Joanne Candlish

Joanne is a partner in the asbestos team based in the firm’s Liverpool office, and an APIL accredited Senior Litigator, Asbestos and Occupational Disease Specialist, with over 31 years’ experience dealing with asbestos cases.

She joined Leigh Day in January 2024 having previously worked at a number of claimant law firms.

What people say

"Joanne's detail management is impressive. She is very oriented on ensuring her job is done properly and is a pleasure to work with. She deals with very vulnerable clients impressively and is at the end of the phone whenever the client needs it." - Chambers and partners 2024

"We have been really impressed with how Joanne went about this case from day 1. Her initial professionalism and confidence was what helped us decide to proceed with this case. She was always available to take a call or reply to an email during the process and we were kept up to date on a regular basis throughout. A very professional service and a very satisfactory outcome."
- Family of a deceased mesothelioma victim following a six figure settlement via Trustpilot

"Absolutely brilliant, Joanne and team kept myself and husband well informed throughout the full process. Lovely Joanne very easy to talk to and explained every detail throughout. Would highly recommend 100%."
- Wife of asbestos related pleural thickening client following a provisional settlement, via Trustpilot

Legal expertise

She is an experienced industrial disease solicitor who litigates cases efficiently and aggressively in the Royal Courts of Justice Asbestos list with a high rate of success and client satisfaction. She regularly recovers six figure settlements, plus future treatment orders and hospice costs on behalf of her clients.

Recent successful cases include securing a seven-figure settlement for a lung cancer victim, and a six-figure settlement for the widow of an 80 year old mesothelioma victim.

Joanne recently secured a six figure settlement when she was instructed post-death, and the family knew very little about the asbestos exposure suffered by the deceased. Joanne was able to identify witnesses and obtain a number of supportive witness statements and expert evidence, leading to settlement with the defendant, a matter of weeks before the case was due to be heard at a three-day trial. She regularly obtains six-figure settlements for her clients, particularly those who are suffering from mesothelioma. Her settlements include claims for novel and private medical treatment not available on the NHS as part of the settlement agreement.

In another of Joanne’s recent cases, she secured a settlement for her client of £283,500 in a multi-defendant claim, together with the option to activate a private medical treatment agreement in the future, and nearly £10,000 for the local hospice who had provided symptom control and pain relief treatment to Joanne’s client.

She has had cases reported in law reports including Taylor v Fascia Future [2018] EWHC 3049 QB, and had day to day conduct of one of the test cases in the Employers’ Liability Policy Trigger Issue Litigation which was successful in the Supreme Court in March 2012 [2012] UKSC14.

She acted for the successful claimant in the Court of Appeal in August 2011 in the case of Hoey v Sir Robert Lloyd and Ors [2011] EWCA Civ 1060 defending an Appeal launched by the defendants against the decision of His Honour Judge Gore in the Liverpool County Court that the claim was not statute barred.

She acted on behalf of the family of a deceased asbestos victim working alongside HM Coroner for Liverpool in the judicial review which challenged HMRC’s policy decision not to disclose employment records to coroners and families in fatal disease cases. This successful challenge eventually led to the policy being overturned.

She regularly participates in events and meetings with medical professionals, lung cancer nurses and asbestos victim support groups.