Dan Webster
Associate solicitor
Dan is an associate solicitor in the human rights department
Dan is an associate solicitor in the human rights department, working as part of Merry Varney’s team.
Dan does a wide range of work, primarily in the context of mental health, social care and gambling harms. This includes representing bereaved families at inquests, acting for claimants in human rights and negligence claims and representing clients in judicial review proceedings or in applications for an inquest to be held under section 13 of the Coroners Act 1988.
Dan has acted in a number of inquests involving concerns about mental health care and treatment, the support provided to students by universities, the policies and practices of the DWP and gambling harms (including the actions of gambling operators and wider issues regarding the information available about risks associated with gambling, treatment available for gambling disorder and gambling regulation).
Dan is ranked as a ‘star associate’ for Inquests and Inquiries by Chambers and Partners for 2027. He was previously ranked as an ‘associate to watch’ in the same category in 2026 and was featured in The Lawyer as one of the “Associates to Know” for its Top 20 Cases 2026, recognised for his work on landmark gambling harm litigation.
Examples of cases Dan has worked on include the following:
Inquest touching the death of Gareth Evans – The inquest into Gareth’s death concluded in July 2026. The Coroner found that gambling disorder and failures by William Hill to intervene in Gareth’s gambling contributed to his death. She is expected to issue a Prevention of Future Deaths report to the Gambling Commission.
Inquest touching the death of Ellen Mulvey – The inquest into Ellen’s death concluded in April 2026. The Coroner found that gambling disorder and gambling with unlicensed operators contributed to Ellen’s death.
Inquest touching the death of Ollie Long – The inquest into Ollie’s death concluded in January 2026. The Coroner found that gambling with unlicensed operators, after self-excluding from gambling with licensed operators via GAMSTOP, had contributed to Ollie’s death and issued a Prevention of Future Deaths report to the Government and the Gambling Commission in respect of the risks posed by unlicensed operators.
Inquest touching the death of Luke Ashton – The inquest into Luke’s death concluded in June 2023. The Coroner found that gambling disorder and failures by Betfair to intervene in Luke’s gambling contributed to his death. He issued a Prevention of Future Deaths report to Flutter (Betfair’s parent company), the Gambling Commission and the Government.
Application for a new inquest into the death of Jodey Whiting - Dan was part of the team which represented Joy Dove (Jodey’s mother) in her application for a new inquest to investigate whether failings by the DWP contributed to Jodey’s death. The application was granted by the Court of Appeal in March 2023 following a lengthy legal process. The Court of Appeal judgment is of considerable wider significance, particularly in respect of the investigation by coroners of mental health causes contributing to self-inflicted deaths, as discussed in this blog post.
Inquest touching the death of Jack Ritchie - The inquest into Jack’s death concluded in March 2022. The Coroner found that gambling led to Jack’s death and that the regulation, information and treatment for gambling problems at the time of his death were “woefully inadequate”.
Dan qualified as a solicitor in 2022, having completed his training contract at Leigh Day. He worked in the clinical negligence, employment and international and group litigation departments before joining the human rights department as a solicitor.
Education and previous experience
Before joining the firm, Dan studied law at Durham University and worked at Liberty as an advice & information volunteer.
Memberships and committees
Dan is a member of INQUEST Lawyers Group. Within Leigh Day, he is part of the Green Committee and the Disability Committee.
News and blogs
Accreditations
Coroner raises concerns gambling self-exclusion scheme does not cover National Lottery products after death of man who took his own life because of gambling
A coroner has raised concerns in a report that further deaths could occur unless action is taken to include National Lottery online gambling products in the GAMSTOP self-exclusion scheme, to protect those experiencing gambling harm.
Gambling reform campaigner raises concerns over Gambling Commission’s lack of action against Betfair after failings found at the inquest into her husband’s death
Gambling reform campaigner Annie Ashton says the Gambling Commission’s decision not to take action against Betfair following concerns raised at the inquest into the death of her husband Luke Ashton is an “unacceptable failure of its duties” and calls into question its fitness for purpose as a regulator.