Philippa Craven

Philippa is a partner in our Birmingham office. She specialises in legacy disease claims, particularly in asbestos related litigation. She joined the firm in 2009 and is a senior member of the disease team.

She acts principally for, and advises, self-insured corporate clients, insurers, brokers and claims handlers. She has developed a reputation for sound, sensible and pragmatic advice in the defence of disease litigation and solutions for disease claims.

She undertakes all legacy disease litigation, including mesothelioma, asbestos, occupational asthma, hand-arm vibration syndrome, industrial deafness and stress claims. She has a particular focus on clients within the construction, energy, facilities management, utilities and manufacturing industries.

She has been involved in significant and commercially sensitive litigation and adopts a pragmatic and strategic approach to dispute resolution.

Philippa is known for her close client relationships. It is important to her clients, and to her, that she understands their businesses in order to best deal with their claims. She has worked closely with a client whose reputation and brand were put at risk during an asbestos claim. It was necessary to co-ordinate and manage the response to the media but at the same time deal sensitively with the claim and achieve the best economic settlement. For another client, Philippa was involved in a collaborative approach, working closely with the client and which has resulted in savings of over £5m to their legal spend. She is acutely aware of the need to protect her clients’ business and works with them to devise strategies to reduce their risks, claims and overall outlay.

Most notably, Philippa led our response to the Ministry of Justice’s consultation on the handling of mesothelioma claims and lobbied parliamentarians ahead of the enactment of the Mesothelioma Act, including drafting a response to the Ministry of Justice Consultation paper and provided briefing notes to the Houses of Lords and Commons on the Act. She was invited to meet with and discuss Mesothelioma reforms with various ministers and Lord McKenzie of Luton.

In addition, Philippa also deals with employers’ and public liability claims, where she has acted in some high level matters involving injuries caused by animals, particularly horses.

Philippa is a member of the Forum of Insurance Lawyers (FOIL) and is an author of Kennedys’ Claims Handling Law and Practice Guide, the fourth edition of which was published in February 2021.