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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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Statutory interpretation; control; Occupiers Liability Act 1957 ‘A number of breaches were alleged against the defendant, including a failure to supply sufficiently safe access and egress under reg 5 of the 1996 Regulations (now reg 26 of the 2007 Regulations)… The appeal turned on the issue of control.’ Can a householder’s ‘control’ under the Occupiers …
Continue reading "Case Report: Kmiecic v Isaacs"
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Andrew Sands and Nicholas Martin examine the issues relating to the discount rate and conclude that a reduction in the rate should be inevitable ‘Reality means that life expectancy is always, by its very nature, an estimate so will be wrong. This introduces mortality risk, which if the claimant lives longer than expected means that …
Continue reading "Investment: Lack of return"
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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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