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{{ infobox person
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| name = Martyn Day
| image = Martyn_Day.jpg
| image_size = 200px
| imagesize = 200px
| birth_date = February 18
|birth_place = [[Harrogate, England]], [[United Kingdom|U.K.]]
| death_date =
| death_place =
| alma_mater =
}}

'''Martyn Day''' is the Senior Partner at Leigh Day & Co. specialising in international, environment and product liability claims, often as group actions. He was a director of Greenpeace Environmental Trust, having stepped down as chairman of Greenpeace UK in 2008.

Examples of his work include negotiating settlements for approximately 1300 Kenyans injured/killed by British Army munitions,<ref name="Muntions1">[http://www.blackpressusa.com/news/Article.asp?SID=12&Title=Diaspora+Digest&NewsID=2479 “Britain to Pay Kenyan Victims Of Ammunition Blasts.”]</ref> for 52 Colombian farmers in a claim against BP relating to the damage caused to farms in the north of the country<ref name="BP Damages1">[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BP#Colombian_pipeline “Colombian Pipeline Disaster.”]</ref> and recently being instructed in relation to the allegation that the disposal of waste in the Ivory Coast has led to deaths and injuries in Abidjan<ref name="Trafigura1">[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2006_C%C3%B4te_d%27Ivoire_toxic_waste_dump “Waste Company Harms Natives.”]</ref> and Iraqis alleging torture by British soldiers.<ref name="Britsh Soldiers1">[http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article19248.htm “British Soldiers Accused Of Torturing Iraqi Prisoners.”]</ref> He is Co-Author of 'Toxic Torts', 'Personal Injury Handbook', 'Multi-Party Actions' and 'Environmental Action: A Citizens Guide'. In April 2008 Martyn was identified by The Times as one of the UK's most powerful and influential lawyers.<ref name="Prolificlawyer1">[http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/law/article3785478.ece “Martyn Day is one of the UK's most powerful and influential lawyers.”]</ref>

==Family==
Martyn is the Elder brother of [[Peabody Awarding]] winning documentary filmmaker [[Philip J Day]].

==Early Career==

==Leigh Day & Co==
Leigh Day & Co was established in 1987 by Martyn Day and Sarah Leigh. It has become a highly distinctive law firm with a track record starting they are not afraid to take on challenges that would daunt many others. The firmís ethos is "to ensure that the ordinary person has just as good quality legal advice as our state bodies, insurers and multi-nationals." The firm is best known for taking on many ëDavid and Goliathí legal struggles for justice.
<ref name="Leigh_Day1">[http://www.lawgazette.co.uk/features/martyn-day-fierce-advocate-people “Martyn Day: fierce advocate for the people.”]</ref>

One of the UK's best-known claimant lawyers, Martyn Day specialises in group claims. He has secured damages in cases including a group of Sellafield nuclear workers suffering from leukaemia and the Japanese prisoner of war cases. He has also won damages claims for Colombian farmers against BP and is currently representing four of the six men injured in last yearís Northwick Park drug trials. He co-founded Leigh Day & Co, where he is senior partner, in 1987.

==Controvesy==
====The South Yorkshire firm Beresford====
Miners and their relatives approached Beresfords to claim compensation for chronic lung problems and vibration white finger, a hand condition caused by working with vibrating machinery. The firm, based in Doncaster, advertised its services to miners and their families, distributing a yellow flyer across coalfields. It handled 97,651 claims under a scheme agreed by the old Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) to compensate miners for health problems caused by work for British Coal since the 1970s.<ref name="Controversy1">[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/south_yorkshire/7777957.stm “ Sick miners' lawyers struck off.”]</ref>
But while the firm earned millions, the miners it represented won relatively small compensation payouts, averaging just over £2,000.

"This has turned out to be a bonanza for solicitors," said Geoffrey Hopkinson, son of miner George Hopkinson.
Martyn Day has said of the incident, "It is no longer just the Daily Mail who call us "ambulance chasers"<ref name="Controversy2">[http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2008/dec/12/beresfords-misconduct-solicitors-miners “Lawyers made millions from sick miners.”]</ref>..."I still believe that accident lawyers have a key role to play in our society and that we can get away from the "Del Boy" image of recent years. But any more miners-style sagas and our collective reputations will never recover."<ref name="Controversy3">[http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2008/dec/13/law-ukcrime “Big fee, no win.”]</ref>

==Notable Cases==
===Colombian Farmers V. BP===
In July 2006, a group of [[Colombia]]n farmers won a multi million pound settlement from BP after the British oil and gas company was accused of benefiting from a regime of [[fear|terror]] carried out by Colombian government [[paramilitaries]] to protect a {{convert|450|mi|km|sing=on}} pipeline. <refname="Pipeline1">[http://news.independent.co.uk/world/americas/article1190528.ece "BP pays out millions to Colombian farmers."]</ref>

BP denied that it “owed any relevant duty of care” to the claimants, stating that it “did not design, construct or operate the pipeline” and was “at no stage responsible for its maintenance". The company refutes liability for long-term environmental damage, blaming deforestation and cattle grazing for soil erosion and dismissing claims of widespread environmental damage as “significantly inflated".

Marta Hinestroza, a local lawyer who was granted political asylum in the UK after being told that her name had appeared on a paramilitary hitlist, first brought the case to the attention of Leigh Day & Co solicitors, who negotiated an out-of-court settlement for a separate group of farmers in 2006.<ref name="Pipeline2">[http://www.sidewaysnews.com/society-business/bp-oil-giant-vs-colombian-farmers “ BP oil giant vs. Colombian farmers.”]</ref>

In June 2006 BP and the farmers met for mediation in Bogotá. On 22 July 2006 the parties announced that a settlement had been reached. The parties did not disclose the terms and amounts paid. However, in a joint statement they did announce that BP, without admitting liability, had agreed to establish an Environmental and Social Improvement Trust Fund for the benefit of the farmers, together with a programme of workshops dealing with environmental management and business development. According to press reports, the amount paid by BP was not thought to be as high as the £15 million originally claimed, but was believed to run to several million pounds.<ref name="Pipeline3">[http://www.business-humanrights.org/Categories/Lawlawsuits/Lawsuitsregulatoryaction/LawsuitsSelectedcases/BPlawsuitreColombia “Case profile: BP lawsuit (re Colombia)”]</ref>

===Trafigura Toxic Waste Dump===
The [[2006 Côte d'Ivoire toxic waste dump]] was a health crisis in Côte d'Ivoire in which a ship registered in Panama, the Probo Koala, chartered by the oil and commodity shipping company [[Trafigura]] Beheer BV, disposed of toxic waste in the Ivorian port of Abidjan.

In November 2006, the High Court of Justice in London agreed to hear a group action by about 30,000 claimants from Côte d’Ivoire against Trafigura over the alleged dumping of toxic waste from the Probo Koala.<ref name="Trafigura1">[http://www.business-humanrights.org/Categories/Lawlawsuits/Lawsuitsregulatoryaction/LawsuitsSelectedcases/TrafiguralawsuitsreCtedIvoire?&batch_start=21 “ Case profile: Trafigura lawsuits (re Côte d’Ivoire).”]</ref>

The British law firm Leigh Day, which has brought one of the biggest group actions in legal history, seeking damages of £100m. He said at the close of court in Abidjan, where he has been negotiating the settlement: "The claimants are very pleased."
Over 20,000 claimants signed a petition calling for Leigh Day to have responsibility for the payments. Mr Justice MacDuff gave a ruling in October 2009 that Leigh Day should have responsibility for finalising the payments.

In September 2009 an investigation for the identity of, Mr Claude Gouhourou, who claims that he represents the 30,000 claimants. Leigh Day worked out a system for the payment of each claimant through the use of a payment card to be used at the bank's ATM machines in Abidjan. The PIN numbers for the cards were given out in October but just as this process was coming to an end and before the cards could be distributed Leigh Day and the bank were served with a freezing order on the account.
His protest of the funds transfer insists he was one of the fifty or so representatives of the many communities in Abidjan affected by the toxic waste. In his evidence he stated that he and the other representatives had set up a coordinating association of which he was the president and that this association had the responsibility for distributing the compensation monies.<ref name="Trafigura2">[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/8475362.stm “ Fear over Ivory Coast ruling on Trafigura waste pay-out.”]</ref>

22 January 2010

The documents provided by Mr Gouhourou to prove his case have been shown since this time to be false. The other representatives all deny the existence of any such association, the representatives who supposedly signed the association’s inauguration papers deny the signatures were theirs, and the town hall where the association was supposedly registered deny this occurred and their stamp was forged. Leigh Day have lodged criminal allegations with the Ivorian prosecuting authorities in relation to these actions.<ref name="Trafigura3">[http://www.leighday.co.uk/news/news-archive-2010/victims-of-toxic-waste-in-despair-at-court-ruling/ “ Victims of toxic waste in despair at Court ruling.”]</ref>

==Prolific Authoring==
In addition to having his cases published, Martyn has also written his own articles for the UK Guardian and for the Times.

October 22, 2002
Why judges should not decide scientific cases
http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/law/article815219.ece

June 24, 2003
Why Martyn will not be giving up the Day job
http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/law/article1144613.ece

November 19, 2004
Martyn fights back after Oram heroics
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/cricket/article392986.ece

August 23, 2005
Can oil and principles mix?
http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/law/article557840.ece

November 1, 2005
Time to end the rich pickings for claims lawyers and insurers
http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/law/article584221.ece

April 11, 2006
A dangerous side-effect of withdrawing public funding
http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/law/article703268.ece

June 13, 2007
A "seminal decision" for human rights
http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/law/article1928010.ece

November 6, 2008
Why 'no win, no fee' is bringing access to justice
http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/law/article5090524.ece

13 December 2008
Big fee, no win
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2008/dec/13/law-ukcrime


==References==
{{reflist|2}}

==External links==

Revision as of 19:08, 15 February 2010

Martyn Day
File:Martyn Day.jpg
BornFebruary 18
Harrogate, England, U.K.

Martyn Day is the Senior Partner at Leigh Day & Co. specialising in international, environment and product liability claims, often as group actions. He was a director of Greenpeace Environmental Trust, having stepped down as chairman of Greenpeace UK in 2008.

Examples of his work include negotiating settlements for approximately 1300 Kenyans injured/killed by British Army munitions,[1] for 52 Colombian farmers in a claim against BP relating to the damage caused to farms in the north of the country[2] and recently being instructed in relation to the allegation that the disposal of waste in the Ivory Coast has led to deaths and injuries in Abidjan[3] and Iraqis alleging torture by British soldiers.[4] He is Co-Author of 'Toxic Torts', 'Personal Injury Handbook', 'Multi-Party Actions' and 'Environmental Action: A Citizens Guide'. In April 2008 Martyn was identified by The Times as one of the UK's most powerful and influential lawyers.[5]

Family

Martyn is the Elder brother of Peabody Awarding winning documentary filmmaker Philip J Day.

Early Career

Leigh Day & Co

Leigh Day & Co was established in 1987 by Martyn Day and Sarah Leigh. It has become a highly distinctive law firm with a track record starting they are not afraid to take on challenges that would daunt many others. The firmís ethos is "to ensure that the ordinary person has just as good quality legal advice as our state bodies, insurers and multi-nationals." The firm is best known for taking on many ëDavid and Goliathí legal struggles for justice. [6]

One of the UK's best-known claimant lawyers, Martyn Day specialises in group claims. He has secured damages in cases including a group of Sellafield nuclear workers suffering from leukaemia and the Japanese prisoner of war cases. He has also won damages claims for Colombian farmers against BP and is currently representing four of the six men injured in last yearís Northwick Park drug trials. He co-founded Leigh Day & Co, where he is senior partner, in 1987.

Controvesy

The South Yorkshire firm Beresford

Miners and their relatives approached Beresfords to claim compensation for chronic lung problems and vibration white finger, a hand condition caused by working with vibrating machinery. The firm, based in Doncaster, advertised its services to miners and their families, distributing a yellow flyer across coalfields. It handled 97,651 claims under a scheme agreed by the old Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) to compensate miners for health problems caused by work for British Coal since the 1970s.[7] But while the firm earned millions, the miners it represented won relatively small compensation payouts, averaging just over £2,000.

"This has turned out to be a bonanza for solicitors," said Geoffrey Hopkinson, son of miner George Hopkinson. Martyn Day has said of the incident, "It is no longer just the Daily Mail who call us "ambulance chasers"[8]..."I still believe that accident lawyers have a key role to play in our society and that we can get away from the "Del Boy" image of recent years. But any more miners-style sagas and our collective reputations will never recover."[9]

Notable Cases

Colombian Farmers V. BP

In July 2006, a group of Colombian farmers won a multi million pound settlement from BP after the British oil and gas company was accused of benefiting from a regime of terror carried out by Colombian government paramilitaries to protect a 450-mile (720 km) pipeline. <refname="Pipeline1">"BP pays out millions to Colombian farmers."</ref>

BP denied that it “owed any relevant duty of care” to the claimants, stating that it “did not design, construct or operate the pipeline” and was “at no stage responsible for its maintenance". The company refutes liability for long-term environmental damage, blaming deforestation and cattle grazing for soil erosion and dismissing claims of widespread environmental damage as “significantly inflated".

Marta Hinestroza, a local lawyer who was granted political asylum in the UK after being told that her name had appeared on a paramilitary hitlist, first brought the case to the attention of Leigh Day & Co solicitors, who negotiated an out-of-court settlement for a separate group of farmers in 2006.[10]

In June 2006 BP and the farmers met for mediation in Bogotá. On 22 July 2006 the parties announced that a settlement had been reached. The parties did not disclose the terms and amounts paid. However, in a joint statement they did announce that BP, without admitting liability, had agreed to establish an Environmental and Social Improvement Trust Fund for the benefit of the farmers, together with a programme of workshops dealing with environmental management and business development. According to press reports, the amount paid by BP was not thought to be as high as the £15 million originally claimed, but was believed to run to several million pounds.[11]

Trafigura Toxic Waste Dump

The 2006 Côte d'Ivoire toxic waste dump was a health crisis in Côte d'Ivoire in which a ship registered in Panama, the Probo Koala, chartered by the oil and commodity shipping company Trafigura Beheer BV, disposed of toxic waste in the Ivorian port of Abidjan.

In November 2006, the High Court of Justice in London agreed to hear a group action by about 30,000 claimants from Côte d’Ivoire against Trafigura over the alleged dumping of toxic waste from the Probo Koala.[3]

The British law firm Leigh Day, which has brought one of the biggest group actions in legal history, seeking damages of £100m. He said at the close of court in Abidjan, where he has been negotiating the settlement: "The claimants are very pleased." Over 20,000 claimants signed a petition calling for Leigh Day to have responsibility for the payments. Mr Justice MacDuff gave a ruling in October 2009 that Leigh Day should have responsibility for finalising the payments.

In September 2009 an investigation for the identity of, Mr Claude Gouhourou, who claims that he represents the 30,000 claimants. Leigh Day worked out a system for the payment of each claimant through the use of a payment card to be used at the bank's ATM machines in Abidjan. The PIN numbers for the cards were given out in October but just as this process was coming to an end and before the cards could be distributed Leigh Day and the bank were served with a freezing order on the account. His protest of the funds transfer insists he was one of the fifty or so representatives of the many communities in Abidjan affected by the toxic waste. In his evidence he stated that he and the other representatives had set up a coordinating association of which he was the president and that this association had the responsibility for distributing the compensation monies.[12]

22 January 2010

The documents provided by Mr Gouhourou to prove his case have been shown since this time to be false. The other representatives all deny the existence of any such association, the representatives who supposedly signed the association’s inauguration papers deny the signatures were theirs, and the town hall where the association was supposedly registered deny this occurred and their stamp was forged. Leigh Day have lodged criminal allegations with the Ivorian prosecuting authorities in relation to these actions.[13]

Prolific Authoring

In addition to having his cases published, Martyn has also written his own articles for the UK Guardian and for the Times.

October 22, 2002 Why judges should not decide scientific cases http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/law/article815219.ece

June 24, 2003 Why Martyn will not be giving up the Day job http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/law/article1144613.ece

November 19, 2004 Martyn fights back after Oram heroics http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/cricket/article392986.ece

August 23, 2005 Can oil and principles mix? http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/law/article557840.ece

November 1, 2005 Time to end the rich pickings for claims lawyers and insurers http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/law/article584221.ece

April 11, 2006 A dangerous side-effect of withdrawing public funding http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/law/article703268.ece

June 13, 2007 A "seminal decision" for human rights http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/law/article1928010.ece

November 6, 2008 Why 'no win, no fee' is bringing access to justice http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/law/article5090524.ece

13 December 2008 Big fee, no win http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2008/dec/13/law-ukcrime


References

  1. ^ “Britain to Pay Kenyan Victims Of Ammunition Blasts.”
  2. ^ “Colombian Pipeline Disaster.”
  3. ^ a b “Waste Company Harms Natives.” Cite error: The named reference "Trafigura1" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
  4. ^ “British Soldiers Accused Of Torturing Iraqi Prisoners.”
  5. ^ “Martyn Day is one of the UK's most powerful and influential lawyers.”
  6. ^ “Martyn Day: fierce advocate for the people.”
  7. ^ “ Sick miners' lawyers struck off.”
  8. ^ “Lawyers made millions from sick miners.”
  9. ^ “Big fee, no win.”
  10. ^ “ BP oil giant vs. Colombian farmers.”
  11. ^ “Case profile: BP lawsuit (re Colombia)”
  12. ^ “ Fear over Ivory Coast ruling on Trafigura waste pay-out.”
  13. ^ “ Victims of toxic waste in despair at Court ruling.”
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