October 2018 #169 – Law Journals

Contributory negligence: When is the claimant’s share of blame too little to count?

Ann Houghton and Karl Hirst take the back-to-basics approach when considering liability and the effect of the ‘just and equitable’ principle ‘While there is no authority to prescribe a threshold-level at which there should be no finding of contributory negligence because the share of responsibility is so small that it should be disregarded, it would …

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Clinical negligence: The importance of considering liability offers

With the new costs regimes significantly restricting recoverable costs, tactical offers have assumed greater importance. Julian Matthews looks at two recent cases which demonstrate the effectiveness of such offers ‘In strong cases in particular, there is a compelling case for giving keen consideration to a high-percentage liability offer at an early stage.’ There has long …

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Multi-defendant claims: Who foots the bill?

Paul Jones advises defendants to give careful consideration before blaming other parties as costs consequences can follow ‘On appeal, Lavender J considered the Court of Appeal’s guidance in Irvine whereby the court should consider the reasonableness of the claimant’s conduct in bringing multiple claims, whether the defendants are blaming each other, and whether the claims …

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Sexting: Sending the wrong message

Kim Harrison reports on the remedies available for psychiatric harm caused to children by sexual texts ‘It may well be that the Rhodes tort used in the ABC case may not be being used as often as it was thought it may be following the ABC judgment if claimants are instead choosing to utilise other …

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Nervous shock: Analysing duty of care

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Rushmi Sethi considers the interrelationship between duty of care and secondary victims in nervous shock claims in clinical negligence cases ‘The second claimant had a good arguable case that he had been in close proximity in space and time to the relevant event at the bridge, or its immediate aftermath.’ The High Court case of …

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Case report: Ellis v Kelly [2018] EWHC 2031 (QB)

Contributory negligence; road traffic accidents; Part 20 contributions ‘Caine’s momentary misjudgement of the vehicle’s speed was not negligent when balanced against the defendant’s reckless driving.’ On 20 September 2008 the claimant, Caine Ellis, was struck by a car as he was crossing a road in Acocks Green, Birmingham. The eight-years, eight-months-old boy suffered a severe …

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RTAs: There to be seen – or were they?

Victoria Eyers examines how to remove ambiguity from accounts of vision in vehicle incidents Large goods vehicles (LGVs) are involved in disproportionately high numbers of collisions with vulnerable road users (VRUs); 23% of pedestrian and 50% of cyclist deaths in 2016, despite LGVs making up only 4% of road miles in London (source: Transport for …

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Advocate’s advice: Home fee

Bill Braithwaite QC outlines the current issues in following Roberts v Johnstone for accommodation claims ‘The problem of Roberts v Johnstone has become important because of the gradual disparity between damages for pain and suffering and house prices – a sad reflection on the law’s approach to damages for injuries (or a broken property market?).’ …

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