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The courts have once again punished a wholly successful party in costs for their unreasonable refusal to mediate – a trend that is only likely to grow, writes Ben Handy ‘The judge found that there were reasonable prospects that mediation would have succeeded, at least in part. The defendant was not justified in coming to …
Continue reading "Costs Sanctions: Every loser wins"
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Paul Jones gives a warning on the importance of weighing the value of a claim against the possible costs ‘The difference in costs payable for a small claim and the costs payable for a normal claim are substantial and it is, therefore, often worth it for the parties to argue the point.’ Arguments regarding small …
Continue reading "Costs: The small claim that roared"
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Patrick West looks at the latest guidance from the Court of Appeal on basic hire rates in credit hire cases ‘The key issue for the parties in such cases will be to ensure they have a credible rates survey before the court to persuade it that their rates are more representative.’Not for the first time …
Continue reading "Credit Hire: Defendants in pole position as Court of Appeal gives objective test for basic hire rates"
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Richard Scorer considers failure to protect claims ‘It will be difficult if not impossible for local authorities to rely on the limitation defences they have deployed in “historic” failure to remove claims.’ Over the last three years, since the revelations about Jimmy Savile, child abuse scandals have dominated the media. Many more victims have come …
Continue reading "Child Abuse: Local authority liability"
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Stephen Cottrell outlines the art of drafting schedules of loss in catastrophic injury claims ‘Schedules in catastrophic injury cases […] are pieces of craftsmanship rather than works of art, designed with the needs of the claimant in mind and presented as attractively as possible for the benefit of the defendant’s insurer and the judge.’ Catastrophic …
Continue reading "Catastrophic Injury: An exercise in persuasion"
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Roger Cooper looks at a line of authorities in relation to road traffic accidents which has confused the standard approach to liability ‘Sometimes it is argued that because a breach of duty gave rise to the occasion upon which an accident occurred it caused the accident. This is a fallacy.’Are you aware of the ‘coincidence …
Continue reading "Negligence: A simple question of breach of duty?"
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Paul Jones contemplates what the current costs trends mean for the future of London practices ‘There was no obligation on the claimant to instruct the cheapest available firm and… the court had a wide discretion to allow a reasonable hourly rate in all the circumstances of the case.’Hourly rates are one of perennial areas of …
Continue reading "Costs: Personal injury solicitors in London – a dying breed?"
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Suzanne Farg explores the aims and construction of the new Act coming into force ‘SARHA is considered to reflect the coalition government’s stated objective of encouraging people to play a more active role in civil society.’ On 12 February 2015 the Social Action, Responsibility and Heroism Act 2015 (SARHA) was given Royal Assent and its …
Continue reading "Social Action, Responsibility And Heroism Act 2015: Zero to hero?"
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Vehicular trespass to the person; battery; self-defence; ex turpi causa; volenti non fit injuria ‘A finding that the force used was disproportionate so as to preclude self-defence is simultaneously likely to mean that there is no entry point for ex turpi, or at best only a very narrow one.’ This case provides an enlightening illustration …
Continue reading "Case Report: Flint v Tittensor and the MIB [2015] EWHC 466 (QB)"
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Anna Macey reports on a Court of Appeal case with important points on privacy for personal injury claimants ‘Any departure from open justice needed to be justified strictly on the grounds of necessity, which meant such an order was the minimum consistent with achieving the ultimate purpose of doing justice in the instant case.’ In …
Continue reading "Anonymity Orders: Out in the open"
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