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Contributory negligence; road traffic accidents; Part 20 contributions ‘Caine’s momentary misjudgement of the vehicle’s speed was not negligent when balanced against the defendant’s reckless driving.’ On 20 September 2008 the claimant, Caine Ellis, was struck by a car as he was crossing a road in Acocks Green, Birmingham. The eight-years, eight-months-old boy suffered a severe …
Continue reading "Case report: Ellis v Kelly [2018] EWHC 2031 (QB)"
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Victoria Eyers examines how to remove ambiguity from accounts of vision in vehicle incidents Large goods vehicles (LGVs) are involved in disproportionately high numbers of collisions with vulnerable road users (VRUs); 23% of pedestrian and 50% of cyclist deaths in 2016, despite LGVs making up only 4% of road miles in London (source: Transport for …
Continue reading "RTAs: There to be seen – or were they?"
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Bill Braithwaite QC outlines the current issues in following Roberts v Johnstone for accommodation claims ‘The problem of Roberts v Johnstone has become important because of the gradual disparity between damages for pain and suffering and house prices – a sad reflection on the law’s approach to damages for injuries (or a broken property market?).’ …
Continue reading "Advocate’s advice: Home fee"
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Ann Houghton and Karl Hirst take the back-to-basics approach when considering liability and the effect of the ‘just and equitable’ principle ‘While there is no authority to prescribe a threshold-level at which there should be no finding of contributory negligence because the share of responsibility is so small that it should be disregarded, it would …
Continue reading "Contributory negligence: When is the claimant’s share of blame too little to count?"
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With the new costs regimes significantly restricting recoverable costs, tactical offers have assumed greater importance. Julian Matthews looks at two recent cases which demonstrate the effectiveness of such offers ‘In strong cases in particular, there is a compelling case for giving keen consideration to a high-percentage liability offer at an early stage.’ There has long …
Continue reading "Clinical negligence: The importance of considering liability offers"
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Paul Jones advises defendants to give careful consideration before blaming other parties as costs consequences can follow ‘On appeal, Lavender J considered the Court of Appeal’s guidance in Irvine whereby the court should consider the reasonableness of the claimant’s conduct in bringing multiple claims, whether the defendants are blaming each other, and whether the claims …
Continue reading "Multi-defendant claims: Who foots the bill?"
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Kim Harrison reports on the remedies available for psychiatric harm caused to children by sexual texts ‘It may well be that the Rhodes tort used in the ABC case may not be being used as often as it was thought it may be following the ABC judgment if claimants are instead choosing to utilise other …
Continue reading "Sexting: Sending the wrong message"
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Andrew Post QC and Imran Benson look at how there is no presumption in favour of indemnity costs on late acceptance of a Part 36 offer ‘The only way out of the fixed-costs regime in such a case is to argue under Part 45.29J that there are exceptional circumstances making it appropriate for the claimant …
Continue reading "Indemnity costs: Presume nothing"
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Donna Scully considers the possible consequences of the Ministry of Justice’s fundamental change to how low-value road traffic accident claims are handled ‘The government’s latest round of reforms are a very blunt instrument to supposedly tackle the costs of legal services and fraud.’ After approaching three years of argument and dispute, the debate on the …
Continue reading "RTA claims: The government’s proposed personal injury reforms"
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Johnathan Payne discusses how the way you pursue or defend a claim can impact on costs ‘This state of affairs has generated far more litigation in areas such as discontinuance, fundamental dishonesty and strike out.’ In 1931 Aldous Huxley wrote Brave New World. The book was set in a futuristic world state of genetically-modified citizens …
Continue reading "Litigation tactics: Win, lose or pay either way"
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