Notable victories

Turner Freeman has the largest and most experienced dust diseases practice in both South Australia and in Australia. For over 25 years Turner Freeman has represented thousands of victims of dust diseases.

The managing partner of our Parramatta Office, Armando Gardiman, ran his first claim for a victim of an asbestos disease in 1982, and successfully prosecuted the first product liability claim in Australia against James Hardie & Coy in 1987.

We have continued to achieve important victories including:

• The first verdict for a child born at Wittenoom and exposed to blue asbestos dust in the township.
• The first verdict on behalf of a victim who was working with brake lining materials as a fitter in an engineering firm.
• A succession of successful judgments for workers exposed to to asbestos and suffering from lung cancer who did not have asbestosis and were smokers.
• The first verdict on behalf of a waterside worker suffering from asbestos disease.
• The first verdict on behalf of a victim who contracted mesothelioma from doing home renovations.
• The first verdict on behalf of a victim who contracted  mesothelioma after just a few hours of exposure to asbestos dust when her father demolished a carport when she was a child.
• The first sucessful compensation case for a man who contracted lung cancer as a result of workplace exposure to chromate. 
• The first verdict in South Australia under the Dust Diseases Act, 2005.
• The first verdict for a mesothelioma victim for damages for loss of ability to care for grandchildren.
• The highest award of general damages for a mesothelioma victim in Australia.
• The first common law damages awarded to a flight attendant for exposure to fumes on an aircraft.
• The first verdict where a holding company was held liable for the negligent acts of its subsidiary in exposing its workers to asbestos.