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Ann Houghton and Richard Baker outline the complexities involved in pursuing a claim for an involuntary participant ‘Adding “involuntary participant” to the claimant practitioner’s armoury is not fostering a compensation culture: it is enabling victims to seek recourse under a long-standing doctrine which the highest courts have recognised for decades.’ As all practitioners know, facing …
Continue reading "Psychiatric injuries: A forgotten primary victim remembered"
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Paul Jones highlights the importance of compliance with the precise wording of Part 36 for an offer to be valid ‘The offer in this case was expressly exclusive of interest and so did not comply with CPR 36.5(4), was not a valid Part 36 offer and, therefore, did not engage the enhanced costs provisions of …
Continue reading "Costs: What’s interesting about Part 36 offers?"
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Julian Matthews looks at the rules limiting recovery of damages in such cases, and practical issues relating to the quantification and management where a claim can be made ‘A wrongful birth claim based upon a negligent failed sterilisation, or failures in relation to antenatal screening, where there is then a disabled child born, is likely …
Continue reading "Clinical negligence: Wrongful birth: a complex anomaly"
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Julian Matthews reviews a much underused solution to complex causation issues ‘There should be significant savings for defendants, particularly if an appropriate basis for provisional damages can be agreed as part of a package at an early stage in litigation.’ Practitioners are well aware in general terms of the availability of provisional damages – whereby …
Continue reading "Provisional damages: The right to return"
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Ian Meikle reports on a Court of Appeal decision upholding that QOCS does not automatically apply to ‘mixed’ claims involving both a personal injury and non personal injury element ‘The court ruled that claims not for PI damages, even when brought alongside and arising out of the same facts as a PI claim, were not …
Continue reading "QOCS: A foot in both camps"
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Bill Braithwaite QC explores brain injury rehabilitation centred on outdoor activity ‘The new Calvert centre (Reconnections) will combine traditional inter-disciplinary clinical therapies with physical and sporting activity in the outdoors, to support individuals in their recovery from brain injury, and in their return to an enjoyable life.’ The Calvert Trust has been providing exciting and …
Continue reading "Advocate’s advice: The great outdoors"
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Paul Jones considers the financial implications of the Court of Appeal’s decision in Aldred ‘The defendant’s submission was that the costs of obtaining an advice for the purposes of an infant approval, whether incurred by the solicitor or counsel, were already included within the fixed costs set out in Table 6B of CPR 45.29C.’ The …
Continue reading "Costs: Counsel’s fees in fixed costs cases"
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Instructing the right team at the right time is crucial. Pankaj Madan provides invaluable guidance ‘The purpose of the consultant’s report will be to provide a preliminary diagnosis of the severity of the injury and to map out an optimal pathway for the rehabilitation of the claimant.’ In this article I will examine the issues …
Continue reading "Catastrophic brain injury claims: The choice of experts"
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Memory; documentary records; disputes of fact ‘HHJ Gore QC’s conclusion that it was necessary to subject the documentary record to careful scrutiny by reference to the witness evidence is consistent with both the Gestmin principles and the historical emphasis on the importance of written evidence.’ This was a clinical negligence claim involving a disputed documentary …
Continue reading "Case report: CXB v North West Anglia NHS Foundation Trust [2019] EWHC 2053 (QB)"
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Nicholas Leahy highlights how greater awareness of sepsis can lead to better outcomes ‘Diagnosing sepsis early on can be extremely difficult. Many of the symptoms which patients present with are similar to other frequently encountered conditions.’ There now seems to be greater awareness than ever before of the vital importance of a timely diagnosis of …
Continue reading "Sepsis: A difficult diagnosis"
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