Industrial Disease
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.
News
- Mark Armitage appointed as Assistant Coroner for North Yorkshire and York
- Fudge v Hawkins & Holmes Ltd & Others
Qualifications
- Downing College Cambridge
- MA (Cantab)
- LLM (Cantab)
- General Editor – Charlesworth & Percy on Negligence
- Assistant Coroner for North Yorkshire and York (October 2025)
- Visiting Lecturer at Inns of Court College of Advocacy (2025)
Memberships
Personal Injury Bar Association
