Employers: All work and no play

Chris Gutteridge considers the liability of employers for out-of-office activities Neither partner who had responsibility for organising the event had the necessary skills and knowledge to make a satisfactory risk assessment and so they overlooked the most obvious risk – collision. The rise in popularity of the concept of ‘team-building’ and the quest for a …
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Case Report: Sayers v Chelwood & anor [2012] EWCA Civ 1715

Limitation; discretion; burden of proof It should not be necessary for judges in the county court to engage in textual analysis of a series of appellate decisions in order to discern whether a claimant relying on s33 had a ‘burden’ or a ‘heavy burden’ to discharge. This case helpfully provides a final answer to the …
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Evidence and Procedure: Getting to grips with the substance/procedure divide under Rome II

Robert Weir QC explains the significance of the first High Court decision to consider as a preliminary issue what provisions governed the instruction of experts ‘Rome II provides a set of rules to permit a court to determine what the applicable law is to the claim in tort.’ Rome II is an instrument for harmonising …
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Vicarious Liability: Is the connection close enough?

Jonathan Wheeler reviews the case law in the last 12 months A set of recent cases from 2012 have been concerned with establishing whether there is a relationship giving rise to vicarious liability on the part of the defendant at all. Vicarious liability is a doctrine of strict liability on the part of a defendant …
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Occupational Disease: Extent of insurance cover for mesothelioma claims

Anna Macey discusses the decision in International Energy Group Ltd v Zurich Insurance plc UK Ltd The relationship between an insurer and an insured is contractual, and the premium reflects the risk the insurer is prepared to take and the price they are prepared to accept for it.In this interesting case the Court of Appeal …
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Interview: Talking point

Philip Hesketh is interviewed by the editor of Personal Injury Law Journal, Jessica Ross, and provides a practical insight to successful mediation and funding issues that arise Given a greater involvement in case management from the courts it is unlikely that a case will reach trial without mediation having been considered in court at an …
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Costs: It wasn’t me, it was him

Paul Jones examines the cost implications of multiple defendants The general rule was… a starting point that could be departed from in an appropriate case and, in deciding what was an appropriate case, the court had a duty to exercise its discretion so as to do justice between the parties. Claims involving multiple parties always …
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Pension Reform: Special damages and cost budgeting

Stephen Ashcroft looks at the impact on personal injury and clinical negligence claims Cases where claimants are employed but not in a pension scheme, or who have an erratic employment history, will now be able to claim for loss of pension.The recent pronouncement on the state pension is the latest stage in an overall review …
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