Bonus Materials Summary

Guide to Keeping Disputes out of Court - Justin Patten, Human Law
How to save money, maintain business relationships and avoid negative publicity by embracing the power of mediation to resolve business and employee disputes. This 14-page Guide provides a complete road map for managers who need to lower the cost of settling disagreements and disputes with employees, customers and suppliers.

18 May 2007 - PI Practitioner

CONFLICT OF EXPERT EVIDENCE – JUDGE MUST GIVE REASONS FOR DECISION
Smith v. Southampton University Hospital NHS Trust [2007] EWCA Civ 387
The claim related to a surgical operation in which the claimant had suffered injury. There was a conflict of evidence between each party’s experts, and the judge preferred the evidence of one of them. She concluded that the expert represented a responsible body of medical opinion, and therefore found the defendant not to have been negligent. She did not give reasons for preferring that expert.

The Court of Appeal found that the decision was unsustainable. The judge had to explain why she had rejected the evidence of one expert and preferred the evidence of the other; merely saying that the other expert was representative of a responsible body of medical opinion was not sufficient. On the facts, the judge was wrong to prefer that expert, and the Court of Appeal reversed the decision on that point.

ASLEEP AT THE WHEEL – DRIVING IN THE COURSE OF EMPLOYMENT
Eyres v. Atkinsons Kitchens & Bedrooms Ltd [2007] EWCA Civ 385
The Court of Appeal reversed a finding of fact by the trial judge, and substituted the finding that the claimant had fallen asleep while driving his employer’s van, and that this was the cause of an accident in which he was injured. The claimant had been accompanied by his manager, and the claimant’s case was that the defendant had permitted him to drive when it was unsafe for him to do so, because he was too tired.

The Court of Appeal found that, in these circumstances, the defendant was liable to the claimant subject to a 33% deduction for contributory negligence. The claimant had to bear some responsibility for the accident, because there must have been a point before the accident at which he realised he was at risk of falling asleep.

31 March 2010 Summary

NEWSLETTER

Industry News
Summary of Recent Cases - Substantive Law
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Summary of Recent Cases - Civil Procedure

LAW JOURNAL

Editorial

Personal Injury Articles

The new road traffic accident (RTA) low value claims process - Amy Berry, Pump Court Chambers
Currently the Civil Procedure Rules, Practice Directions and consequential amendments are in draft form only. The Civil Procedure Rule Committee has approved the draft documents and we are waiting for the necessary statutory instrument...

Owens v Noble: ATE Surveillance - Lisa Sullivan, Cloisters
A claimant injured in a road traffic accident receives £3.4 million at trial based on injuries which left his mobility severely restricted – he was dependent on crutches and a wheelchair. Liability was never in dispute.

Michael Henry v. Thames Valley Police [2010] EWCA Civ. 5 - Daniel Tobin, 12 King’s Bench Walk
In the early hours of 22 August 2004 two experienced traffic officers in the Defendant’s employ, PC Griffiths and PC Brandish, observed the Claimant riding his motorcycle in a manner which they considered dangerous. They followed him. It seems probable that the Claimant was aware that he was being followed by the police and he rode at speeds of up to 95mph...

Personal Injury firms under pressure to ring the changes - Rasik Kotecha, CallCare
Much of the debate around the Legal Services Act (LSA), which comes into full effect next year, has centred on the arrival of non-law firms into the market – with "Tesco-law" becoming the bogeyman to scare firms into in the 21st century...

PI Travel Law, Edited by Katherine Deal, 3 Hare Court

Suing a foreign insurer: the effect of Vorarlberger and beyond - Clara Johnson, 3 Hare Court
It has become significantly easier in recent years for a victim of a road traffic accident to pursue a claim against a foreign driver or his insurers. The Judgments Regulation (EC Regulation 44/2001) makes an exception to the general principle that a defendant is to be sued in the courts of his or her Member State where the claim relates to insurance.

Medico-Legal Articles, Edited by Dr Hugh Koch

The New Ministry of Justice Rules and Psychological Rehabilitation - Dr Wilson Carswell, Moving Minds
New Ministry of Justice rules on Low Value Personal Injury Claims in Road Traffic Accidents in England and Wales are due to come into place in April 2010. Although there are still contentious areas around fees and timetables, the rules provide a number of challenges and opportunities for personal injury lawyers and their colleagues. Nowhere is this more important than in the area of rehabilitation, long considered an orphan child in the claims process.

I want my mummy: A Discussion of Separation Anxiety Following a Road Traffic - Kim Whitaker, Kathryn Newns and Chrissie Tizzard
Children involved in road traffic accidents (RTAs) are prone to developing psychological or psychiatric disorders. Stallard (1998) found that a third of children involved in RTAs developed post traumatic stress disorder. However, the literature on children remains relatively sparse and the main research in this area focuses on Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, as opposed to other types of anxiety or depressive disorder.

Marketing for Solicitors

Marketing Your Practice Part 14: Ethical Marketing for Practices Why? What? When? - Jenny Cotton, Mortons Marketing
We consider the ethical issues practice marketeers must address and the self regulatory requirements of the ASA, the Advertising Standards Authority Codes of Practice, for which new updates have just been announced.

Book Reviews

Coroners: A Guide to the New Law, by David Urpeth
Reviewed by Aidan Ellis, Temple Garden Chambers

Charon QC

Charon QC, March 2010
High cost of protection is eroding legal bastion