Will Potts

Will has specialised in disease litigation since 2004. He is head of our UK Disease team of over 60 specialist disease lawyers. He handles all types of disease claim but has a specific expertise in asbestos litigation and other occupationally induced cancers, ranging from radiation exposure to sino-nasal cancer from wood dust.

He has over 21 years’ experience advising clients across a range of sectors including construction, manufacturing and agricultural but predominantly acts for large insurers. His clients include Zurich, RiverStone and NFU Mutual. He is also regularly instructed by corporates that have been unable to trace insurers for legacy disease claims.

He has extensive experience of managing large scale claims outsource projects for a number of clients. His team have market leading repudiation rates but are also commercially astute and pragmatic.

Will regularly advises clients on strategic issues affecting the wider insurance market.

Relevant experience includes:  

• Defending a mesothelioma claim brought by the widow of a victim who worked at a caravan manufacturers during the 1960s. We obtained HMRC facing cards which proved employment for a few weeks only. The Deceased made no direct mention of exposure with our client to asbestos in medical records or benefit application forms. Furthermore, it was established from a previous claim that there was a dedicated employee responsible for cutting asbestos sheets at the relevant time enabling us to argue that the claimant was not likely to have been exposed during his short employment.
• Defending a mesothelioma claim brought by a surveyor who suffered alleged exposure to asbestos while working for a food wholesaler. The main allegations related to the Claimant attending warehouse premises which had caught fire. We obtained comment from an expert engineer who argued that any exposure was likely to be intermittent, light and would not have contributed to the risk of the development of mesothelioma.
• Defending a claim for Legionella. The claimant had alleged exposure to contaminated water in a care home. We were able to demonstrate the appropriate water tests had been regularly carried out and that it was highly likely that the home was the source of the legionella bacteria.

Will’s team is recognised as Tier 1 in the most recent edition of The Legal 500 for Yorkshire & the Humber.