Damages for abuse 30 March 2016 Roderick-Abbott case report, courts, Damages, General, jurisprudence, LP Vicarious Liability, personal injury, quantum, workplace claims (0) The Claimant in KCR v The Scout Association [2016] EWHC 597 (QB) suffered sustained abuse by a Cub Scout Group Leader when a young boy in the 1980s. In 2003 the abuser was convicted of a large number of sexual offences against boys including the Claimant. As might be expected, given recent trends in this area of law, the Defendant admitted that it was vicariously liable for the abuser’s acti... [More]
Claims of alleged fraud not exempt from Denton 22 March 2016 Ella-Davis case report, cpr, insurance, Mitchell, procedure, Relief from sanctions, road traffic accidents (0) “The court cannot ignore that insurers are professional litigants, who can properly be held responsible for any blatant disregard of their own commercial interests.” - Gentry v Miller & Anor [2016] EWCA Civ 141 at 34. Such was the warning sent to insurers by the Court of Appeal earlier this month in allowing a Claimant’s appeal against a decision to set aside default judgme... [More]
Evidence and interim payment applications 10 March 2016 Edward-Bishop-QC case report, procedure (0) The High Court has given useful guidance (which serves as a warning) to defendants on their evidential obligations when defending applications for interim payments. In Sellar-Elliot v Howling [2016] EWHC 443 (QB) Sweeney J refused permission to appeal an interim payment order by Master Cook and held that it was not enough for a defendant to rely – when defending an application fo... [More]
Vicarious liability: extension, extension, extension 03 March 2016 Ian-Miller case report, employers liability, LP Vicarious Liability, personal injury, public authorities (0) “The law of vicarious liability is on the move” are the opening words to the opinion of Lord Reed in Cox v Ministry of Justice [2016] UKSC 10 (quoting Lord Phillips in Various Claimants v Catholic Child Welfare Society [2012] UKSC 56). The Supreme Court has handed down two judgments in the field of vicarious liability (Cox and Mohamud v WM Morrison [2016] UKSC 11) which continue ... [More]
Foreign Law in the English Courts 29 February 2016 Matthew-Chapman case report, Damages, EC Regulations, Experts, LP conflict of laws, LP damages, LP Quantum, personal injury, road traffic accidents, EC Harmonisation (0) A number of the English lawyers who conduct PI litigation in cross-border cases have warned that the full implications of the Rome II Regulation (864/2007) – and the impact that it has on the assessment of damages awarded to English Claimants by English Judges – have yet to be felt. By way of recap, Rome II provides (in Article 15(c)) that once the applicable law of the tort has b... [More]
Fixed Costs and Part 36 Offers 24 February 2016 Thomas-Crockett costs, cpr, General, LP Costs, LP Part 36, personal injury, procedure (0) What is the effect of a claimant’s ‘beaten’ Part 36 Offer upon their costs in a low value personal injury case within the RTA or EL/PL Protocol where claimants' costs are fixed pursuant to CPR 45? This has been a vexed question since the introduction of the fixed costs regime , but one the Master of the Rolls giving the sole judgment of the Court of Appeal in Broadhurst & An... [More]
A predictable revolution: Knauer v Ministry of Defence in the Supreme Court 24 February 2016 Paul-Stagg Damages (0) The Supreme Court has today handed down its judgment [2016] UKSC 9 in the 'leapfrog' appeal to it from the decision of Bean J in Knauer v Ministry of Defence [2014] EWHC 2553 (QB). Bean J's decision is available on BAILII at http://www.bailii.org/ew/cases/EWHC/QB/2014/2553.html and the Supreme Court's decision is at http://www.bailii.org/uk/cases/UKSC/2016/9.html. Permission for the 'leapfrog' app... [More]
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]