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Case report: Akita v Governor and Company of the Bank of Ireland [2019] EWHC 1712 (QB)

Trial attendance; struck out claims ‘This decision of the High Court gives helpful guidance on the meaning of not attending trial under r39.3.’ Rule 39.3(1)(b) of the Civil Procedure Rules allows the court to strike out a claimant’s claim if the claimant does not attend trial. In this case, the claimants left it too late …
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Duty of care: Not responsible?

Rajkiran Barhey reports that in some circumstances the door may be open to claims by children against local authorities if they fail to protect them from third parties ‘The claimants argued that, in purporting to investigate the risk that the neighbours posed and in attempting to monitor the claimants’ situation, the council assumed responsibility for …
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Interim payments: You can’t always get what you want

Jasmine Murphy analyses how to defend applications for interim payments ‘CPR 25.7(5) directs that the court must take into account contributory negligence when determining whether the amount sought is not more than a reasonable proportion of the likely final judgment amount.’ Interim payment applications are often the battleground for pre-trial skirmishes, the warm-up before the …
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Jurisdiction: Recent developments post-Keefe

James Beeton examines case law on joining a foreign insured to a direct claim against the insurer ‘What was not agreed was whether Art 13(3) allowed the claimants to sue IVI Madrid in England as a claim “parasitic” upon the direct claim which the claimants had brought against Zurich under Art 13(2).’ In Cole v …
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Costs: The curious case of when costs are incurred

Paul Jones considers the latest case concerning costs budgeting in multi-track claims ‘Where a costs budget has to be revised, the sums for incurred costs in the revised budget should be the same as the sums in the original budget, even though a substantial amount of further costs may have actually been incurred since the …
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Case conduct: Alternative solutions

Matthew Stockwell explores collaborative working in larger clinical negligence cases ‘Within the Guide, the importance of communication and the availability of an escalation mechanism are emphasised. If these tools are not fully effective, an infinite number of alternatives – formal or informal – exist.’ There are many shared frustrations for clinical negligence practitioners. There is …
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Procedure: Tips for dealing with litigants in person

With the number of litigants representing themselves in court on the increase, Emma Marshall provides some timely advice about case preparation ‘While some litigants in person (LiPs) have a working knowledge of court procedure and require little additional assistance in representing themselves, other LiPs can cause real difficulties.’ Dealing with litigants in person (LiPs) can …
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Package travel litigation: Making reference

Katherine Deal QC reports on the first case where the Supreme Court has considered a claim under the Package Travel Regulations, which has resulted in a reference to the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) ‘The Supreme Court has asked the CJEU to proceed on the assumption that in guiding X to reception, …
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Airline passenger claims: ‘Accident’ in the Montreal Convention 1999

Michael Dougherty looks at a recent case involving a slip on airline steps that clarifies the circumstances in which the definition of ‘accident’ is met ‘The principal question for the court was whether the circumstances giving rise to the injury were capable of comprising an accident within the meaning of Art 17.’ A slip and …
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Motor insurance: The death of a declaration

Richard Viney considers the practical effects of the Motor Vehicles Regulations 2019 ‘Even if an insurer did not want to avoid its own liabilities there was often little option but to do so in order to avoid being left with the entire liability for a claim, as other insurers involved avoided their own polices.’ In …
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