Loading...
A not-for-profit organisation
committed to injured people
A not-for-profit organisation
committed to injured people

Occupational Disease and Asbestos Disease Specialist application documents – for practitioners in England and Wales

An Accredited Occupational Disease Specialist is a person who has achieved APIL Senior Litigator status (or above) and who has demonstrated further competence in the specialist field of occupational disease. He or she is able to manage and progress an occupational disease case so as to establish, assert and enforce, in an effective and efficient manner, the rights of a client damaged or disadvantaged by occupational disease. He or she is competent to take, without supervision, key decisions on accepting cases, assessing risks, evaluating offers and issuing proceedings.

Asbestos Disease Specialist

A sub-specialism in the occupational disease field concerns disease resulting from exposure to asbestos, especially mesothelioma. To enable members of the public to identify practitioners with the additional skills and experience to handle such cases the Standard includes a number of additional requirements. If these are met a practitioner may hold themselves out as an Accredited Asbestos Disease Specialist.

Anyone wishing to apply to be an Accredited Occupational Disease Specialist and/or an Accredited Asbestos Disease Specialist should read the guidance notes on assessments.

To apply for Specialist accreditation you must be individually accredited at the level of Senior Litigator or above.

For information about the Senior Litigator Standard, please click here.

Do you meet both of the following criteria?

  • Completed at least 5,000 chargeable hours of occupational disease work, taken cases to trial, and issued proceedings and delivered a brief to counsel in a significant number of cases. In the case of applying for Asbestos Disease Specialist accreditation, at least half of these hours must have been attributable to asbestos cases
  • Accrued at least 24 hours of accredited occupational disease training in the last three years
Yes No

Download the Portfolio  document and complete the candidate sections.

Continue to gather occupational disease experience and training. If you would like to discuss the Specialist criteria, please contact Holly Humphreys, Membership Development Officer, on (0115) 943 5400.

Yes

Do you have a qualified specialist assessor in-house? List of assessors

Yes No

Liaise in-house with your chosen assessor.

Contact Holly Humphreys, APIL, to arrange for an assessor to visit you: [email protected] or (0115) 943 5400.

The cost of the assessment is £450 (plus VAT if appropriate), payable directly to the assessor for their time. Any additional expenses to be agreed between the applicant and the assessor.

Yes Yes

Discuss each section of the Portfolio with assessor who completes the assessor sections.

Yes

Save or print a copy of the Portfolio to retain in-house. Delete the ‘case names’ column before printing/copying, signing and sending the Portfolio to APIL along with your training log for the last three years.