PIBULJ
22 March 2007 - PI Practitioner
TRIPPING ACCIDENTS -- CAUSATION
Cole v. Davis-Gilbert (unreported) CA 1st March 2007
The claimant stepped in a hole on a village green, and made a claim against both its occupiers and the company which had previously filled in the hole – it had formerly held a maypole. The judge at first instance found the occupiers not to be liable, on the ground that they reasonably assumed that the hole had been filled. He gave judgment against the company, however, on the basis that it had not filled in the hole adequately; had it done so, the hole would not have reappeared.
The Court of Appeal overturned this decision. The company was not liable, because there was no evidence to suggest that the hole had become exposed because of any failure by it. The occupiers were not liable, and there was a danger in setting too high a standard of care, as doing so could lead to negative consequences.
GENERAL DAMAGES OVERTURNED ON APPEAL
Santos v. Eaton Square Garage Ltd (unreported) CA 23rd February 2007
Appeal courts only rarely interfere with an award of general damages. In this case, the Court of Appeal was prepared to reduce the claimant’s general damages, because it was wholly erroneous, and it would have been an injustice to require the defendant to pay damages of that magnitude.
INTERIM PAYMENTS – PRINCIPLES OF ASSESSMENT
Spillman v. Bradfield Riding Centre [2007] EWHC 89 (QB)
The purpose to which an interim payment was to be put had no bearing on the amount that should be awarded. The principles of CPR 25.7(4) required the court to consider the likely amount of the final judgment, a reasonable proportion of that amount, and any other matter it considered material.
The judge at first instance had rejected the claimant’s application for an interim payment, on the basis that it was to be used for the purchase of new accommodation, and he was unable to conclude on the evidence before him that the claim for the cost of provision of accommodation was likely to succeed. This, the Court of Appeal found, was the wrong approach. The purpose of ordering the defendant to pay only a reasonable proportion of the likely award of damages was to protect it against prejudice if the interim payment turned out to be greater than the award at trial. In the instant case, it was appropriate to award 75% of the amount proposed by the defendant as an interim payment. What the claimant used the money for was irrelevant.
June 2011 Summary
NEWSLETTER
Industry NewsSummary of Recent Cases - Substantive Law
Summary of Recent Cases - Costs
Summary of Recent Cases - Civil Procedure
PI Practitioner
LAW JOURNAL
Editorial: Anti-Social NetworkingPersonal Injury Articles
Did the claimant deserve it? Co-Operative Group v Pritchard [2011] EWCA Civ 329 - Shyam Kapila
It may be fair to assume that if you deliberately provoke another person to the extent that they attack you, that person should be able to plead that you contributed to any injury you claim to have suffered. The law, however, says no. This recent Court of Appeal judgment clarifies an area which has vexed the experts: as Lord Justice Aikens’ examination at [59] reveals, the text books have given contradictory answers to the problem, and have generally been tentative in making any assertions.
Inquest Law: An Update - Elizabeth-Anne Gumbel QC, Caroline Cross, Peter Skelton, 1 Crown Office Row
Two recent cases have set out in considerable detail the background authorities and the development of the law as to when an article 2 inquest is required. These two cases examined the need for an article 2 inquest in quite different situations. Between them these cases have explored very comprehensively the current scope of article 2 inquests against a complex backdrop of earlier cases...
Credit Hire Articles
McAteer v Kirkpatrick - Jason Prosser, Credit Hire Advocacy Services
One feature of the already lengthy and continuing forensic battle between credit hire companies and insurers is the small amounts of money usually involved in litigation which reaches the lofty heights of the appeal courts. In the conjoined cases most often cited as Clark v Ardington [2003] QB 36 for example, one of the amounts in dispute for hire charges incurred by one of the claimants, Dr Sen, was only £190.35. It is, of course, the vast numbers of individual credit hire claims and the aggregate effects on the profit and loss accounts of their protagonists across the length and breadth of the united kingdom that inspires such a phenomenon.
PI Travel Law, Edited by Katherine Deal, 3 Hare Court
Chasing the Local Supplier: Some Practical Considerations - Sarah Crowther, 3 Hare Court
The premise of the Package Travel etc Regulations is in part that it is easier for a tour operator to seek redress from a local supplier than it would for a consumer to pursue his claim directly. However, one of the recurring challenges for tour operator and retailer defendants in package travel claims is securing the co-operation of the local suppliers whose goods or services are alleged by the claimant to have fallen below the required standard. Very often foreign suppliers are unfamiliar with adversarial litigation and fail to appreciate the need to secure proper evidence in response to allegations and simply fail to participate, at least until it is effectively too late. Others are actively contemptuous of English tourists and respond to what they perceive to be outlandish and unjustified criticisms with startling counter-accusations such as fraud, drunkenness and malingering.
Medico-Legal Articles, Edited by Dr Hugh Koch
Vulnerability To PTSD - Dr Kim Whitaker
PTSD is classified as an anxiety disorder in DSM IV. It occurs following a traumatic event, such as a sexual assault or exposure to a road traffic accident. Direct exposure to the trauma is not essential to the development of the disorder (for example people can develop the disorder on learning about the death of a loved one).
Mediation & ADR Articles, Edited by Tim Wallis, Trust Mediation Ltd
Personal injury mediation: practical practice notes - Tim Wallis, Trust Mediation Ltd
Some "How to..." tips, some "do’s and don’ts".
Book Reviews
Guide to Child Abuse Compensation Claims by Elizabeth-Anne Gumbel QC, Justin Levinson, Malcolm Johnson, Richard Scorer
Reviewed by Aidan Ellis, Temple Garden Chambers
Charon QC
Charon QC, June 2010
This... is very worrying...
29 July 2011 - Industry News
Insurance Post
Justice Minister suggests referral fees provide a ‘perverse incentive’ to make unjustified claims…
Guardian
Lawyers back Jack Straw’s call to ban referral fees…
Claims Standards Council
Law Society attacks Legal Aid and Sentencing Bill…
Law Society
Barristers baulk at ‘box-ticking’ CPD…
Guardian
Postman ‘traumatised by roller-coaster’ spared jail…
Telegraph
APIL appoints new chief executive…
Insurance Post
29 July 2011 - PI Practitioner
Jamie-Rae Cook (by her litigation friend & mother Karen Cook) v (1) David Andrew Cook (2) Elizabeth Harriet Walker (2011) [2011] EWHC 1638 (QB)
In a claim where the long term outlook for the Claimant at the date of the trial was uncertain and speculative, Eady J held damages should be assessed on a staged basis, postponing a final resolution to some date in the future when the quantum in respect of the Claimant’s needs as an adult could be meaningfully assessed.
Although it was affirmed that it is the normal rule that all issues should where possible be resolved at a single hearing, and that there was a public interest in the finality of litigation, where the interests of justice demand it there is a power to postpone some issues for later resolution. This is an exceptional course, however, that requires justification on the facts of the case (Mulholland v Mitchell (No1) (1971) AC 666 HL and Murphy v Stone-Wallwork (Charlton) Ltd (1969) 1 WLR 1023 HL considered).
25 September 2008 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
Credit hire and The Consumer Credit Act 2006 - Aidan Ellis, 1 Temple Gardens
The Consumer Credit Act 2006 was introduced because it was felt that the 1974 Act had not proved consumers with sufficient protection and it raises a number of issues which potentially may be of relevance to credit hire practitioners. This article looks at three such issues. First, the change in definition of regulated agreements. Second, the repeal of the provision making improperly executed agreements automatically unenforceable. Third, the new concept of "unfair relationships".
Should Limitation be Heard as a Preliminary Issue in Personal Injury Claims? - Elizabeth-Anne Gumbel QC & Henry Witcomb, 1 Crown Office Row
In June of this year the Court of Appeal gave their decision in the case of AB & Ors v The Nugent Care Society [2008] EWCA Civ 795. In July 2008 the further decision of the Court of Appeal in Albonetti v Wirral Metropolitan Borough Council [2008] EWCA Civ 783, which had also been stayed pending the decision in A v Hoare, was given.
Part 36 Offers: when is a judgment more advantageous? - Alejandra Hormaeche, Tanfield Chambers
Part 36 offers and the recent Court of Appeal guidance in the case of Carver v BAA [2008] EWCA Civ 412
When is it fair and just to impose liability on an employer for the actions of its employee? - Lisa Sullivan, Cloisters
Gravil v Redruth Rugby Club [2008] EWCA Civ 689 - On the face of it, vicarious liability, which fixes an employer with liability for the acts or omissions of employees, even if there is no fault on the part of the employer and there is nothing they could have done to prevent the act or omission, is at odds with the common law which is based on notions of fault. So when is it fair and just to impose such liability?
Phantom Passengers - Lionel Stride, 1 Temple Gardens
The recent case of Ul-haq v Shah [2008] EWHC 1896 concerned an appeal to the High Court by the defendant in a phantom-passenger claim. The judgment of Mr. Justice Walker contains interesting points of guidance as to how judges should exercise their discretion in relation to the claims brought by bona fide claimants alongside a claimant who is deemed to have made a bogus and fraudulent claim as a ‘phantom’ passenger.
Manchester United, Middlesborough and the £4.5 million personal injury - Tabitha Nice, Stewarts Law
Once in a while a case comes along which although it might not set any legal precedent, it provides a reminder as to the implications of the law as it currently stands, when applied to extreme situations. The recent case of Benjamin Collett v Gary Smith and Middlesborough Football Club is one such case.
Clinical Negligence Articles
Tried and Prejudice - Caroline Hallissey, Outer Temple Chambers
It is a truth universally acknowledged that an individual in pursuit of a clinical negligence claim must be in want of a complete set of their medical records. All too often the burden falling on the claimant as it does in clinical negligence litigation, they fail because their records have gone missing, been misfiled or worse...
Medico-Legal Articles, Edited by Dr Hugh Koch
MS Sufferer granted permission for Judicial Review - Dr Peter Townsend, Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham
In June Debbie Purdy, who suffers from Progressive Multiple Sclerosis, was granted permission for Judicial Review in an attempt to challenge the Director of Public Prosecutions to publish details of his policy on prosecuting individuals who assist in a suicide. This article considers the need for legislative clarification of the law relating to end of life issues.
Psychological Morbidity Following A Road Accident: Mayou et al. (2001) - Dr Paul Elson and Valerie Elliott
Psychological morbidity frequently occurs following a road accident. The disorders suffered by people can be varied and persistent and the need for both early recognition of such problems and of the importance of psychological treatment are paramount.
Charon QC
Charon QC, September 2007
Sackings, short selling and stupidity…
![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)
