The root of the issue - Highway authority has no duty to remove moss and algae from its footpaths 15 February 2016 Jack-Harding (0) Does the duty to maintain the highway under section 41 of the Highways Act 1980 extend to the removal of moss, algae and other equivalent substances from the footpaths and carriageway? This was the question which came before Haddon-Cave J in Rollinson v Dudley MBC (2015) EWHC 3330 (QB). The answer - a resounding 'no'. Mr Rollinson was walking along a short footpath near to ... [More]
Part 36 Offer: derisory or genuine? 12 February 2016 Ian-Miller case report, costs, LP Part 36, personal injury, procedure (0) The case of Jockey Club Racecourse Ltd v Willmott Dixon Construction Ltd [2016] EWHC 167 deals with two interesting questions: (1) does a Part 36 offer have to reflect an available outcome in the litigation to be valid? (2) when is it a genuine attempt to settle liability? The case concerned a defective roof at the racecourse at Epsom. The claimant offered to settle the issue of liabil... [More]
Damages in fatal claims: Mosson v Spousal (London) Ltd 25 January 2016 Paul-Stagg Damages, quantum (0) Garnham J's decision in Mosson v Spousal (London) Ltd [2015] EWHC 53 (QB) (http://www.bailii.org/ew/cases/EWHC/QB/2016/53.html), handed down today, contains a number of points of interest in relation to the calculation of damages in fatal claims. The case was brought by the widow of Mr Mosson, who was exposed to asbestos during the course of his employment in the 1960s and 1970s and subsequen... [More]
BBC Expose of 'Crash for Cash' Ring 22 January 2016 Thomas-Crockett General, illegality, road traffic accidents, SA fraud, SA Road Traffic Accidents, whiplash (0) For some light relief (this is being posted on a Friday afternoon after all!) any practitioner involved in PI cases where fraud is alleged could be advised as to look no further than the detailed article published on the BBC Wales’ website about a successful prosecution of a so-called ‘crash for cash’ ring, in this case an extended family. This would appear to be something of an ... [More]
Daniel v St George's Healthcare NHS Trust & London Ambulance Service: a human rights cautionary tale? 21 January 2016 foneill coroners, courts, Damages, European Convention on Human Rights, evidence, Experts, human rights, medical law, NHS, personal injury, public authorities , public policy (0) Daniel v St George’s Healthcare NHS Trust and London Ambulance Service [2016] EWHC 23 (QB) Introduction Edward Bishop QC has successfully defended an NHS trust and the London Ambulance Service against claims under the Human Rights Act 1998 brought by the foster family of a man who died of a heart attack in Wandsworth Prison. The judgment deals with the legal test for liabi... [More]
Another bite at the cherry? Relief from sanctions & changes of circumstances 13 January 2016 Thomas-Crockett (0) The courts’ approach to relief from sanctions is something on an ongoing saga of complexity and appeal, as the disparate permutations the new so-called ‘Jackson Reforms’ present themselves in apparently (at least to the Rules Committee) unforeseen ways. The Supreme Court last month heard an appeal in the case of Thevarajah (Respondent) v Riordan and others (Ap... [More]
T’is the season to be techie ….! 30 December 2015 Simon-Readhead-QC clinical negligence, Damages, LP damages, LP Quantum, personal injury, quantum, Schedules (0) This is the time of year for families …. and for gadgets. Lots of them! In particular, smartphones. An average 65% of children in the UK aged between 8 and 11 now have their own smartphone. This figure rises to 90.5% in Newcastle making it the smartphone capital of the UK for children. This compares with 55.2% in London and only 40% in Brighton and Hove. All this and ... [More]
Top personal injury decisions of the Court of Appeal in 2015 21 December 2015 Ian-Miller case report, clinical negligence, Damages, employers liability, jurisprudence, medical law, personal injury, practice direction, quantum, road traffic accidents, Strike Out, travel, workplace claims (0) The Court of Appeal has made a number of important decisions in 2015 in the field of personal injury. As the year draws to a close, Ella Davis and I review some of the most important of them for the PI practitioner. They cover psychiatric damage, causation, quantum, the Athens Convention, jurisdiction, duties of care, vicarious liability and non-delegable duties... Psychiatric Damage Live... [More]
The English Claimant and the French uninsured tortfeasor: claims against the MIB 02 December 2015 Matthew-Chapman (0) Marshall & Pickard v MIB & Others [2015] EWHC 3421 (QB) These claims arose out of a road traffic accident in the municipality of Thiais, France on 19 August 2012. Mr Pickard, a UK national domiciled in England (now and at the time of the accident), was the driver of a Ford Fiesta. Mr Pickard had a passenger in the Ford Fiesta: another English domiciled UK national, Paul Marshall. While ... [More]
Autumn Statement for PI Lawyers 25 November 2015 Ella-Davis access to justice, costs, courts, Damages, insurance, personal injury, politics, quantum, road traffic accidents, whiplash (0) The government has released a summary of the Autumn Statement with 20 Key Announcements, the last of which will be of great interest to personal injury lawyers. It reads as follows: “20. People will no longer be able to get cash compensation for minor whiplash claims To make it harder for people to claim compensation for exaggerated or fraudulent whiplash claims, the government is endin... [More]