Wardlaw v Bonnington Castings Ltd [1956] UKHL 1

Liability: A catalogue of errors

In part two of his article, Robert Weir QC continues his compilation of the most significant cases involving liability decisions from the last year ‘The judge properly recognised that the burden of proof lay with the claimant and did not draw inference of negligence from the fact that the extrusion had been retained.’ Part …

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Material Contribution: Causes for concern

Julian Matthews highlights a case that demonstrates the courts’ approach to contribution to injury ‘Even where there were multiple causes, if the defendant’s breach of duty had materially contributed to one of those causes and that contribution was material to the development of the condition overall, then the principles of material contribution applied, and causation …

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Advocate’s Advice: Keeping it simple

Bill Braithwaite QC highlights a judgment with clear findings on causation and material contribution ‘A claim will fail if the most that can be said is that the claimant’s injury is likely to have been caused by one or more of a number of disparate factors, one of which was attributable to a wrongful act …

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Causation: Reducing damages due to pre-existing conditions – a tenable argument?

Julian Matthews discusses two recent cases which illustrate the potentially far reaching consequences of the rules of causation of damage ‘These cases clearly illustrate that the focus of attention in the assessment of damages in cases where there is a medical or other disability subsisting prior to the date of negligence must be upon the …

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