Mark Armitage

Mark undertakes work involving all aspects of disease litigation. He is well versed in dealing with asbestos related claims and is often instructed to deal with a case from drafting the defence to its conclusion at trial. Mark often appears in the King’s Bench Division – regularly attending ‘show cause’ hearings and contested trials concerning the issues of limitation, breach of duty and quantum.

Mark is frequently involved in claims involving irritant and hazardous substances and is often asked to advise employers in relation to claims relating to asthma, cancer, and dermatitis.

Over recent years Mark has dealt with an increasing volume of claims involving work-related upper limb disorders and in particular those arising as a result of repetitive work and exposure to vibration. He regularly accepts instructions in relation to cases concerning carpal tunnel syndrome, cubital tunnel syndrome, golfer’s elbow, tennis elbow and HAVS. Mark regularly advises and appears in many trials involving issues of breach of duty, limitation and causation.

Mark also has a healthy practice dealing with NIHL claims from their inception until their disposal at trial.

Selected Cases

• Acting for the Defendant in a High Court trial involving the quantum of general damages for a minor respiratory disability arising as a result of asbestos related pleural thickening.
• Fudge v Hawkins & Ors [2018] EWHC 453 (QB) – limitation trial acting for the successful Defendant. The court refused to exercise its discretion under the Limitation Act 1980 s.33. The claim related to asbestos exposure over 40 years earlier and the claimant’s delay since accruing knowledge of his injury had adversely affected the cogency and availability of the evidence.
• Simpson v Arla Foods [2018] HHJ Gargan – which involved the construction of a compromise agreement in an asbestos related pleural thickening claim.
• Acting for a Defendant in a claim for bladder cancer allegedly caused by exposure to paint fumes in a spray painting booth.
• An occupational asthma claim arising as a result of exposure to paint and plastic fume.
• Advising an employer in relation to interesting issues of de minimis in an occupational asthma claim arising from exposure to grinding and welding fume. The claim discontinued on the eve of trial.
• Advising an employer in relation to issues of breach of duty and causation in an asbestosis case arising from an employee’s work in a storeroom.

Mark focuses on all aspects of personal injury litigation, principally in the Multi Track. He has been instructed in cases in the High Court and the Court of Appeal and he regularly appears up and down the country in trials involving all aspects of liability and quantum arising out of accident claims. He is particularly interested in those claims arising from the occupation of premises; employers’ liability; accidents on the highway; and claims relating to the liability of animals and their keepers. Over the years, he has been routinely instructed by a variety of local authorities in the defence of their public liability claims.

Mark is willing to fight difficult claims at trial but is also a great believer in the benefits of ADR and is often instructed to settle cases at JSM.
He is experienced in dealing with catastrophic and fatal accident claims.

Mark is particularly interested in cases involving issues of chronic pain and psychiatric injury. He has also been instructed in several matters involving complex and unusual vascular injuries.

Selected Cases

• Instructed in a case of severe brain injury and cognitive impairment following an accident at work whilst painting a ship in Falmouth docks.
• Acting for a Defendant in a case of complex vascular injury following a road traffic accident: the claim settled at a JSM for almost £1million.
• Successful defending a bus company in a ‘test claim’ resulting from an accident arising as a result of skidding on ice.
• Selwood v Durham CC & Ors [2012] EWCA Civ 979; [2012] PIQR P20 – a claim relating to the negligence of an NHS Trust in failing to warn local authority social worker of threats to her life by voluntary mental patient. Issues: whether it is necessary to show an assumption of responsibility for a victim’s safety; whether Art.2 ECHR engaged. [led by Michael Kent KC]
• Instructed in a claim for life-changing spinal injuries resulting from a fall from height in Richmond (North Yorkshire) [led by Benjamin Nolan KC]
• Settling a case at a JSM for over £1million for a claimant who suffered serious physical and mental consequences following a road traffic accident.
• Successfully defending an employer’s liability claim relating to allegations of unsuitable work equipment.
• Successfully defending a highway authority in a multi-track highway tripping claim before HHJ Robinson in Teeside.
• Successfully defending a registered zoo in relation to a parrot which had attacked a child.
• Instructed in a claim in which a horse had been ‘spooked’ by a large vehicle on the highway causing its rider to be unseated.

Mark was appointed as an Assistant Coroner for North Yorkshire and York in October 2025.

Mark regularly attends inquests on behalf of all properly interested parties and in particular NHS Trusts, surgeons, care homes, care staff, RTA insurers, and employers. Mark has often represented mental health trusts and has a clear understanding of issues relating to detention under the Mental Health Act.

He has particular experience in relation to deaths occurring in hospital and in custody and in a care home setting. He has detailed knowledge of the systems and procedures operated in hospitals and prisons and the health care arrangements pertaining to both organisations.

Mark has been involved in several inquests involving the implications of surgical procedures and the consequences of the MRSA virus. He has regularly dealt with deaths arising as a result of sepsis.

He has experience of appearing before juries at inquests and has a particular interest in the issue of neglect arising from the lack of appropriate medical treatment.

Mark has considerable experience in dealing with Article 2/ ‘Middleton’ inquests and the scope of the inquiry to be undertaken to satisfy the requirements of the Human Rights Act.

Selected Cases

• Acting for a care home in relation to the death of an employee from the consequences of the COVID-19 virus.
• Acting for a national care provider in relation to a death resulting from a rare cancer of the lymphatic system.
• Acting for a care home in relation to death occurring due to an unwitnessed fall or a resident.
• Acting for a housing association in an Article 2 inquiry following the manslaughter of a tenant.
• Mark acted for a primary care trust in an article 2 inquest involving a prisoner who had received an overdose of oral chemotherapy drugs following his attendance at hospital. Mark represented the PCT which provided health care services in the prison. A jury heard four weeks of evidence relating to the systems in place for the prescribing, dispensing, storage and control of oral chemotherapy drugs. The inquest involved extensive submissions in relation to the scope of the inquiry, the evidence to be presented to the jury and the potential conclusions.
• A three week inquest relating to a death of a resident in a care home from sepsis which had arisen due to an infected pressure ulcer. Mark acted for a team of district nurses who had provided care.
• Acting for a care home in a week long jury inquest involving a resident who had died by choking on her food as a result of the progressive consequences of vascular dementia.
• Mark has been involved in two jury inquests involving the use of medical equipment in a care home setting.
• Acting for two paramedics in a four week jury inquest relating to a death caused by taking illicit drugs. The death occurred in custody and it involved complex issues of causation requiring the expert input of two Home Office Pathologists.
• Acting for a care home in relation to the death of a resident from a bowel obstruction.
• He has also been instructed to represent private and NHS hospitals in relation to deaths occurring following procedures such as heart transplant surgery, hip and other orthopaedic operations. He has experience in dealing with the consequences of deep vein thrombosis.

Mark has considerable experience dealing with all aspects of civil fraud, particularly in relation to road traffic collisions, accidents at work, and s.41 Highways Act 1980 claims.

He has regularly been instructed in cases involving allegations of low velocity and phantom passengers and has often fought those cases to trial. He has a particular interest in allegations of staged collisions and the importance of the role of accident reconstruction experts. He also understands the significance of the interrogation of social media accounts and how best to deploy such evidence at trial.

Mark has often been involved in claims involving exaggerated injuries and the implications of covert surveillance evidence. He is used to dealing with those issues at interlocutory hearings; at joint settlement meetings; and at trial.

He is well versed in dealing with the interaction of psychological and physical injury and with claims relating to all categories of chronic pain: including claims relating to somatoform disorders.

Mark’s costs’ practice provides him with a good breadth of experience when dealing with issues of QOCS and applications pursuant to s.57 Criminal Justice and Courts Act 2015; he is regularly instructed to consider issues of Fundamental Dishonesty.

Abuse and Neglect

As an adjunct to his inquest work, Mark is frequently instructed in relation to the civil claims that follow those inquiries dealing with allegations of institutional neglect and want of care.

Mark’s costs’ practice provides him with a good breadth of experience when dealing with issues of QOCS and applications pursuant to s.57 Criminal Justice and Courts Act 2015. Mark has been an editor of Charlesworth & Percy on Negligence for several years and his involvement includes dealing with chapters relating to employers’ liability, highways, and the MIB.