Kim Smerdon, Head of the personal injury team at Boyes Turner, has praised the contribution of one of her senior solicitors, Laura Magson, to the department after her recent promotion to Director.Laura Magson now heads up the mesothelioma and asbestos team at Boyes Turner and has been promoted to a Director in the latest round of promotions at the firm.Kim Smerdon says:“I am delighted that Laura’s contribution to her clients and the team have been recognised. Laura is the most experienced asbestos disease solicitor in the firm, having acted for asbestos disease claimants for over 13 years. She has a well-established reputation as an outstanding lawyer known for the persistence with which she pursues difficult cases, the outstanding care that she shows to her clients and the high proportion of lifetime settlements she achieves.”Laura is an accredited asbestos disease specialist with the Association of Personal Injury Lawyers and assesses other solicitors in this field of work so that they can gain the same accreditation. She is passionate about the work that she does and is really committed to the Team.Laura has been listed as a “next generation lawyer” in the 2017 and 2018 editions of Legal 500 which recently quoted: “Thorough, professional and compassionate” Laura Magson is also highly recommended by clients for her “long standing reputation for achieving success in difficult cases” (Legal 500 2018).Laura’s impressive record of successful claims nationwide and abroad includes legally medically and financially complex cases including low level and environmental exposure, multi defendants and cases which lack evidence. Her compassion and commitment to easing her clients’ anxiety is demonstrated with the persistence which drives her to succeed in heavily defended and difficult cases which other lawyers are unable or reluctant to pursue. She secures lifetime settlements and provisional damages awards in asbestosis, pleural thickening and lung cancer cases where there are specified future risks.She has both the compassion and legal expertise needed to obtain justice and compensation for bereaved families and negotiates voluntary repayments of end of life care costs for hospices which nurse her clients. She personally supports asbestos disease sufferers through the Berkshire Asbestos Support Group, a Group she helped to found in 2009. She also gives regular presentations and training to health care professionals throughout the country.She works hard to conclude Mesothelioma cases during a claimant’s lifetime and has obtained sizeable sums within months of instruction, but also obtained Court orders for provision of future private treatment costs such as immunotherapy that may not be available on the NHS so her clients have the security of knowing any future treatments will be funded. When it is not possible to conclude the case during a client’s life-time Laura supports the families or estates through to complete the claim on the deceased’s behalf.As well as her work with mesothelioma and other asbestos disease sufferers, Laura also runs serious personal injury claims. She was recently interviewed on BBC South and BBC Radio Berkshire calling for safety changes to accident blackspots in her local community. Her campaigning came about as a result of a case she was dealing with for a client who was severely injured after being knocked off his bike in the area.She is an outspoken campaigner dedicated to using her knowledge to raise public awareness and make a difference, whether through her work with local asbestos groups or through joining her clients in campaigning for road safety changes.She continues this activism away from the office when she helps raise awareness and funds for the charities and support groups that help sufferers of asbestos-related and other diseases. Her fundraising exploits having included abseiling down The Blade, a skyscraper in Reading, the height of 32 double decker buses, in aid of a children’s hospice, Naomi House and a 25km Thames Path Challenge walk for Mesothelioma UK.What Laura's clients have said about her: “I just want to thank you again for all your help and support, it really is appreciated. We cannot express our gratitude enough in making something that is an awful situation quite “stress free” plus all of the respect and dignity that you showed at all times was outstanding ”“You made a difficult situation easier to bear because of the human way you dealt with me. I especially appreciate this was going through a very emotional and traumatic time in my life”“We knew from the first contact that we had chosen the right person to help us through this difficult time”
