‘I’ve heard about a few costs decisions by trial judges recently which might be considered, to put it politely, interesting, or brave, in the Yes Minister sense. So it was with some interest that I read the Court of Appeal decision in Begum v Birmingham City Council [2015] EWCA Civ 386.’
Nearly Legal, 8th October 2015
Source: www.nearlylegal.co.uk
‘An asylum seeker who says she fled from torture in Sudan is entitled to damages from the government after she was held unlawfully, the High Court has ruled.’
BBC News, 8th October 2015
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
‘Collapsed Midlands firm Blakemores will face trial over a land registration dispute after the Court of Appeal reopened a case against it.’
Law Society’s Gazette, 7th October 2015
Source: www.lawgazette.co.uk
‘Such issues were central in Vestergaard A/S v Bestnet Europe Limited [2013] UKSC 31 (V v B). Shortly afterwards the Patents County Court (two months before it became the Intellectual Property Enterprise Court) had to decide in Pintorex Limited v Parax Limited [2013] EWPCC 36 (P v P), theliability of a sole director and sole shareholder of a company, by the application of the guidelines in Vestergaard. The Judge in P v P was Mr Recorder Alastair Wilson QC, who represented the successful respondents in V v B.’
New Square Chambers, 30th September 2015
Source: www.newsquarechambers.co.uk
‘New consumer rights legislation has come into force in the UK.’
OUT-LAW.com, 2nd October 2015
Source: www.out-law.com
‘Today, on the 1st October 2015, when we are supposed to be celebrating the brave new world of the Competition Act 1998 (“CA”) as amended by the Consumer Rights Act 2015 (“CRA”), cartelists and other competition law infringers up and down the land must be rubbing their hands in glee at the transitional provisions contained in Rule 119 of the Competition Appeal Tribunal Rules 2015 (“the 2015 CAT Rules” or the “New Rules”).’
Competition Bulletin from Blackstone Chambers, 1st October 2015
Source: www.competitionbulletin.com
‘A and M, aged 12 and 4 respectively, brought claims in damages for personal injuries and consequential losses sustained in a road traffic accident on the 31st July 2013. Agreement was reached with the insurers for the Defendant for both general damages and special damages through the usual minor injury claim portal process. Naturally, that agreement was subject to the ultimate approval of the Court pursuant to Part 21 CPR. DJ Lumb at the County Court Sitting at Birmingham was able to provisionally approve awards of £2115 and £2065 respectively on 14th August 2015. In addition, the Defendant agreed to pay the fixed recoverable costs calculated in accordance with CPR Part 45. The case had progressed in the standard way up until this point.’
Zenith PI Blog, 29th September 2015
Source: www.zenithpi.wordpress.com
‘A judge has ordered a London council to pay £20,000 in damages for breaching the claimant parents’ human rights when it unlawfully continued to keep their eight children in foster care.’
Local Government Lawyer, 24th September 2015
Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk
‘Brett Wilson LLP v Person(s) Unknown, Responsible for the Operation of the Website solicitorsfromhell.co.uk, 7 September (Warby J) [2015] EWHC 2628 (QB). This was a claim in libel by a firm of solicitors who acted for another firm which also claimed against the operators of SFHUK, causing the original site to be shut down (Law Society v Rick Kordowski [2011]). In this case the words complained of appeared on a new site, but despite efforts by the present claimants, it was not possible to find out who was operating it. The site alleged various aspects of mismanagement, including incompetence and fraud. It also quoted a client of the claimant firm who alleged overcharging and who refused to pay their fees. (It is worth noting that the site appears to have been taken down since default judgement was given in this case).’
UK Human Rights Blog, 17th September 2015
Source: www.ukhumanrightsblog.com
‘A party that accidentally omitted an important page from its trial bundle has failed in its attempt to persuade the judge to reconsider his ruling. The claimant in Absolute Lofts as West London Ltd v Artisan Home Improvements Ltd & Anor (No2) [2015] EWHC 2632 (IPEC) made the application the day after His Honour Judge Hacon handed down his decision.’
Litigation Futures, 18th September 2015
Source: www.litigationfutures.com
‘Businesses can suffer serious loss if insurance companies delay paying claims. But under Law Commission reforms introduced into Parliament today, insurers would be obliged to make prompt payment or face a claim for damages.’
Law Commission, 16th September 2015
Source: www.justice.gov.uk/lawcommission
‘A husband and wife have won £10,000 each in damages from a local authority that wrongly kept their eight children in foster care. A deputy high court judge Sir Robert Francis said that if ever there was a case illustrating the challenges that faced children, parents, public authorities and the courts when concerns were raised about the safety and welfare of children, it was this one.’
The Guardian, 17th September 2015
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
‘It takes two years or more for 42% of medical negligence cases to settle or for damages to be awarded by the courts, research by the Association of Personal Injury Lawyers (APIL) has revealed.’
Litigation Futures, 4th September 2015
Source: www.litigationfutures.com
‘A Civil Justice Council (CJC) report has made 45 recommendations aimed at boosting the uptake of Damages-Based Agreements (DBAs), which were a key part of the Jackson reforms but whose use has been limited.’
Local Government Lawyer, 2nd September 2015
Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk
O’Brien v Shorrock and another [2015] EWHC 1630 (QB); [2015] WLR (D) 366
The obligation under paragraph 19.4 of the CPR Practice Direction 44, since amended, was to inform the other party, by the notice of funding, of the date when a conditional fee agreement with retrospective effect was made rather than the earlier date when it came into effect.
WLR Daily, 12th June 2015
Source: www.iclr.co.uk
‘A claim brought on behalf of two children hurt in an accident has thrown doubt on the use of success fees, and on the unintended consequences of scrapping legal aid in such cases.’
The Guardian, 21st August 2015
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
‘In 2009, the Claimant had been in the army and his role was as a HGV driver. He had been taking part in a field exercise in freezing weather and snow for six days having been provided with unsatisfactory footwear. The Claimant suffered a non-freezing cold injury to his feet. Despite treatment he still suffered symptoms in cold weather but was assessed as fit for service. The Claimant obtained an early termination of military service in 2011 because of family commitments. Due to the ongoing symptoms in his feet he issued a claim for damages against the MOD. Liability was agreed at 75% but the parties could not agree quantum.’
Zenith PI Blog, 31st July 2015
Source: www.zenithpi.wordpress.com
‘An Afghan suspect was detained illegally by British forces for almost four months and denied access to a lawyer, the court of appeal has ruled. Serdar Mohammed, who was captured by UK soldiers in April 2010, was not handed over to the Afghan security services until July that year, despite regulations requiring any transfer to take place within 96 hours. Mohammed, who was eventually released earlier this year to return to his home in Helmand province, claimed that the Afghan authorities tortured him.’
The Guardian, 30th July 2015
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
‘A High Court judge has decided that a council which ran a “fundamentally flawed” tender evaluation process should be required to pay the claimant damages rather award it the contract.’
Local Government Lawyer, 28th July 2015
Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk
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