Aliyah Akram is acknowledged as a leading junior in personal injury and industrial disease litigation. She is renowned for her expertise and experience in group litigation in all of the core areas in which she practices. Many of her cases have an international aspect and give rise to both jurisdictional issues and conflicts of laws.

Aliyah is a robust and persuasive trial advocate. She prides herself on working closely as a team with instructing solicitors, not just in group litigation, but in every case in which she is involved. Her focus is always on maximising the client’s prospects of success. She is able to cut through the background noise and gets straight to the issues.

She is a contributing author of Asbestos: Law & Litigation (Sweet & Maxwell, 2nd edition, 2022).

She is ranked by the legal directories as a leading junior in Personal Injury, Industrial Disease and Travel: International Personal Injury.

Expertise

Aliyah is well known for her cutting-edge work in the personal injury field.

She has extensive expertise in catastrophic injury claims and has acted for numerous claimants who have suffered traumatic brain injury in road traffic and cycling accidents. She is currently instructed in a claim on behalf of a girl who nearly drowned in a swimming pool in Spain and suffered a brain injury.

Aliyah also acts in fatal accident claims and has appeared in several significant High Court cases including the family of a teenager involved in a go-karting accident and a mother killed in a hit-and-run accident.

Military Claims

Aliyah has represented a number of serving and former military personnel in individual and group claims against the Ministry of Defence. Such claims arise from asbestos exposure,  non-freezing cold injuries and noise-induced hearing loss.

She is also experienced in acting for members of the Armed Forces who have experienced sexual assault and harassment in service.

Industrial Disease

A key area of Aliyah’s practice is her industrial disease work. Her experience in mesothelioma and asbestosis claims has afforded her a number of appearances in the Court of Appeal and the High Court. She is/has worked on ground breaking claims of product liability against a major asbestos manufacturer and claims seeking to redefine public liability insurance for asbestos claims.

She has significant expertise in cases involving issues surrounding immunotherapy costs.

Her industrial disease practice crosses over with her international injury law expertise, acting in a group of claims brought by South African claimants exposed to asbestos from mining operations.

Capitalising on her industrial disease and medical injury knowledge, Aliyah is fast becoming a go-to barrister in claims involving harmful environmental exposures, including ‘sick building syndrome’, a condition resulting from living in a defective new build home, and claims involving mould and asthma.

Aliyah is well known for her work on group litigation claims and has been involved in some of the largest group actions ever brought in the UK including;

Currently instructed in a group claim brought by military personnel against the Ministry of Defence for personal injury whilst in service.

Instructed by leading industrial disease solicitors in product liability test cases pursued against a major asbestos manufacturer.

Instructed in a large group litigation claim brought by South African claimants exposed to asbestos from mining operations.

She has previously been instructed in a number of cross-border group claims, including in Vilca & Ors v Xstrata Plc & Xstrata Tintaya in which she dealt with quantum issues for Peruvian environmental protestors who had been attacked and tortured as a result of their involvement in a demonstration.

She was also instructed in The Bodo Community v The Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria in a claim brought by a fishing community for extensive environmental damage caused by an oil spill in the Niger Delta.

Aliyah’s personal injury practice frequently involves a cross border element and she is specifically adept at high-value cross-border personal injury cases. These cases frequently involve serious personal injury and private international law and so combine some of the key elements of Aliyah’s practice. Her advice is often sought concerning jurisdiction or the conflict of laws. She also regularly acts in aviation law and maritime law claims.

Her international injury experience includes:

Acting on behalf of security personnel injured in the course of their work in Syria and Iraq.

Cosmetic Tourism claims – Aliyah has acted on behalf of a number of plastic surgery patients injured as a result of sub-standard care.

Acting on behalf of holiday makers involved in accidents around the world including in Europe, Sri Lanka, Thailand and the Caribbean.

Cross-border group claims

Vilca & Ors v Xstrata Plc & Xstrata Tintaya in which she dealt with quantum issues for Peruvian environmental protestors who had been attacked and tortured as a result of their involvement in a demonstration

The Bodo Community v The Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria – a group claim where she assisted with preparation for a mediation in a claim brought by a fishing community for extensive environmental damage caused by an oil spill in the Niger Delta.

Currently instructed in a number of industrial disease group claims brought by South African claimants exposed to asbestos from mining operations.

Related updates

Aliyah Akram is regulated by the Bar Standards Board (BSB) and holds a current practising certificate. If you are not satisfied with the service provided, please click here.

"She is great to work with and is sympathetic and clear with lay clients."; "Aliyah is an approachable and accomplished barrister."; "Aliyah is robust and tenacious, with a strong understanding approach of the law which she couples with a pragmatic approach to strategy."

Travel: International Personal Injury, Chambers & Partners 2025

"She is also extremely responsive and her level of detail on cases is excellent."; "She undertakes a lot of international and disease work so she has that expertise."; "The skill set she has is very helpful."; "She is clear and concise, with a focus on the bigger picture."; "She is responsive, personable and very good with vulnerable clients."; "Aliyah is fast becoming a leader in asbestos-related disease."; "She provides strategic insight, has a very good grasp of the key issues and is not afraid to look outside the box."; "She is an all-rounder."; "Aliyah gets straight down to the nub of the issue and is very good with clients."

Personal Injury: Industrial Disease, Chambers & Partners 2025

"Her advice is very clear, her drafting skills are really good and her attention to detail is exceptional."; "She is incredibly technically able, excellent on her feet and fantastic at handling clients."; "Aliyah Akram is like a white knight that comes to save clients and deals with matters incredibly sensitively."

Personal Injury, Chambers & Partners 2025

"She combines the technical with the commercial."; "Aliyah is an exceptionally good lawyer."; "Aliyah's advice is very clear, her drafting skills are really good and her attention to detail is exceptional."; "She provides strategic insight and she is very good at mentoring more junior counsel."; "Aliyah has a good grasp of the key issues and gets to grip with them very quickly."

Group Litigation, Chambers & Partners 2025

‘Aliyah is extremely strong on challenging asbestos disease claims. She knows the case law inside out and has been involved as a junior in some ground breaking work in recent years, so she can temper her view of the law with her experience in front of the bench.’

Personal Injury, Legal 500 2025

Aliyah is cerebral and approachable’

Personal Injury, Legal 500 2024

"Aliyah has an excellent client manner and deals with all matters efficiently."; "Aliyah is an excellent counsel who is extremely good at getting to the heart of the issues surrounding a claim."

Travel: International Personal Injury client, Chambers & Partners 2024

"Her written and oral advisory work is very good. She has a deep knowledge of the applicable legal framework, liability and quantum."; "Aliyah provides clear, firm views that are well tested. She approaches her cases with thoroughness and tenacity."; "Aliyah is very analytical. She has a very open mind on how to make cases successful."

Personal Injury Client, Chambers & Partners 2024

"Aliyah has a good strategic brain. She is good at distilling what can be very complex facts to simple questions and getting right answers."; "She is a star of the future and is detailed and prepared."; "Her written and oral advisory work is very good. She has deep knowledge of the applicable legal framework, liability and quantum."

Personal Injury: Industrial Disease, Chambers & Partners 2024

To find out more, contact Paul Barton on +44 (0)20 7427 4907 for a confidential discussion.

  • PIBA
  • PEOPIL
  • APIL

  • Contributor: Asbestos: Law & Litigation, Sweet & Maxwell, 2nd edition, 2022 (Chapters: Causation, Asbestos: history and use, Product liability)

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