June 2012 #106 – Law Journals

Applicability Of The Athens Convention: All aboard

Andrew Young considers claims arising from accidents at sea ‘Reform of the Athens Convention was agreed at an international conference held in London in 2002, but these reforms will only come into force when ten of the signatory countries have formally indicated their acceptance.’The recent capsizing of the Italian cruise ship, Costa Concordia, has focused …

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RTAs: Comprehensive insurance, courtesy cars and credit hire

Andrew Hogan examines issues regarding mitigation ‘Those representing claimants have argued successfully that because independently purchased insurance benefits are to be regarded as res inter alios acta, they may not be relied upon by a defendant tortfeasor to reduce or extinguish his liability to the claimant.’ Some credit hire claims, particularly where the claimant is …

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Group Actions: Novel approach

Charles Gibson QC and Adam Heppinstall review the Supreme Court judgment in the atomic test veterans litigation ‘The Court of Appeal, reversing Foskett J’s judgment at first instance, had found that all nine lead claims were statute-barred under s11 (or s12, where the claim was brought on behalf of a deceased).’In what will become a …

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Costs: When is a termination not a termination?

Paul Jones advises that retainers must have sufficient clarity ‘Where a bill was not paid, the terms gave the solicitor the right to suspend or terminate their services and there was a general clause giving the solicitor the right to terminate the retainer on reasonable grounds after giving reasonable notice.’ Every solicitor has horror stories …

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Case Report: Guntrip v Cheney Coaches Ltd [2012] EWCA Civ 392

Case management; appeal; limiting expert evidence ‘Prior to the CPR, experts were effectively part of a party’s legal team – the experts did not meet and this situation would rarely arise. Furthermore, prior to CPR 35.4(1) parties were free to call as many experts as they wished.’ In this case, Lord Justice Lewison, with unanimous …

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Development Of Quantum: Comparative awards of damages

Harry Trusted investigates the economic factors that have influenced the approach to valuation for catastrophic injury claims ‘The increasingly desperate state of western economies produces the severest problems for those who cannot tailor their lives to deal with events. Badly disabled claimants cannot take investment risks because they need their care and they have no …

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Syringomyelia: Catastrophic loss

Bill Braithwaite QC discusses syrinxes and cysts in spinal cord injury ‘If a syrinx develops, but does not cause a financial consequence, there is no point in seeking provisional damages because the whole point of the provision is to allow the court to award further damages.’ In my world, we’ve all known about syringomyelia for …

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Undue Delay: Emergency response required

Stephanie Prior looks at the London Ambulance Service’s need to review their inadequate system ‘The system to deal with emergency calls is dependent on answers to four key questions, which in turn prompt other questions to be asked. The call is then classified in one of six categories, which determine the urgency with which an …

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