Category: negligence

Rothwell v Chemical and Insulating Co Ltd and another; Topping v Bench Town Ltd (formerly Jones Bros Preston Ltd); Johnston v NEI International Combustion Ltd; Grieves v F T Everard & Sons Ltd and another – WLR Daily

Posted October 18th, 2007 in industrial injuries, law reports, negligence by sally

Rothwell v Chemical and Insulating Co Ltd and another; Topping v Bench Town Ltd (formerly Jones Bros Preston Ltd); Johnston v NEI International Combustion Ltd; Grieves v F T Everard & Sons Ltd and another [2007] UKHL 39

“A person who developed pleural plaques as a result of having been negligently exposed to asbestos in the course of his employment, could not sue his employers for negligence because the presence of pleural plaques did not constitute actionable damage. Although pleural plaques indicated the presence in the lungs and pleura of asbestos fibres which could cause other life-threatening diseases such as asbestosis or mesothelioma, the risk of future illness was not actionable, neither was a psychiatric illness caused by the contemplation of that risk, and those three factors could not be aggregated so as to give rise to a cause of action.”

WLR Daily, 17th October 2007

Source: www.lawreports.co.uk

Please note once a case has been fully reported in one of the ICLR series the corresponding WLR Daily summary is removed.

Bee v Jenson (No 2) – Times Law Reports

Posted October 17th, 2007 in damages, law reports, negligence by sally

Motorist can reclaim cost of hire car after accident

Bee v Jenson (No 2)

Court of Appeal

“A claimant whose car had been damaged by the defendant’s negligence could recover the reasonable cost of a replacement while his own car was being repaired even though the cost of that hire had been paid directly to the hire company by the claimant’s own insurers rather than by the claimant himself.”

The Times, 17th October 2007

Source: www.timesonline.co.uk

Please note the Times Law Reports are only available free on Times Online for 21 days from the date of publication.

Labour in crisis: staff shortages blamed for £665m payout in birth errors – The Independent

Posted October 8th, 2007 in birth, midwives, negligence, news by sally

“Childbirth is claimed to be safer than ever. Yet the price paid by the NHS for deliveries going catastrophically wrong has risen 59 per cent to £259m – enough to fund the consultants and midwives needed to save thousands of babies and mothers from harm.”

Full story

The Independent, 8th October 2007

Source: www.independent.co.uk

Police resign over knife murder – The Times

Posted October 8th, 2007 in negligence, news, police by sally

“Two police officers were forced to resign last night over their failure to investigate a knife attack on a young father who was later murdered by one of a gang of his tormentors.”

Full story

The Times, 6th October 2007

Source: www.timesonline.co.uk

Nationwide seeks £20m in law firm court case – The Times

Posted September 26th, 2007 in law firms, negligence, news by sally

“Nationwide, the building society, is suing Eversheds, one of the country’s largest law firms, for more than £20 million, claiming that it was given negligent advice on an allegedly fraudulent property deal.”

Full story

The Times, 26th September 2007

Source: www.timesonline.co.uk

New laws give shareholders more power to sue directors for negligence – The Times

Posted September 24th, 2007 in company directors, negligence, news by sally

“Disgruntled shareholders in Northern Rock and other troubled British companies looking to pin blame on senior management will receive a boost next month with the introduction of new laws making it easier to sue individual company directors. ”

Full story

The Times, 24th September 2007

Source: www.timesonline.co.uk

NHS is facing £4.5bn compensation bill over babies damaged at birth by hospital “blunders” – The Observer

Posted September 24th, 2007 in birth, compensation, doctors, midwives, negligence, news by sally

“The NHS is facing £4.5bn in compensation claims over alleged blunders by midwives and doctors that have left babies suffering severe brain damage, The Observer can reveal.”

Full story

The Observer, 23rd September 2007

Source: http://observer.guardian.co.uk/ 

HIV couple sue in British courts – BBC News

Posted September 4th, 2007 in blood products, HIV, negligence, news by sally

“A Cardiff couple infected with HIV via contaminated blood products are taking their fight to the British courts.”

Full story

BBC News, 3rd September 2007

Source: www.bbc.co.uk  

Government in dock as HIV couple sue US drug firms in blood scandal – The Guardian

Posted September 3rd, 2007 in blood products, HIV, negligence, news by sally

“Lawyers for a couple infected with HIV through contaminated blood products are hoping to reopen the issue of government responsibility for the scandal in the British courts.”

Full story

The Guardian, 3rd September 2007

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Veitch and Another v Avery – Times Law Reports

Posted August 29th, 2007 in law reports, negligence, solicitors by sally

Business doomed to failure

Veitch and Another v Avery

Court of Appeal

“Any loss caused by a solicitor’s negligence in wrongly advising his client that he was in default under a loan agreement with his bank was to be assessed on the date of the breach of duty. A claimant client who had no chance, on the facts, of trading himself out of his difficulties even had the solicitor not behaved negligently, was not entitled to more than nominal damages against the solicitor.”

The Times, 29th August 2007

Source: www.timesonline.co.uk  

Please note the Times Law Reports are only available free on Times Online for 21 days from the date of publication.

How should we assess the cost of lawyers’ mistakes? – The Times

Posted August 16th, 2007 in legal profession, negligence, special report by sally

“Is it right that courts still assume the worst of lawyers whose negligence has damaged a client’s cause of action?”

Full story

The Times, 15th August 2007

Source: www.timesonline.co.uk

Awoyomi v. Radford and Another – Times Law Reports

Posted July 23rd, 2007 in barristers, law reports, negligence, retrospectivity by sally

Loss of immunity from suit is retrospective

Awoyomi v. Radford and Another 

“The judicial decision that advocates did not have immunity from suit in acts concerned with the conduct of litigation had retrospective effect and advocates had ceased to enjoy immunity from suit by 1991.”

The Times, 23rd July 2007

Source: www.timesonline.co.uk

Please note the Times Law Reports are only available free in Times Online for 21 days from the date of publication.

Cadbury faces ‘unlimited’ fine in outbreak case – The Times

Posted July 16th, 2007 in consumer protection, food, negligence, news by sally

“Cadbury Schweppes will attempt this morning to temper a potential million-pound fine set to be levied upon the drinks and confectionery group as the case against the company for causing a national outbreak of salmonella reaches its conclusion.”

Full story

The Times, 16th July 2007

Source: www.timesonline.co.uk

Awoyomi v. Radford and another – WLR Daily

Posted July 16th, 2007 in barristers, law reports, negligence by sally

Awoyomi v. Radford and another [2007] EWHC 1671 

“The effect of the decision of the House of Lords in Arthur JS Hall & Co v Simons [2002] 1 AC 615 was that advocates had ceased to enjoy immunity from suit by 1991. The cause of action in respect of alleged negligence in 1995 had therefore accrued at that time and not at the date of the decision.”

WLR Daily, 12th July 2007

Source: www.lawreports.co.uk

Please note once a case has been fully reported in one of the ICLR series the corresponding WLR Daily summary is removed.

Mother wins damages over smothered daughter – The Times

Posted July 10th, 2007 in hospitals, negligence, news by sally

“A grieving woman has urged midwives not to leave newborn babies in bed with their mothers after she fell asleep as a result of an anaesthetic and accidentally suffocated her daughter. Catherine Wrigley, 36, has been awarded an estimated £20,000 in damages after staff at St Peter’s Hospital, in Chertsey, Surrey, were found to have been negligent in leaving her alone with her daughter, Nancy, after delivery by Caesarean section.”

Full story

 The Times, 10th July 2007

Source: www.timesonline.co.uk

Family will sue after daughter’s nursery death ruled unlawful – The Times

Posted July 6th, 2007 in children, homicide, negligence, news by sally

“The death of a 16-month-old girl at a nursery was the result of negligence so serious that it amounted to manslaughter, an inquest jury ruled yesterday.”

Full story

The Times, 6th July 2007

Source: www.timesonline.co.uk

Eyres v. Atkinsons Kitchens and Bedrooms Ltd. – Times Law Reports

Posted May 21st, 2007 in law reports, negligence by sally

Micro-sleep cause of accident

Eyres v. Atkinsons Kitchen and Bedrooms Ltd. 

Court of Appeal

“A kitchen fitter who suffered serious injuries in crashing his employer’s van caused by a micro-sleep after being awake for 19 hours would be one third responsible for the accident.”

The Times, 21st May 2007

Source: www.timesonline.co.uk

Please note the Times Law Reports are only available free on Times Online for 21 days from the date of publication.

Denfleet International Ltd. v TNT Global SPA – Times Law Reports

Posted May 11th, 2007 in law reports, negligence by sally

Negligence need not be wilful

Denfleet International Ltd. v. TNT Global SPA 

Court of Appeal 

“A finding of wilful misconduct was not supported when there was no evidence other than that a professional lorry driver had fallen asleep at the wheel.”

The Times, 11th May 2007

Source: www.timesonline.co.uk

Please note the Times Law Reports are only available free on Times Online for 21 days from the date of publication.