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Split Trials: A look to the future

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 …
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Costs: The continuing saga of Part 36

Paul Jones investigates the latest challenge to the provisions There was no power within the CPR 36 for the court to enter judgment following an agreement between the parties as suggested by the claimant. If one considers the entirety of the Civil Procedure Rules (CPR), it would be difficult to counter the argument that CPR …
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Jurisdiction: A short introduction to Rome II

Charles Dougherty and Marie Louise Kinsler look at the scope and impact of the rules Commercial parties will need to consider the scope of choice of law clauses and whether they are wide enough to encompass a non-contractual as well as contractual choice of law.On 11 January 2009, Regulation (EC) 864/2007, on the law applicable …
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Case Report: Harries v Stevenson [2012] EWHC 3447

Discount rate; Damages Act 1996; preliminary issue A single fixed discount rate was preferable in reducing the cost and uncertainty of future loss calculations. In Harries v Stevenson [2012], a claimant tried and failed to escape from the arguably unjust effects that the 2.5% discount rate creates in the current economic climate. The case provides …
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Vicarious Liability: Overworked and under attack

Chris Gutteridge contemplates recent decisions of the Court of Appeal on an employer’s liability for injuries sustained by employees who are victims of violence while at work The trial judge was entitled to conclude that the failure to provide full-time guarding did not amount to a failure to take reasonable care for the safety of …
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Cauda Equina Syndrome: The key to diagnosis

David Porter explains the urgency in management of this condition to prevent progression from incomplete to complete syndrome ‘This disability will often lead to difficulties within relationships, social interactions and have effects on employment capacity with often an adverse impact on an individual’s earning capacity.’In this article I shall consider the following questions: What is …
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Interim payments: Advance but with ‘disciplined and structured’ caution

Dr Jock Mackenzie and Richard Lodge provide their annual update on interim payments and the Eeles principles ‘It appears the issue causing the most contention between the parties and difficulty for the court is the need for an interim payment to fund the purchase and adaptation of a property.’ In the third of our annual …
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Clinical Negligence: Case review

Janet Sayers discusses the most significant cases of the last year Coroners may well be asked to make a finding of ‘real and immediate’ risk in verdicts of suicide of mental health patients, in anticipation of a future claim. This last year or so has seen a number of significant case law developments in the …
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Costs: Breach the indemnity principle at your peril!

John Plunkett advises that failure to have an effective retainer in place could be fatal It became apparent to the defendant’s solicitors that the claimant’s solicitors had allocated and claimed work carried out by a Grade D fee-earner, at an hourly rate of a Grade B fee-earner. I refer to the currently unreported costs case …
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Sexual Abuse: Vicarious liability on the move

Anna Macey examines The Catholic Child Welfare Society v Various Claimants (FC) and The Institute of the Brothers of the Christian Schools [2012] The Supreme Court ruling will make it easier for alleged victims of Jimmy Savile and others in the entertainment industry to succeed in claims against, for example, the BBC and Broadmoor Hospital. …
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