Lawyers will appeal other asbestos compo case

Lawyers plan to take another asbestos-related ACC case to the Court of Appeal after the 80-year-old widow involved in a landmark case decided not to proceed.

Auckland woman Dawn Lehmann has abandoned an appeal against a High Court ruling that could force asbestos victims and their families to return lump-sum payments from ACC.

But Wellington lawyer John Miller said he was confident another case involving a Wanganui widow could be fast-tracked to the Court of Appeal.

Last month, Justice Lowell Goddard overturned a District Court decision which ordered ACC to pay nearly $100,000 to the estate of Ross Lehmann.

The District Court case cleared the way for people exposed to asbestos before April 2002 to seek lump sums. About 26 lump sums have since been paid out. ACC appealed against the decision and said lump sums applied only when the person suffered injury or exposure after April 1, 2002.

Mr Miller said the Wanganui case was heard after the High Court decision and a lump sum had not been awarded. He had appealed in the District Court and was confident the case could be fast-tracked to the Court of Appeal without the need for hearings.

It had "the same precedent value" as the Lehmann case. "If we win this case in the Court of Appeal, all the other cases are satisfied as well. None of them will have to pay the money back."