September 2013 #118 – Law Journals

Credit Hire: End of the road for impecuniosity?

Patrick West looks at Opoku v Tintas, which provides some encouragement for defendants ‘In Lagden, the House of Lords held that, faced with an injured party whose expenditure in mitigation had been augmented by his impecuniosity, a judge was entitled to take into account the claimant’s lack of means.’ For defendant insurers and solicitors, credit …

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Costs: Two for the price of one

Paul Jones considers recoverability of disbursements in fixed feed cases ‘Murray v Smith illustrates the arguments that can arise over the appropriate medical evidence in a straightforward case.’ With the growth in the application of fixed costs to personal injury claims, one area that remains open for arguments between the parties is the reasonableness or …

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Compensation: A two-tier system?

Julian Matthews investigates a fundamental problem with the compensation available when errors are made by private medical or primary care practitioners ‘It is very likely that that claimant will be significantly undercompensated when compared to a person who sustains precisely the same injuries within the NHS, with no guarantee and that their long term needs …

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Proportionality And Compliance: Will this new matrix control litigation costs?

Natalia Siabkin and Suzanne Farg discuss the impact of the reforms five months after implementation ‘It remains to be seen whether the new rules will reduce the costs of litigation by curbing unnecessary costs or will have the more detrimental effect of preventing litigants from pursuing their claims fully (or at all).’ The new Jackson …

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Case Report: Wembride Claimants v Winter [2013] EWHC 2331

Breach of statutory duty; emergency service; employer’s liability ‘Although the fire services’ defence was atypically ambitious, Irwin J’s analysis of the duties of emergency service employers is of considerable interest.’ These claims arose out of a mass explosion that occurred at a fireworks factory at Marlie Farm in East Sussex on 3 December 2006. Geoffrey …

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Advocate’s Advice: The new dawn

Bill Braithwaite QC contemplates the benefits of appointing a neutral facilitator at an early stage in substantial personal injury litigation ‘We could and should use the whole range of ADR systems as and when we need them in order to make the entire case run smoothly, not just to settle it at the end.’ This …

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Property Claims: Personal injury claims against landlords

In the first of a two-part article Jonathan Mitchell and Georgina Cursham examine the issues that arise with accidents on demised premises ‘It has always been the case that where a landlord undertakes express duties in a lease, he will be liable to his tenant for foreseeable losses caused by breach of those express duties.’ …

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