)ubeka settlement, which served as a model for a later silicosis class action settlement.
Richard represented a group of anti-asbestos campaigners whose network was infiltrated by a spy recruited by K2 Intelligence whose ultimate client was a Kazakh asbestos mining company. Their claim for breach of confidence, misuse of private information and breach of Data Protection Act was settled in 2018.
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Testimonials
Collated independently by Legal 500 research team.
‘What sets this firm apart from the rest is their expertise. I am an amputee and I found Leigh Day to be very competent in this area. They have a wealth of experts to work with, giving me confidence that I was receiving the best advice possible.’
‘Highly organised, accountable and diligent.’
‘They're human, they feel, they understand, and above all, they sympathise with what we are going through.'
‘They remain – as they have been for many years – a market heavyweight at the industry cutting edge.'
‘Sally Moore combines formidable presence as a litigator with great compassion for her clients.'
‘Laura Murphy is a really excellent personal injury solicitor with terrific judgement when it comes to making difficult calls on cases.'
‘The team is fantastic, led by smart and committed partners and supported by committed and hard working associates. A cut above.’
'I mainly worked with Laura Murphy who was outstanding in all aspects. Laura took the time to understand and get to know me. She was always available if I needed to talk. She recognised the emotional aspects that I was going through and was patient with me. All this added to a personal touch.'
'Extremely professional and supportive. Able to offer a wide range of expertise and their experience with injury claims was of the highest standard.'
'They have a wealth of experts to work with, giving me confidence that I was receiving the best advice possible.'
Work highlights
Advised a below knee amputee on a complex employer’s liability claim.