Dan Webster

Dan is an associate solicitor in the human rights department, working as part of Merry Varney’s team.

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.

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).

Examples of cases Dan has worked on include the following:

• 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”.
• Inquest touching the death of Philippa Day - The inquest into Philippa’s death concluded in January 2021. The Coroner found that the problems Philippa had with her application for disability benefits, as a result of systemic failings on the part of the DWP and Capita, were the predominant factor which led to her death. Following the inquest, Dan was part of the team which represented Philippa’s family in a civil claim against the DWP and Capita, which was settled in autumn 2021.

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

• Court of Appeal judgment in the Dove case: what comes next and what does it mean for other inquests? 
• Natasha Abrahart judgment: do universities owe a duty of care to their students?
• Death of Sarah Adams was caused by failures in planning her discharge from hospital, concludes Reading coroner
• Pre-inquest review into the death of Jodey Whiting, aged 42
• Coroner concludes Luke Ashton died as a result of gambling disorder and a lack of meaningful intervention from Betfair