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Compensation: Civil actions against the police – what every lawyer must know

Kevin Donoghue explains the basis on which claims against the police are made and provides guidance for lawyers dealing with these cases using a practical example of one of his cases ‘False imprisonment is defined in Clerk & Lindsell on Torts as the “complete deprivation of liberty for any time, however short, without lawful cause”. …
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Investment: Wider use of periodical payments – it’s not impossible!

Andrew Sands and Nick Leech advocate greater use of periodical payments aided by case law, old and new ‘The ground work laid by the Thompstone cohort of cases should be built upon to widen the use of periodical payments.’ A brief reminder of the benefits of settlement inclusive of periodical payments is always a good …
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Case Report: John Edward Billet v Ministry of Defence [2014] EWHC 3060 (QB)

Calculating future loss; Ogden ‘It appears the tension arises not from any misunderstanding of the Ogden tables themselves but from these tables providing an indication of a very broad range of problems.’ This judgment provides an interesting discussion of the tension between the judicial and statistical approaches to valuing quantum of future loss of earnings. …
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Stress At Work: Tackling bullying

Liam Ryan considers the implications of a recent case which may suggest stress claims are on the increase ‘While the claimant was unsuccessful, Daniels does indicate that if bullying was found to have taken place, resulting in a psychiatric injury and this was communicated to the employer, then a claim could be brought using bullying …
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Case Report: Helen Jean Sloan v The Governors of Rastrick High School [2014] EWCA Civ 1063

Manual Handling Operations Regulations 1992; breach of duty ‘The Court of Appeal accepted that the recorder has misdirected herself as to the burden of proof but this was not a reason for setting aside her judgment.’ In this case the Court of Appeal considered whether Mrs Recorder Stocken had correctly dismissed a claim for damages …
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Clinical Negligence: My head hurts

Meningitis claims present very considerable challenges to clinical negligence lawyers. Julian Matthews looks at a recent decision which illustrates the difficulties, and the importance of clear evidence and analysis ‘If a doctor was faced with a patient where meningitis was strongly suspected that medical practitioner would be negligent in not administering penicillin and immediately referring …
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Advocate’s Advice: The real deal

Bill Braithwaite sets out the need to be cautious when dealing with insurers in rehabilitation cases ‘There is a common view nowadays that lawyers should help patients to access appropriate rehabilitation, not because it is part of the litigation process, but because we should enable claimants to do their best to rebuild their lives following …
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Compensation: Recovering damages in wrongful life cases

Suzanne Farg gives guidance on pursuing clinical negligence claims for ‘wrongful conception’ and ‘wrongful birth’ The essential characteristics of reproductive and antenatal medical treatment are such that negligence in these areas will often have further reaching implications for the patient and his or her family, than negligence in other areas of medicine. Particular examples are …
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Inquests: Preparation advocacy and PFDs

Richard Partridge concludes his advice on representing interested parties, in the second part of his article on the coronial process ‘The key to any advocacy, more important than structured, detailed questioning for witnesses, is thorough factual preparation.’ The first part of this article looked at preparation, expert witnesses and applying for adjournments when the coronial …
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Consumer Protection Act 1987: Defective products

Charles Dougherty QC and Isabel Barter offer a practical guide to the Consumer Protection Act 1987 ‘It is worth noting that certain products are inherently unsafe but that does not mean that they are necessarily defective.’ Part 1 of the Consumer Protection Act 1987 (CPA), which implemented the European Directive of July 1985 (the directive), …
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