John Pickering and Partners LLP is in the 2010 edition of the legal guide, Chambers and Partners.

It is rated in the top national category for law firms who act for people suffering from disease and illnesses caused by their work.

The firm is top ranked in the category "Personal Injury: Mainly Claimant: Industrial Disease: London & UK-wide."

It is also highly ranked in the regional north-west category for claimant personal injury work.

The law guide says: 'The firm John Pickering has developed an unbeatable reputation in industrial disease cases.'

Kevin Johnson, who leads the team, recently handled Rice and Thompson v Secretary of State for Trade and Industry, an asbestos case that reached the Court of Appeal.

The firm also gained an award for Niche Law Firm of the Year at the Yorkshire Lawyer awards and Liverpool Law Society of Personal Injury Team of the Year.

John Pickering has been handling claims for industrial disease for more than 30 years.

Most of its work involves acting for asbestos disease victims.

The firm represented Alice Jefferson, a mesothelioma sufferer, whose illness and compensation claim against Cape Asbestos was featured in the television documentary Alice: A Fight For Life in 1982.