Bridget Collier

Practice Areas

Mesothelioma claims

Industrial disease claims

Career

I have been specialising in work-related injuries including mesothelioma, industrial diseases and workplace accidents for over 22 years and I specialise in mesothelioma and asbestos-related diseases. My caseload is predominantly for those with mesothelioma. Having joined Fieldfisher in 2017, I was promoted to partner in 2021 and head up their department based in Manchester although I travel to see my clients in their homes throughout the north of England, Wales and mid-England.

Notable cases include dealing with the following issues:

Regularly securing settlement for mesothelioma including a provision for non-NHS funded treatment. One such award granted my client private immunotherapy treatment for well over a year and is ongoing.

Settlement of a claim including costs of care for my client and additional costs for his wife's care both in his lifetime and beyond will enable them both to remain in their home.

Settlement of a claim for mesothelioma including the costs of a case manager to co-ordinate my client's treatment and day-to-day care and jobs around the home. He lived alone and wanted to remain there throughout the last days of his illness and this compensation gave him the ability to fulfil his wish.

Initial compensation for her husband's mesothelioma for the widow in English jurisdiction followed by further compensation for her and immediate family in Scottish jurisdiction where there was no overlap in the heads of damage.

Settlement for a lab technician working at a college where there was low-level exposure to asbestos from fume cupboards and classroom equipment.

Compensation for a retort setter suffering asbestosis where his previous solicitors misinterpreted his medical records and told him that he could not claim.

Settlements for ex-pats. One included the additional costs of day-to-day living for my client living in rural Spain and off the main electricity grid. Another included the cost of upkeep of his Thai condo kept as a second home.

Peace of mind for those with a benign asbestos disease when settling their claim to include an automatic right for further compensation should they develop a further asbestos-related condition.

Cases for dockers working at Manchester Ship Canal. Cases for those working at Barrow Docks and other Shipbuilding companies.

Professional Memberships

I am a Senior Litigator of the Association of Personal Injury Lawyers (APIL) and accredited for my expertise as an Asbestos Lawyer and Occupational Disease Lawyer.

APIL fight for the rights of those injured or with an industrial disease and I spent many years advising them whilst sat their executive committee. I have also sat on the Government's oversight committee of the Diffuse Mesothelioma Scheme, in which time I ensured the fairness of the scheme for those affected with the disease.

I speak at training sessions for lawyers and medics. I have chaired the asbestos conferences for the Association of Personal Injury Lawyers and was a guest speaker at the British Thoracic Oncology Group / Mesothelioma UK training day 2022. I regularly speak directly with specialist nurse groups at their team briefing meetings.