PIBULJ
27 September 2007 - PI Practitioner
Ellis v. Bristol City Council [2007] EWCA Civ 685
In the Workplace (Health, Safety & Welfare) Regulations 1992, the combined effect of r. 12(1) and 12(2) was that the floor of a workplace must not be slippery. The slipperiness had to be considered in the context of the use to which the floor was put, including temporary circumstances which arose with sufficient regularity. The court had to consider the frequency of any intermittently hazardous conditions, the chance of injury and the severity of that injury.
In this case, the floor of the claimant’s workplace was frequently contaminated by urine. The surface was slippery when wet, and injury was reasonably foreseeable. The defendant was in breach of r. 12(1) and 12(2), although the claimant, having been warned of the hazard, was guilty of contributory negligence to the extent of one-third.
01 May 2006 Summary
NEWSLETTER
Industry NewsSummary of Recent Cases - Substantive Law
Summary of Recent Cases - Costs
Summary of Recent Cases - Civil Procedure
PI Practitioner
LAW JOURNAL
EditorialPersonal Injury Articles
Adams v Ali: Walkley revisited - Lisa Sullivan, Cloisters
Review of this recent Court of Appeal decision which again restricts the ambit of Walkley v Precision Forgings, preserving the courts section 33 discretion in the majority of cases.
Does Size Really Matter - an update of tripping decisions - Adam Dawson, 9 Gough Square
A look at the common law approach to tripping accident, with reference to the Galloway case.
Putting Claimants to Proof – Life after Kearsley - Daniel Tobin, 12 King’s Bench Walk
A discussion of the principal issues that a Defendant must consider when deciding whether to plead fraud or simply put a Claimant to proof.
Low Velocity Impacts - Alejandra Hormaeche, Tanfield Chambers
Tips on what to look out for when dealing with personal injury claims arising out of low velocity impacts.
Assessing the Loss of a Career - Paul Kilcoyne, 1 Temple Gardens
Until the recent Court of Appeal decision in Herring -v- MOD (2004) 1 All ER 44 assessing the value of a loss of career was expressed in terms of the loss of a percentage chance...
Pleural Plaques: A Very Trifling Matter - Ian Ashford Thom, 1 Temple Gardens
A criticism of the majority Court of Appeal ruling in Rothwell (2006) EWCA Civ 27.
The whole truth and nothing but the truth? - Emma-Jane Hobbs, 1 Temple Gardens
Discusses the evidential status of medical records in personal injury cases.
Summary assessment in CFA cases: Review of important principles and recent cases - Sacha Ackland, 1 Temple Gardens
A guide to summary assessment in CFA cases.
Referee! You Cannot Be Serious! - Tim Kevan, 1 Temple Gardens & Duncan McNair, Equity House
The potential liability of referees has come to the fore in past few years with ground-breaking decisions in...
Clinical Negligence Articles
Inquest reform: can’t pay, won’t pay? - Dr Peter Ellis, Lamb Chambers
Discusses proposed changes to coroner’s inquests in England & Wales, including the Coroner Reform Bill.
Health & Safety Articles
Risk Management in Sports and Recreation - Andrew Petherick, RAE Leisure Consultants
Risk management, previously often referred to as ‘safe practice’ involves managing the risk (or possibility) of injury by undertaking appropriate assessment of...
Medico-Legal Articles, Edited by Dr Hugh Koch
Psychological Issues in Chronic Absence from Work - Hugh Koch, Hugh Koch Associates
Assessing the causes of and ongoing reasons for chronic absence from work is complex. This paper outlines a framework...
05 June 2006 - Industry News
High Court rules that the DTI is partly responsible for asbestos claims brought by dockworkers relating to 1950s and 1960s…
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,200-2198682,00.html
GM sues RSA for $1billion in respect of PI claims arising out of exposure to asbestos – protective proceedings issued in the High Court on 19th May 2006, in case RSA do not have enough funds in the US…
http://www.allheadlinenews.com/articles/7003648422
Claimant PI Solicitors call for changes to the Compensation Bill, in light of the House of Lords judgment in Barker v Corus…
http://www.claimscouncil.org/news/2006/05/12/
Rumours circulate about a possible buyout of Helphire…
http://www.citywire.co.uk/News/NewsArticle.aspx?VersionID=82462
Tougher penalties for and better methods of tracking uninsured drivers, as MIB and police communicate directly…
http://www.mib.org.uk/NR/exeres/
Rehabilitation firm set up by ex-Churchill director…
http://www.postmagazine.co.uk/public/showPage.html
Allianz Cornhill seeks to settle any further involvement in a negligence claim against TAG panel solicitors…
http://www.lawgazette.co.uk/news/breaking/
05 June 2006 - PI Practitioner
MESOTHELIOMA: CAUSATION AND MULTIPLE DEFENDANTS
Barker v. Corus (UK) plc [2006] UKHL 20
A person who contracted mesothelioma after being exposed to asbestos fibres by multiple defendants has the benefit of an exception to the usual rules of causation. He could sue any of the defendants, even though he could not prove which exposure had resulted in the disease. The defendant would be liable for the wrongful creation of the risk of contracting the disease. Because the claimant’s damage was the risk itself, the defendant would be liable for the degree of risk it had created. By quantifying the chances of the claimant’s disease being caused by that defendant, the attribution can be quantified. Any particular defendant would be liable for a proportion of the disease equal to its relative contribution to the chance of the claimant suffering the disease.
EMPLOYER’S LIABILITY FOR DEPRESSION
Daw v. Intel Corporation [2006] EWHC 1097 (QB)
An employer is liable for an employee’s depression if there was a real risk which the employer should properly have foreseen and should properly have averted: Garrett v. Camden LBC [2001] All ER (D) 202. In the present case, the defendant was found liable for the claimant’s depression. She had tried to inform the defendant of her deteriorating mental state, and although her comments were not entirely clear, the defendant should have asked her to elaborate. She created the document with her comments immediately after being found in tears by her manager, at his request. In that context, the defendant should have ensured it understood everything she had written, even if that meant making enquiries.
Had the defendant done so, it would have been able to remedy the claimant’s situation by substantially reducing her workload. It was therefore liable for her illness, subject to a one-third reduction to reflect the chance that she would have suffered debilitating depression in any event.
31 August 2010 Summary
NEWSLETTER
Industry NewsSummary of Recent Cases - Substantive Law
Summary of Recent Cases - Costs
Summary of Recent Cases - Civil Procedure
LAW JOURNAL
Editorial: Closing County CourtsPersonal Injury Articles
ROME II: the saga continues - Katherine Deal
Although apparently a point which seems to have gone either unnoticed or undisputed in the Courts of other Member States, the uncertainty in England and Wales regarding the temporal scope of Regulation (EC) No. 864/2007 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11 July 2007 on the law applicable to non-contractual obligations, ‘Rome II’, rumbles on.
Shift Work and Disease - Dr Andrew Auty, Re: Liability (Oxford) Ltd
The following briefing to insurers concerns shift work and its proposed links with disease.
Personal injury as a result of clinical or medical negligence - Dr Manda Holmshaw, Moving Minds
Patients of all ages and receiving any kind of treatment can be victims of clinical negligence which can result in permanent physical damage, impaired physical function and even death, causing endless pain and distress to their loved ones. What is not always prominent to legal and physical medical assessors is that the physical trauma may also generate serious psychological conditions and/or significantly exacerbate pre-existing ones.
PI Travel Law, Edited by Katherine Deal, 3 Hare Court
How much is a ruined holiday really worth? - Sarah Crowther, 3 Hare Court
In Milner v Carnival Plc [2010] EWCA Civ 389 the Court of Appeal took the opportunity to restate and clarify the law in respect of damages for breach of contract in holiday and travel cases.
Medico-Legal Articles, Edited by Dr Hugh Koch
A comparison of DSM IV and ICD 10 diagnosis for Post Traumatic Stress Disorder - Dr Kim Whitaker
Post Traumatic Stress Disorder was first included in DSM in 1980 and since then it has generated a great deal of research interest. It is classified as an anxiety disorder, yet is different to the other anxiety disorders in that its onset can be related to a very specific trauma and therefore a specific date in time.
Mediation & ADR Articles, Edited by Tim Wallis, Trust Mediation Ltd
Preparing for a Mediation: The Basics - Tim Wallis, Trust Mediation Ltd
This article will take a look through the basics by going through the standard guidance on mediation preparation from one of the mediation organisations I work with, Trust Mediation, and then commenting on same in the light of my experience as a professional mediator.
Book Reviews
APIL Guide to Catastrophic Injury Claims by Grahame Aldous QC, Peter Andrews QC, Stuart McKechnie and Terry Lee
Reviewed by Aidan Ellis, Temple Garden Chambers
Charon QC
Charon QC, August 2010
Magistrates call for courts in shopping centres
![Appeal judge rules that credit hire company has no costs liability following a finding of fundamental dishonesty in personal injury case: RSA v. Fastrack Solutions Limited [2023] 4 WLUK 92 - David Bowden, Erimus Chambers](/content/images/resized/images/stories/carkeys_72_72.jpg)
