Employer's Liability Trigger Appeal

Alison McCormick will represent the Claimant in Lead Case 1 in the Employers' Liability Trigger Litigation appeal which opens on 11th November 2009. The Appeal Court bench comprises Rix LJ, Smith LJ and Burnton LJ.

The Trigger Litigation consists of 6 test cases and centres around the issue of whether insurers who provided employers' liability insurance to employers during periods when their employees were negligently exposed to asbestos should pay out on claims for mesothelioma (an asbestos related cancer of the lining of the lung) which develops decades later.

At first instance Burton J held that the insurer which provided employers' liability cover at the time the employee was exposed to asbestos should meet the claim.
Four insurers involved in the 6 test cases are appealing that decision.

Appeal starts Wednesday 11 November 2009.