PIBULJ
22 August 2006 - PI Practitioner
DAMAGES FOR ACCIDENTS ABROAD: APPLICABILITY OF ENGLISH LAW
Harding v. Wealands [2006] UKHL 32
An English court dealing with a personal injury claim arising from a road traffic accident in New South Wales should apply English law to the assessment of damages.
Section 14 of the Private International Law (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1995 sets out that matters of procedure are governed by the forum in which the case is heard. An assessment of damages was a matter of procedure under Section 14, and was therefore to be carried out according to the law of the forum.
A New South Wales statute limiting the amount of damages recoverable did not relate to the actionability of the losses suffered by the claimant, but rather to the remedies the court was to provide. It was therefore a procedural restriction, and was therefore inapplicable by the English courts.
DISTINCTION BETWEEN A BLAMIRE AWARD AND A SMITH V MANCHESTER AWARD
Ronan v. J Sainsbury PLC 6th July 2006, CA
An award pursuant to Blamire v South Cumbria Health Authority (1993) PIQR 1 was appropriate where future lost earnings could not be quantified by a multiplier/multiplicand approach: where there were too many uncertainties to do so, it was appropriate to award a lump sum. A Smith v. Manchester award should be made where the claimant had a future loss contingent on him losing his job and then suffering a handicap on the labour market. Such a loss could be quantified.
EXPERT WITNESSES: CONFLICT OF INTEREST
Toth v. Jarman [2006] EWCA Civ 1028
An expert witness is not necessarily disqualified from giving evidence because he is in a conflict of interest. The question is whether his evidence is independent of the parties and the pressure of litigation. However, if an expert is in a position of conflict, the court is likely to refuse permission to rely on his evidence.
If such a conflict arises, the party calling the expert must draw it to the other side’s attention as soon as possible. This should ordinarily be on service of the expert’s report, as the CV should disclose any potential conflict. However, if the conflict only arises later, the party should disclose it at the first practicable date.
30 November 2010 - PI Practitioner
Bennett v Compass Group UK and Ireland Limited and Another [2002] EWCA Civ 642
The Court had the jurisdiction to order a claimant to provide all authority so that the defendant could obtain the claimant’s medical records from the claimant’s GP and hospitals. Whilst care should be taken as to the circumstances and terms in which such orders are made, the deputy district judge had not gone beyond his discretion
Wells v OCS Group Limited [2009] 1 WLR 1895
Nelson J, on appeal from Judge Brasse sitting in Clerkenwell and Shoreditch, held that the Judge had been right to refuse the Defendant’s application for pre-action disclosure of the Claimant’s medical records. It was not appropriate to order the Claimant to disclose her private medical records before she had had the opportunity of considering them and their effect upon her claim, with her medical expert if required. Such was not ‘desirable’ within CPR 31.16(3)(d) to dispose fairly of proceedings or to assist the resolution of dispute without the need for proceedings.
Lucas v Barking, Havering and Redbridge NHS Trust [2004] 1 WLR 229
The term ‘instructions’ within CPR 35.10(3) was to be interpreted broadly so as to include any material provided to the expert to complete his report, so held the Court of Appeal. Thus, this route could not be used to gain disclosure of documents so included in an experts instructions, unless the court is satisfied that there are reasonable grounds to consider that the statement of instructions given was inaccurate or incomplete (CPR 35.10(4).
Hipwood v Gloucester Health Authority and Others [1995] ICR 999
The Court of Appeal held that the Defendants were entitled to disclosure of the Claimant’s medical records. In a case where liability, causation and damages are all in issue, all medical records are almost certain to be relevant. That will certainly be the norm in a PI case where the claimant is said to have a continuing disability and loss. It may be that there are particular records which are not relevant and which the claimant may wish to keep from a defendant for understandable reasons. In such circumstances, the claimant could indicate to the Court the record in question and the Court could determine the requirement for disclosure.
30 November 2007 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
Credit Hire: Claiming a Contribution for delay by a Garage - Aidan Ellis, 1 Temple Gardens
Defendant insurers rarely take the opportunity to join a garage into proceedings. This article explores whether this is a viable option for Defendants.
RTAs and recovering the cost of a hire vehicle - Alejandra Hormaeche, Tanfield Chambers
The spate of litigation arising out of recovering the cost of hiring a temporary replacement vehicle following a road traffic accident shows no signs of abating, with the Court of Appeal recently offering further guidance in Douglas Bee v Carl Jenson [2007].
Discounts to Hourly Rates in Gratuitous Care Claims - Paul Stagg, 1 Chancery Lane
This article suggests that the current standard discounts applied to hourly rates used to calculate gratuitous care claims may be assessed on the basis of an erroneous assumption as to the tax consequences of making an award for gratuitous care.
Deaths in Hospital: Gross or Simple Negligence? - Eliot Woolf & Christopher Wilson-Smith QC, Outer Temple Chambers
The circumstances in which a Coroner should hold an enhanced, Middleton type investigation into the ‘means and circumstances’ in which a death in hospital had occurred as opposed to the narrower, Jamieson type investigation into the means by which the death arose has fallen into consideration in a number of recent cases.
Clinical Negligence Articles
MRSA, routes to liability - Cara Guthrie, Outer Temple Chambers
MRSA - difficult cases but it is possible to establish liability?
Medico-Legal Articles, Edited by Dr Hugh Koch
The use of video surveillance material - Dr George Harrison, University Hospital Birmingham
The use of video surveillance material in cases which hinge upon the amount of pain which is suffered by a claimant is still controversial.
Patterns of pain: are our assumptions on the wiring of the nervous system accurate? - Dr George Harrison, University Hospital Birmingham
The development of chronic pain often produces patterns of pain in a way that does not fall within our normal concepts of the presumed neurological wiring of the central nervous system. It is not unknown for experts in orthopaedics or neurology to state that the pain is made up because the pattern of it does not fit in with the accepted wisdom of the normal patterns of pain, which have been taught for many years.
Charon QC
Charon QC, Nov 2007
Free Speech
29 May 2009 Summary
NEWSLETTER
Industry NewsSummary of Recent Cases - Substantive Law
Summary of Recent Cases - Costs
Summary of Recent Cases - Civil Procedure
LAW JOURNAL
EditorialPersonal Injury Articles
Orchard v Lee - Rosa Dickinson, St Philip’s Chambers
Everyone remembers playing tag in the playground at school, but how many of us considered we might be sued for bumping into a lunchtime supervisor? That was the predicament which young Master Lee was faced with following an accident at school in January 2004.
Thinking Negatively (Claims for Negative Declarations in Personal Injury Actions) - Katherine Deal, 3 Hare Court
Claims for negative declarations are not uncommonly used in personal injury litigation overseas. It is open to a defendant insurer in France, for example, where issues of fault seldom arise in claims arising out of road traffic accidents, to bring proceedings against the victim in order to resolve the issue of how much money it is liable to pay. But it is seldom that one encounters such an application in the personal injury field in England.
PI Travel Law, Edited by Katherine Deal, 3 Hare Court
Beyond Odenbreit: Direct Claims against Non Motor Insurers - Howard Stevens, 3 Hare Court
The Fourth Motor Insurance Directive required member states to ensure that injured parties enjoyed a direct right of action against third party insurers. In the UK this was provided for by the European Communities (Rights against Insurers) Regulations 2002.
Jurisdiction in Cruise Cases: Recent Developments in the County Courts - Sarah Prager, 1 Chancery Lane
In a number of recent cases the County Courts have been asked to strike out cruise claims on the basis that they have no jurisdiction to hear them. Sarah Prager examines the issues.
Medico-Legal Articles, Edited by Dr Hugh Koch
R v Dr Priya Ramnath [2009] - Odette Hutchinson, Aston Business School
The recent conviction at Birmingham Crown Court of Dr Priya Ramnath for the manslaughter of a patient under her care at Stafford District General Hospital, occurs no less than a decade after the original inquest into the victim’s death recorded a verdict of death by natural causes. This verdict was later overturned following a second inquest in 2004 and substituted for a verdict of unlawful killing...
A Summary of the NICE guidelines for PTSD - Dr Kathryn Newns and Dr Kathy Peace
Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) can develop following a stressful event or situation of an exceptionally threatening or catastrophic nature. Evidence suggests that around 25–30% of people experiencing a traumatic event may go on to develop PTSD...
Mediation & ADR Articles, Edited by Tim Wallis, Trust Mediation Ltd
Getting your Opponent to Mediate - Philip Hesketh, Hesketh Mediation
I have been asked by frustrated mediation clients what they can do when an opponent refuses to agree to mediate or, as frequently happens, rudely ignores the invitation. My answer depends on whether or not proceedings have been issued...
Marketing for Solicitors
Marketing Your Practice Part 7: Increasing Interest & Action, Events & Seminars - Jenny Cotton, Mortons Marketing
The last article showed how PR is the quickest and most flexible marketing support available. Creating PR content through organising relevant events and seminars is a proven success. What suits your current aims? contacts? and budget? Does your practice offer in house events? or source external suppliers? Why does your practice needs events at all? Who do you wish to contact? Why?
Book Reviews
Compensation for Stress at Work by David Marshall
Reviewed by Aidan Ellis, 1 Temple Gardens
Charon QC
Charon QC, May 2009
The jury is out on the jury
29 December 2007 - Industry News
BBC
Firms criticised over workplace deaths...
TimesOnline
Ministry of Justice publishes part 2 of claims management regulation consultation...
Ministry of Justice
Law Society backs ‘level playing field’ on referral fees...
The Law Society
3 out of 4 lawyers make no checks on experts...
TimesOnline
FSA investigates third party capture for bad practice...
Claims Standards Council
![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)
