Law firm Leigh Day expands asbestos work in the South West with appointment of new partner Andrew Stinchcombe

Andrew is a solicitor with more than 20 years' experience in dealing with all types of asbestos claims and campaigning to highlight the links between asbestos and lung cancers. This includes pioneering work on secondary asbestos claims, as well as raising awareness for women being diagnosed with asbestos related diseases.

The South West has a history of asbestos related diseases because of its industrial and maritime past. Extended exposure to asbestos has led to illnesses in many people, including mesothelioma, asbestosis and lung cancer.

Andrew joins the firm having had an extensive background in representing people who have suffered in this way. He has successfully pursued claims for workers at the Royal Navy’s Devonport dockyard in Plymouth, as well as for workers across a wide variety of different professions ranging from plumbers to Merchant Navy seamen.

This work also includes claims on behalf of people who have been exposed to asbestos on a secondary basis. Andrew acted for a woman in Plymouth who contracted asbestosis through washing a family member’s overalls repeatedly over a 25-year period, a case which is believed to be the first successful claim of its kind.

As well as working on claims, Andrew has headed up a prolonged effort to expose the damage that asbestos has caused to people in the Plymouth area.

His campaign work has included highlighting the strong links between asbestos and lung cancer, as well as raising awareness of the increasing number of women being diagnosed with mesothelioma. He has regularly appeared on TV, radio and in newspapers to comment on asbestos related news.

Andrew joins an already strong asbestos team at Leigh Day, with Legal 500 labelling the firm’s department as ‘probably the most experienced team of asbestos lawyers anywhere in the UK.’

Leigh Day has an extensive track record in successfully handling industrial disease cases, having recently achieved significant settlements for the daughters of a woman who was exposed to asbestos in her own home, and the family of an ex-pat who lived in Australia but was exposed in London while working as a heating and ventilation engineer.

The asbestos and industrial disease team is headed up by Harminder Bains and Daniel Easton, with other partners already heading up teams in different regions across the country.

With more than 5000 asbestos related disease deaths per year in the UK, the expansion of the team in the South West will allow the firm to make an even bigger contribution to supporting those in the region who have been affected by the issue.

Andrew Stinchcombe said:

“I am proud to join Leigh Day’s renowned asbestos team and look forward to helping to expand the firm’s specialist work in the South West. I have spent years fighting and campaigning on behalf of people across the region who have suffered, and often tragically lost their lives, due to asbestos related diseases. This includes delivering what is believed to be the first ever successful secondary exposure asbestos claim on behalf of a woman who contracted asbestosis from washing a family member’s contaminated work clothes. I have also worked hard to raise awareness of women suffering from asbestos related diseases more widely. I look forward to bringing my experience and expertise to Leigh Day and helping the firm support even more people in the South West who have been afflicted by these terrible diseases.”