James Walsh

Partner and head of team

I am a partner and the head of the asbestos and industrial disease team at GA.

My peers regard me as one of the South West’s leading industrial disease litigators with more than 25 years of experience. My special focus is on helping families recover damages for high value asbestos claims.

I am recognised on a national platform for my work and experience in dealing with asbestos disease claims, in particular those related to mesothelioma victims who have passed away. I act primarily for individuals and families who have suffered from pleural thickening (pleural fibrosis), asbestosis (pulmonary fibrosis), asbestos related lung cancer or mesothelioma.  I also deal with provisional damages cases where a longstanding asbestos sufferer has experienced a deterioration in their disease. I have also recovered compensation for family members who did not work with asbestos, but have contracted an asbestos disease on a secondary basis through close contact with or from clothing of relatives who did have exposure during their own work. 

As I am based in Plymouth (also where I grew up), the majority of my clients were exposed to asbestos at Devonport Dockyard or were employed by the Ministry of Defence (MOD). As I am local I have built up close relations with the MOD insurers over the last 25 years and this helps my clients get prompt and proper levels of compensation which they may not obtain from a non-specialist asbestos lawyer or someone who does not practice in Plymouth. 

I also have years of experience in industrial deafness litigation recovering damages for hearing loss and tinnitus. In addition, I have acted for clients in public and employer (workplace) liability cases where serious injury has been sustained. On occasions these injuries have been life changing where people are unable to work or have to change their job; require considerable care and assistance; need adaptations to their home (such as stair lifts or walk in showers); or require funding for private medical treatment.

On a national basis I am an accredited Occupational Disease and Asbestos Disease specialist with the Association of Personal Injury Lawyers (APIL).  I was the second individual to be nationally appointed.  Currently I am one of only two solicitors with this accreditation West of Bristol covering the Devon, Cornwall, Somerset and Dorset counties – APIL – Accredited Asbestos & Mesothelioma Lawyers. Due to my extensive experience, I have been named as a national assessor to support the APIL asbestos accreditation scheme. I also have been awarded the acclaimed Fellow status by APIL.

I enjoy supporting the local Plymouth business community and support a number of local charities. I have been the Honorary Treasurer for Plymouth Law Society since 2013 and in 2020 I was elected as President. In 2021 I was awarded a second consecutive term as President of Plymouth Law Society which is unprecedented since 1933. 

I was singled out by The Legal 500 2021 as “A local industrial disease specialist, who in that line of work locally is peerless.” 

Outside of work I enjoy coastal and Dartmoor treks with my family. I love most types of sport and am an avid season ticket holder at Plymouth Argyle. I am also a single-figure handicap golfer.