Negligence case by schizophrenic man who killed three OAPs gets go-ahead – The Independent

‘A paranoid schizophrenic who killed three pensioners will be allowed to continue his legal challenge over his treatment from authorities before the deaths, the Court of Appeal has ruled.’

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The Independent, 20th February 2024

Source: www.independent.co.uk

Referral Fees and Illegality: Litkraft Ltd v Cottrell – Ropewalk Chambers

Posted April 11th, 2023 in chambers articles, contracts, fees, illegality, news, solicitors by sally

‘Litkraft Ltd v (1) Cottrell (2) Williams (3) Goldsmith [2023] EWHC 465 (Comm) has touched upon, but not decided, whether certain fee sharing arrangements could amount to a prohibited referral fee under section 56 of the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012 (“LASPO”).’

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Ropewalk Chambers, 14th March 2023

Source: ropewalk.co.uk

Case Comment: Crown Prosecution Service v Aquila Advisory Ltd [2021] UKSC 49 – UKSC Blog

‘In this post, Amy Wilkinson, a senior associate in CMS’ financial crime team, comments on the decision of the UK Supreme Court in Crown Prosecution Service v Aquila Advisory Ltd [2021] UKSC 49. On 3 November 2021, the Supreme Court unanimously dismissed the appeal and ruled in favour of Aquila Advisory Ltd. The decision concerns attribution of directors’ criminal actions and who should have priority over assets derived from their criminal schemes.’

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UKSC Blog, 4th May 2022

Source: ukscblog.com

Illegality in Clinical Negligence Claims – Ropewalk Clinical Negligence Blog

Posted September 23rd, 2021 in illegality, mental health, negligence, news, personal injuries by tracey

‘A man with longstanding mental health issues walks into a pub with a can of petrol and a knife. He proceeds to pour the petrol on himself and says he is going to burn the pub down. The police are called, he is arrested and whilst in police custody, he undergoes a Mental Health Act assessment. It is alleged that the assessors negligently fail to recommend transfer to a secure psychiatric unit. The man alleges that he suffered an exacerbation of his mental health as a result of being transferred to a medium secure prison where he witnessed various unpleasant acts that he would not have witnessed in a secure psychiatric unit.’

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Ropewalk Clinical Negligence Blog, 22nd September 2021

Source: www.ropewalk.co.uk

Alison L Young: Judicial Review of Policies – Clarification or Judicial Retreat? – UK Constitutional Law Association

‘Policies are not law. Nevertheless, they play a large role in administrative law, providing clarity as to how a public authority will exercise a discretionary power. Policies can also be relevant considerations, create legitimate expectations, or require that an individual who falls within the scope of a policy should have that policy applied to them, unless there are good reasons not to do so. Public authorities may also be required to formulate or publish a policy setting out how discretion is exercised.’

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UK Constitutional Law Association, 5th August 2021

Source: ukconstitutionallaw.org

Professional liability update: 2020 year in review – 4 New Square

‘In this review of the year, Helen Evans, Ben Smiley, Pippa Manby, and Ian McDonald of 4 New Square explain what the 2020 cases tell us, how the various strands of development interact, and what to watch out for as we go into 2021.’

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4 New Square, 5th January 2021

Source: www.4newsquare.com

The Illegality Defence in the Supreme Court again – Littleton Chambers

‘The common law defence of illegality was considered by the Supreme Court in Patel v Mirza [2016] UKSC 42. The Court rejected the reliance principle as applied in Tinsley v Milligan [1994] 1 AC 340, according to which relief was refused to parties who had to rely on their own illegality to establish their case. In its place, the majority adopted a more flexible approach which openly addressed the underlying policy considerations involved and invited Courts to reach a balanced judgment in each case, permitting account to be taken of the proportionality of the outcome.’

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Littleton Chambers, 4th November 2020

Source: littletonchambers.com

Stoffel & Co. v Grondona [2020] UKSC 42 – Hailsham Chambers

‘In Stoffel & Co. v Grondona, the Supreme Court considered the operation of the common law defence of illegality in the context of solicitors’ negligence for the first time since its seminal decision in Patel v Mirza [2017] AC 467. At the same time, the Court handed down judgment in a clinical negligence case: Henderson v Dorset Healthcare University NHS Foundation Trust [2020] UKSC 43.’

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Hailsham Chambers, 3rd November 2020

Source: www.hailshamchambers.com

Mental health, clinical negligence and the illegality defence – UK Human Rights Law Blog

‘In Ecila Henderson v. Dorset Healthcare University NHS Trust Foundation [2020] UKSC 43 the Supreme Court has revisited the defence of illegality (“ex turpi causa”) in the context of a claim for clinical negligence.’

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UK Human Rights Law Blog, 3rd November 2020

Source: ukhumanrightsblog.com

Fraud does not oust negligence claim, Supreme Court rules – Law Society’s Gazette

Posted November 5th, 2020 in defences, fraud, illegality, mortgages, negligence, news, Supreme Court by tracey

‘Lawyers have stressed that the illegality principle in civil claims remains intact despite the Supreme Court finding in favour of a mortgage fraudster in a dispute with a law firm.’

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Law Society's Gazette, 4th November 2020

Source: www.lawgazette.co.uk

Leah Trueblood: ‘Following the Science:’ a Legal and Democratic Challenge – UK Constitutional Law Association

‘During a pandemic, it seems like a good idea for politicians to “follow the science.” But what does this actually mean? The claim that the Government is “following the science” is in many respects laudable, but is it also a convenient way to avoid or limit accountability? Due to a lack of transparency, it is unclear whether and to what extent substantive decisions are being made by scientists, or if this is just a politically helpful turn of phrase. A recent Institute for Government report Decision Making in a Crisis: First Responses to the Coronavirus Pandemic potentially provides some insight into this question. The report says that when deciding whether to lockdown the country in March, the Government looked to science for “answers” for what to do, rather than as part of a range of inputs into a decision-making process. Is the Government delegating decisions for which, under statute, it is exclusively responsible? Possibly. It is necessary to consider how decision-making and accountability mechanisms for decision-makers must be modified to reflect this change in who exercises power in the United Kingdom and how. It is often argued that scientists should be “on tap but not on top.” This post asks if this “on tap not on top” relationship is possible during a pandemic, and to assess the challenges for legal and democratic accountability if it is not.’

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UK Constitutional Law Association, 21st September 2020

Source: ukconstitutionallaw.org

Yossi Nehushtan: The 14-Day Quarantine Policy is Illegal – UK Constitutional Law Association

‘Harsh criticism, mainly from politicians and the travel industry has been expressed regarding the new government policy, according to which, and from 8 June, nearly all international arrivals at UK ports must quarantine for 14 days. It is surprising that very little has been said about the clear illegality of this policy, despite a very recent judicial review process that has been brought against the policy by a few airline companies. In this post it is argued that the quarantine policy is irrational, unreasonable and disproportionate – and therefore illegal. A preliminary note about the differences between rationality and reasonableness will be followed by applying rationality, reasonableness and proportionality to our case.’

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UK Constitutional Law Association, 17th June 2020

Source: ukconstitutionallaw.org

Rights & Wrongs? Standard of proof in dishonesty cases considered by the Court of Appeal – Hardwicke Chambers

Posted May 12th, 2020 in banking, conspiracy, fraud, illegality, news, standard of proof by sally

‘The standard of proof in dishonesty cases: simple to state, difficult to apply. In Bank St Petersburg PJSC v Arkhangelsky [2020] EWCA Civ 408 the difficulty led the Court of Appeal to reverse an experienced High Court judge’s dismissal of a counterclaim. The matter was remitted after a 46 day trial spread over 6 months in 2016, 22 months waiting for a 388 page judgment and nearly 2 years waiting for the Court of Appeal decision on 18 March 2020. Jack Dillon and Amy Held consider the implications.’

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Hardwicke Chambers, 10th May 2020

Source: hardwicke.co.uk

Why is the “illegality” defence back in the spotlight? – 4 New Square

Posted May 12th, 2020 in chambers articles, defences, illegality, news by sally

‘It is not uncommon for defendants to professional negligence claims to argue that the claimant should be barred from recovering damages because his or her cause of action is tarred by illegality. However, over recent years, the law has taken a variety of approaches to when illegality will provide a defence. With the issue about to come before the Supreme Court again, Helen Evans and Ian McDonald of 4 New Square explain.’

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4 New Square, 4th May 2020

Source: www.4newsquare.com

Day v Womble Bond Dickinson (UK) LLP [2020] EWCA Civ 447: Would your 12 year old understand when to stop?- Hailsham Chambers

Posted April 3rd, 2020 in appeals, chambers articles, fees, illegality, law firms, negligence, news by sally

‘By this notable decision the Court of Appeal has offered a useful illustration of the strict limits to the scope for claims by previously convicted claimants against their former lawyers,
alleging negligence in respect of the defence of the earlier criminal proceedings.’

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Hailsham Chambers, 30th March 2020

Source: www.hailshamchambers.com

Illegality and separating a PD from an underlying dispute – 3PB

‘Tracey Robinson (‘C’) was hired by Mr Cathcart on behalf of the Crown Prince Ras-alKhaimah (‘the Sheikh’) in 2007 to carry out a number of duties including looking after the Sheikh’s children and properties in the UK. The contract clearly stipulated that C was responsible for paying her own tax.’

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3PB, 2nd March 2020

Source: www.3pb.co.uk

New Judgment: Singularis Holdings Ltd (In Official Liquidation) (A Company Incorporated in the Cayman Islands) v Daiwa Capital Markets Europe Ltd [2019] UKSC 50 – UKSC Blog

Posted October 31st, 2019 in banking, duty of care, fraud, illegality, news by sally

‘An implied term of the contract between a bank and its customer is that the bank owes a duty of care not to execute the customer’s order if it knows the order to be dishonestly given, or shuts its eyes to obvious dishonesty, or acts recklessly in failing to make inquiries. This is known as the Quincecare duty of care, following the 1992 case of Barclays Bank plc v Quincecare Ltd.’

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UKSC Blog, 30th October 2019

Source: ukscblog.com

High Commissioner for Pakistan in the United Kingdom v Prince Muffakham Jah and Others [2019] – Blackstone Chambers

‘The High Court has determined a £35 million partition era dispute between India, Pakistan and successors in title to 7th Nizam of Hyderabad. Claims of Pakistan dismissed; claims of India, Prince Muffakham Jah and Prince Mukarram Jah upheld.’

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Blackstone Chambers, 2nd October 2019

Source: www.blackstonechambers.com

Court throws out convicted client’s negligence claim against solicitors – Law Society’s Gazette

‘A convicted client has failed in a bid to make his former solicitors stump up the bill for his £450,000 fine imposed in the Crown court. In Day v Womble Bond Dickinson (UK) LLP Her Honour Judge Deborah Taylor, sitting in the High Court, struck out the negligence claim by landowner Philip Day.’

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Law Society's Gazette, 7th May 2019

Source: www.lawgazette.co.uk

Families of three dead Windrush victims can claim compensation – The Guardian

Posted September 5th, 2018 in compensation, deportation, families, illegality, immigration, news by sally

‘The families of three wrongly deported Windrush victims who died before UK officials were able to repatriate them will be able to claim compensation, the immigration minister has told the House of Commons.’

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The Guardian, 4th September 2018

Source: www.theguardian.com