No duty of care to disclose to pregnant daughter father’s genetic disease – High Court – UK Human Rights Blog

‘In short, in 2007 the claimant’s father (‘F’) shot and killed the claimant’s mother. He was convicted of manslaughter on grounds of diminished responsibility and detained at a hospital run by the second defendant. In 2009 St George’s Hospital diagnosed him as suffering from Huntington’s disease.’

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UK Human Rights Blog, 20th May 2015

Source: www.ukhumanrightsblog.com

Student restrained by police died from neglect, inquest finds – The Guardian

‘A student who was detained under the Mental Health Act died as a result of neglect by police officers and ambulance staff who forcibly restrained him and left him handcuffed for hours on a hospital floor, an inquest jury has found.’

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The Guardian, 15th May 2015

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Boy who suffered brain damage due to Harrogate hospital failings to get £10m – The Guardian

Posted May 15th, 2015 in birth, compensation, hospitals, negligence, news, personal injuries by sally

‘A six-year-old boy with cerebral palsy is to receive a £10m care and rehabilitation package from Harrogate and district NHS foundation trust after it admitted failing to provide proper care during his birth that resulted in devastating neurological injuries.’

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The Guardian, 14th May 2015

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Priestley v Dunbar and Co – Zenith PI

Posted May 13th, 2015 in appeals, delay, negligence, news, setting aside by sally

‘Denton and Delay: to what extent should delay impact upon an application to set aside judgment?’

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Zenith PI, 13th May 2015

Source: www.zenithpi.wordpress.com

Chorister awarded £30,000 for damage to her voice – Daily Telegraph

Posted May 12th, 2015 in damages, health, hospitals, medical treatment, negligence, news by sally

‘A pensioner left with a “weak, husky and painful” voice which rendered her unable to sing in a church choir after a botched NHS operation has been awarded £35,000 damages.’

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Daily Telegraph, 11th May 2015

Source: www.telegraph.co.uk

Participation in an illegal joint enterprise is not a bar to recovery in a claim for personal injury – Zenith PI Blog

‘Personal injury arises out of criminal acts as well as legal ones. The good news is this is not a bar to recovery.’

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Zenith PI Blog, 8th May 2015

Source: www.zenithpi.wordpress.com

Jackson: Lawyers must say “bluntly” if claim has no prospect of success – Litigation Futures

Posted May 11th, 2015 in law firms, limitations, negligence, news, personal injuries by sally

‘Lord Justice Jackson has dismissed a negligence claim against Veale Wasbrough, now national firm Veale Wasbrough Vizards, and the barrister it instructed to advise on a personal injury case.’
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Litigation Futures, 11th May 2015

Source: www.litigationfutures.com

Salford Royal Hospital: Woman awarded £8m after NHS blunder – BBC News

‘A pregnant woman left brain damaged after her heart was accidentally punctured during an NHS operation has won an £8m compensation pay-out.’

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BBC News, 5th May 2015

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

The Professions: Power, Privilege and Legal Liability – Speech by Lord Justice Jackson

Posted April 30th, 2015 in legal profession, negligence, news, professional conduct, speeches by sally

The Professions: Power, Privilege and Legal Liability (PDF)

Speech by Lord Justice Jackson

Professional Negligence Bar Association, 21st April 2015

Source: www.judiciary.gov.uk

McCracken (a protected party by his litigation friend) v Smith (Damian) and others – WLR Daily

McCracken (a protected party by his litigation friend) v Smith (Damian) and others [2015] EWCA Civ 380; [2015] WLR (D) 183

‘Where a claimant’s injury had two separate causes, one of which was his own criminal conduct in a joint enterprise with another, amounting to turpitude for the purposes of the defence of ex turpi causa, and one of which was a third party’s negligence, the relationship between the claimant’s turpitude and his negligence claim against the third party was not such as to debar his claim against the defendant in reliance on the principle of ex turpi causa. The correct approach of the court in such cases was to give effect to both causes of the injury by allowing the claimant to claim in negligence against the third party but, if negligence was established, by reducing any recoverable damages in accordance with the principles of contributory negligence so as to reflect the claimant’s own fault and responsibility for the injury.’

WLR Daily, 22nd April 2015

Source: www.iclr.co.uk

Review of Costs Budgeting Process by Jackson LJ – Zenith Chambers

Posted April 29th, 2015 in budgets, costs, negligence, news, personal injuries, telephone hearings by sally

‘Following the introduction of costs budgeting as part of his wide-ranging package of civil justice reforms, Jackson LJ is now undertaking a review of the process.’

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Zenith Chambers, 20th April 2015

Source: www.zenithchambers.co.uk

Jackson: ‘Professional negligence’ could disappear as attitudes to professionals change – Legal Futures

Posted April 28th, 2015 in negligence, news, professional conduct, speeches by sally

‘Professional negligence as a discrete body of law could disappear if restrictions on the liability of professionals continue to be swept aside as social attitudes towards them also change, Lord Justice Jackson has predicted.’

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Legal Futures, 28th April 2015

Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk

Current Issues in Cerebral Palsy & Brain Injury Claims – Cloisters

Posted April 21st, 2015 in birth, hospitals, negligence, news, personal injuries by sally

‘This is the legal round up slot. There have been a number of interesting first instance cerebral palsy cases reported in 2014/15. The most interesting of which are Tippett v Guy’s & St Thomas’ Hospital NHS Foundation Trust [2014] EWHC 917 (QB) and Baynham v Royal Wolverhampton Hospitals NHS Trust [2014] EWHC. I am going to focus on these two cases.’

Full story (PDF)

Cloisters, 9th April 2015

Source: www.cloisters.com

Jackson has mercy on claimant whose damages were wiped out by “swingeing” costs order – Litigation Futures

Posted April 21st, 2015 in appeals, costs, damages, misrepresentation, negligence, news by sally

‘Lord Justice Jackson has shown his merciful side in overturning a “swingeing” costs order which would have wiped out the £75,000 damages won by the claimant in a housing case.’

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Litigation Futures, 21st April 2015

Source: www.litigationfutures.com

Consent to treatment – Hailsham Chambers

Posted April 20th, 2015 in codes of practice, consent, disclosure, doctors, medical treatment, negligence, news by sally

‘Medicine is a changing field, and the way it is practised is in many ways unrecognisable today from 30 years ago. Diagnostic techniques have improved. The technology is better. New drugs come onto the market. Patients are better informed. Less and less are patients inclined to take the stance that “doctor knows best”. There is a plethora of information available through the internet enabling patients to obtain information about symptoms, investigations, treatment options, risks and side-effects; there are patient support groups; healthcare institutions issue leaflets; pharmaceutical products are labelled and contain data sheets intended to give the public information, including in relation to risks; there is a constant raising of awareness of medical accidents and perceived inadequacies of healthcare provision through the media including social media. Whistle-blowing legislation protects those within the health service who wish to remove the veil from poor standards in hospital. And there have been some high-profile inquiries and reports which have revealed severely substandard practice in some places, two obvious examples being North Staffordshire and Morecambe Bay. The result is that the person who walks through the door of a consulting room today is likely to be very different to the person who walked in 30 years ago: better informed, cannier, more suspicious perhaps, more demanding, less resigned.’

Full story (PDF)

Hailsham Chambers, 26th March 2015

Source: www.hailshamchambers.com

Key highlights from record-breaking court awarded clinical negligence trial – Cloisters

‘William Latimer-Sayer highlights some points arising out of the record-breaking award in Robshaw v United Lincolnshire Hospitals NHS Trust [2015] EWHC 923 (QB).’

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Cloisters, 10th April 2015

Source: www.cloisters.com

Birdseye and another v Roythorne & Co and others – WLR Daily

Birdseye and another v Roythorne & Co and others [2015] EWHC 1003 (Ch); [2015] WLR (D) 169

‘It remained the case that a person had to establish as a prima facie case that he was a beneficiary before there could be any question of the court requiring a trustee or executor to disclose documents which would be protected by privilege if the applicant were not a beneficiary.’

WLR Daily, 15th April 2015

Source: www.iclr.co.uk

Legal professional privilege was waived, High Court rules in probate dispute – Litigation Futures

Posted April 17th, 2015 in legal profession, negligence, news, privilege, striking out by sally

‘The High Court has rejected an application to strike out part of a negligence claim on the grounds that they referred to matters protected by legal professional privilege.’

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Litigation Futures, 16th April 2015

Source: www.litigationfutures.com

Government accepts case to exempt lawyers from ‘groundless threats’ laws – Legal Futures

‘Lawyers who act on instructions in threatening potential intellectual property infringers with action are to be exempt from being sued when the threat turns out to be groundless, after the government recently gave the go-ahead for law reforms.’

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Legal Futures, 13th April 2015

Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk

Life Expectancy, Expert Evidence, the Strauss Tables and the Relevance of the Quality of Care: Detailed Consideration by the High Court – Zenith PI Blog

‘This Blog has already looked at the case of Robshaw -v- United Lincolnshire Hospital NHS Trust [2015] EWHC 923 (QB) in the context of judicial consideration of the basic principles of the law of damages. However the judgment of Mr Justice Foskett also contains some important observations in relation to life expectancy. In particular the approach to be taken when dealing with evidence from experts and statistical analysis.’

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Zenith PI Blog, 12th April 2015

Source: www.zenithpi.wordpress.com