This category can only be viewed by members.
Jonathan Hand QC provides advice on the difficult issue of how to apply the provisions under the Animals Act ‘A keeper of an animal (among other things, a person who owns the animal or has it in their possession) can be held liable for damage which it has caused, even though this was not due …
Continue reading "Animals Act 1971: Endangering species"
This post is only available to members.
Pankaj Madan reviews the court’s approach to liability in cases involving collisions between pedestrians and vehicles ‘In Jackson the Supreme Court observed that there is no precise formulation and that contributory negligence is a somewhat “rough and ready” exercise.’ In my article in last month’s PILJ, ‘Establishing liability’, I wrote that catastrophic brain injuries bring …
Continue reading "Catastrophic brain injury claims: Establishing liability – the legal principles"
This post is only available to members.
Motor insurance; property damage; Road Traffic Act 1988; Motor Insurance Directives ‘The effect of the Supreme Court judgment is to curtail attempts by claimants to widen the circumstances in which the MIB and RTA insurers are obliged to satisfy claims.’ R & S Pilling (t/a Phoenix Engineering) v UK Insurance Ltd [2019] was not a …
Continue reading "Case report: R & S Pilling (t/a Phoenix Engineering) v UK Insurance Ltd [2019] UKSC 16"
This post is only available to members.
Laura Swaine reviews whether payments made by third parties can be offset in fatal accident claims ‘As the law stands any payment made to the claimant from a JustGiving or public fund set up in aid of the claimant falls within the benevolence exception and is not deducted from any personal injury settlement.’ In recent …
Continue reading "Damages claims: The benevolence exception – where does the law stand?"
This post is only available to members.
Pankaj Madan gives invaluable advice about the practical issues that often arise in establishing liability and how to resolve them ‘It is very tempting to simply rely upon the recollections of apparently independent witnesses in reaching a view upon liability but this can be unreliable and cause severe injustice.’ Catastrophic brain injuries bring their own …
Continue reading "Catastrophic brain injury claims: Establishing liability"
This post is only available to members.
Paul Jones highlights that there are still areas of dispute with fixed costs ‘The claimant’s case was that the reference to “the cost of obtaining” in CPR 45.29I(2) did not draw any distinction between the direct costs (the fee charged by the GP or hospital) and the indirect costs of an agent doing the work …
Continue reading "Costs: Medical agency fees in fixed costs cases"
This post is only available to members.
Implied sanctions; relief from sanctions; medical reports; schedules of loss ‘At the heart of the dispute between the claimant and defendants was a difference in understanding about when an implied sanction might arise.’ In Mark v Universal Coatings & Services Ltd [2018], Mr Mark brought a claim alleging that the defendants exposed him to silica …
Continue reading "Case report: Mark v Universal Coatings and Services Ltd [2018] EWHC 3206 (QB)"
This post is only available to members.
Is a claimant for psychiatric injuries associated with their child’s birth a primary or secondary victim? Suzanne Lambert discusses ‘Where the claimant is a primary victim (who is involved in an accident, for example), as opposed to a secondary victim (who may be a mere witness to an accident), there should be no distinction made …
Continue reading "Psychiatric injury: Primary rules"
This post is only available to members.
Bill Braithwaite QC provides his insight on recent significant case law ‘In Montgomery, the Supreme Court highlighted the importance of patient autonomy and the patient’s entitlement to make decisions whether to incur risks of injury inherent in treatment.’ Updating in clinical negligence is not always easy, because the principles usually stay the same, and only …
Continue reading "Advocate’s advice: Clinical negligence update"
This post is only available to members.
Benjamin Williams QC and Ben Smiley consider judicial guidance about how and when service can be effected ‘This was the first occasion on which the basis and extent of the jurisdiction to bring a claim against an unnamed defendant had been considered by the Supreme Court or the House of Lords.’ The Supreme Court has …
Continue reading "Service: Suing unnamed defendants and approaches to alternative service"
This post is only available to members.
