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Paul Jones examines the cost implications of multiple defendants The general rule was… a starting point that could be departed from in an appropriate case and, in deciding what was an appropriate case, the court had a duty to exercise its discretion so as to do justice between the parties. Claims involving multiple parties always …
Continue reading "Costs: It wasn’t me, it was him"
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Stephen Ashcroft looks at the impact on personal injury and clinical negligence claims Cases where claimants are employed but not in a pension scheme, or who have an erratic employment history, will now be able to claim for loss of pension.The recent pronouncement on the state pension is the latest stage in an overall review …
Continue reading "Pension Reform: Special damages and cost budgeting"
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Chris Gutteridge considers the liability of employers for out-of-office activities Neither partner who had responsibility for organising the event had the necessary skills and knowledge to make a satisfactory risk assessment and so they overlooked the most obvious risk – collision. The rise in popularity of the concept of ‘team-building’ and the quest for a …
Continue reading "Employers: All work and no play"
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Limitation; discretion; burden of proof It should not be necessary for judges in the county court to engage in textual analysis of a series of appellate decisions in order to discern whether a claimant relying on s33 had a ‘burden’ or a ‘heavy burden’ to discharge. This case helpfully provides a final answer to the …
Continue reading "Case Report: Sayers v Chelwood & anor [2012] EWCA Civ 1715"
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Robert Weir QC explains the significance of the first High Court decision to consider as a preliminary issue what provisions governed the instruction of experts ‘Rome II provides a set of rules to permit a court to determine what the applicable law is to the claim in tort.’ Rome II is an instrument for harmonising …
Continue reading "Evidence and Procedure: Getting to grips with the substance/procedure divide under Rome II"
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Jonathan Wheeler reviews the case law in the last 12 months A set of recent cases from 2012 have been concerned with establishing whether there is a relationship giving rise to vicarious liability on the part of the defendant at all. Vicarious liability is a doctrine of strict liability on the part of a defendant …
Continue reading "Vicarious Liability: Is the connection close enough?"
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Anna Macey discusses the decision in International Energy Group Ltd v Zurich Insurance plc UK Ltd The relationship between an insurer and an insured is contractual, and the premium reflects the risk the insurer is prepared to take and the price they are prepared to accept for it.In this interesting case the Court of Appeal …
Continue reading "Occupational Disease: Extent of insurance cover for mesothelioma claims"
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Julian Matthews reports on a recent application of the alternative approach to causation suggested by Lord Phillips and Baroness Hale in Gregg v Scott Mr Justice Bean found that on the balance of probabilities the failure to diagnose the tumour in March 2006 had caused the claimant’s life expectancy to be reduced by three years. …
Continue reading "Clinical Negligence: Delayed diagnosis in cancer: proof of causation"
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Deirdre Goodwin considers when neurological advice should be sought Where a person sought to rely on an unsoundness of mind, he had to show that such incapacity had been known to his opponent. The recent case of Dunhill v Burgin highlights the risks of settling cases where the claimant lacks capacity and a litigation friend …
Continue reading "Capacity: Masterman-Lister and Bailey v Warren revisited"
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Laura Sylvester and Verity Danziger examine the factors that will influence a judge to order a liability hearing Judicial comment in recent cases has provided some further guidance on matters to consider when deciding whether a case should proceed to a split trial or not. Contained within the court’s general powers of management, in Part …
Continue reading "Split Trials: A look to the future"
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