Michael 
 Samaan 

Partner

Casualty

Michael is a Partner in our Casualty department, based in Leeds. Qualifying in 2011, he has substantial experience handling a broad spectrum of insurance litigation claims on behalf of insurers, loss adjusters and self-insureds.

He has been recognised in the Legal 500 and sits on the Product Liability Sector Focused Team for the Forum of Insurance Lawyers.

He is routinely instructed to advise clients in respect of product liability matters and non-personal injury work, often of high value.

Michael has significant experience of working with very large self-insured corporate clients. He also specialises on working on regulatory cases involving HSE Prosecutions and Inquests.

Work highlights

• Acted in relation to the reported, Regulatory Court of Appeal case of R v Whirlpool UK Appliances Ltd [2017] EWCA Crim 2186 in a successful appeal against sentence. The fine was reduced from £700,000 to £300,000.The case concerned a breach of section 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974. The case is of significance in that the Court of Appeal grappled with two important issues on the level of the fine (i) the impact of very large organisation status and (ii) the impact of death.
• Acted in relation to the Inquest into the deaths of Douglas McTavish and Gerald Hender. The Inquest related to a double fatality resulting from a white goods appliance. The issues in the case included consideration of the evidence at the scene of the fatality and the complex expert forensic engineering reports.
• In R (HSE) v TJV Building Company Ltd, the Director of the company was at risk of a custodial sentence in relation to breach of Health & Safety legislation. Michael worked in conjunction with a KC to provide successful mitigation to avoid a custodial sentence for the Director and an extensive fine for the company.
• Advising the insured/insurers in relation to the case of Gary Boucher v British Steel Ltd. The case involved a £1m> claim involving a serious injury involving the amputation of the Claimant’s foot.