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Jack Harding discusses the consequences of Wilkinson v City of York [2011] ‘Even under s41 of the Act, the courts have long recognised that the standard of maintenance involves a careful balancing of public and private interests, having particular regard to the limited resources of local authorities.’ On 18 January 2011 the Court of Appeal …
Continue reading "Cash Strapped Councils: Resources and s58 of the Highways Act 1980"
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Mark Lee provides guidance as to whether legal expenses insurers can still oblige a policyholder to use their panel solicitors before proceedings ‘Most UK LEIs have refused to agree to the appointment of non-panel firms from the outset, relying instead upon the Regulations and case law that supports a more restrictive interpretation of the rights …
Continue reading "Freedom Of Choice: Panel show"
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Ben Hicks offers tips to defendants on how to attack schedules of loss ‘A counter schedule is the defendant’s opportunity to present its own interpretation of the evidence and to put forward its own calculation and assessments of the value of the claim.’ Whilst trite, it is worth starting any consideration of how to successfully …
Continue reading "Quantum: Minimising the value of special damages claims"
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In the first of a regular feature, Bill Braithwaite QC provides tactical advice on all the ‘hot topics’ ‘Selection of experts is one of the most important aspects of major personal injury claims. Good experts win cases, bad ones lose them.’ Experts are the flavour of the month. I recently came across a decision in …
Continue reading "PI Blog: Advocare’s advice"
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Simon Gibbs considers the dramatic consequences of implementing the Jackson Proposals ‘The government intends to have tightly drawn rules to allow recoverability of ATE insurance premiums to cover the cost of expert reports only in clinical negligence cases.’Readers, by now, will be familiar with the government’s plans for implementation of Lord Justice Jackson’s civil litigation …
Continue reading "Reform: It’s life, but not as we know it"
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Paul Jones reviews a recent case that emphasises the discretion judges have when dealing with costs ‘Where a court considers that a party has acted unreasonably and, by virtue of that unreasonable conduct, has obtained a costs order on the standard basis rather than the more prescriptive fixed costs, the court can assess the costs …
Continue reading "Costs: A distinction without a difference"
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James Wibberley urges that care be taken when drafting offers ‘Unlike contractual offers, Part 36 offers are not terminated by rejection, and will remain open for acceptance unless, and until, such time as they are formally withdrawn. Multiple Part 36 offers may therefore be open for acceptance at any one time within the litigation process.’ …
Continue reading "CPR: Developments on Part 36"
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Dr David Bickerton examines the effect of psychiatric injury ‘Although psychiatry often gives an impression of being a collection of vague or woolly diagnoses with a large amount of subjective variability, it is, in fact, a rigidly defined and operationally controlled speciality.’ Trauma to the body can be objectively defined, measured and assessed whereas damage …
Continue reading "PTSD: Trauma to the mind and how psychiatrists view it"
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Deborah Burke looks at an unusual case in light of the Civil Procedure Rules ‘It is not that often that political parties feature in costs cases, but this case features the British National Party.’Rule 38.6 of the Civil Procedure Rules provides that a discontinuing party will be liable for the costs of the opponent unless …
Continue reading "Procedure: Costs consequences of discontinuance"
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Sandra De Souza investigates the number of accidents caused to cyclists ‘It is believed that the number of cyclists in the UK has been in decline since the 1950s. In London, which has the highest proportion of cycling accidents, it is thought that the main reason keeping cyclists off the road is the fear of …
Continue reading "Claims: On your bike"
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