PI solicitor struck off for “stupid” decision to forge client’s signature – Legal Futures

‘An experienced personal injury solicitor who forged his client’s signature on two court documents to progress her case “acted stupidly” and had to be struck off, a tribunal has decided.’

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Legal Futures, 28th August 2020

Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk

Judge lashes out at “shameful drivel” produced in RTA claims – Litigation Futures

‘A deputy district judge lambasted law firms’ approach to low-value road traffic claims, describing them as “drivel” and saying “they are mostly prepared in a way which makes me ashamed of our profession”.’

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Litigation Futures, 28th August 2020

Source: www.litigationfutures.com

An Introduction to Ogden 8 – Ropewalk Chambers

Posted August 28th, 2020 in accidents, chambers articles, compensation, damages, news, personal injuries by sally

‘On 17th July 2020, the Ogden Working Party published the 8th Edition of the Ogden Tables, the first new edition
in almost a decade and the first under a new Chairman, William Latimer-Sayer QC.’

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Ropewalk Chambers, 18th August 2020

Source: www.ropewalk.co.uk

Courts cannot critique “uncontroverted” expert reports – Litigation Futures

‘It is not the role of the courts to subject “uncontroverted” expert reports to “the same kind of analysis and critique as if it was evaluating a controverted or contested report”, the High Court has ruled.’

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Litigation Futures, 25th August 2020

Source: www.litigationfutures.com

“Unconscionable” for defendant to benefit from portal mistake – Litigation Futures

Posted August 25th, 2020 in accidents, compensation, mistake, news, personal injuries, road traffic, small claims by sally

‘The overriding objective means that defendants can be prevented from taking advantage of claimant errors to achieve lower settlements in RTA portal cases, a judge has ruled.’

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Litigation Futures, 24th August 2020

Source: www.litigationfutures.com

Steep fall in injury claims during lockdown – Litigation Futures

‘There was a 38% fall in the number of injury claims registered with the Compensation Recovery Unit (CRU) during the first three months of lockdown, government figures have confirmed.’

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Litigation Futures, 20th August 2020

Source: www.litigationfutures.com

PI Fraud: when silence can be FD – Park Square Barristers

‘On appeal, a High Court judge reversed the finding that a claimant was not fundamentally dishonest due to inconsistencies in the longevity of his injuries and the non-disclosure of a subsequent road traffic accident to a medical expert (“the deafening silences”). On this basis, the claimant was found to be fundamentally dishonest pursuant to s.57 Criminal Justice and Courts Act 2015 and was consequently ordered to pay 70% of the defendant insurer’s costs. Matthew Smith, co-founder of the PSQB fraud team, was instructed on behalf of the successful appellant insurer.’

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Park Square Barristers, 3rd August 2020

Source: www.parksquarebarristers.co.uk

High Court overturns ruling that claimant was not fundamentally dishonest – Litigation Futures

Posted August 11th, 2020 in accidents, costs, evidence, news, personal injuries, road traffic by sally

‘The High Court has overturned a ruling that a claimant who defeated an argument that a car accident he was involved in was bogus, but lied about his injuries, was not fundamentally dishonest.’

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Litigation Futures, 11th August 2020

Source: www.litigationfutures.com

High Court: Counsel’s fee for ex-protocol cases not fixed – Litigation Futures

Posted August 10th, 2020 in barristers, civil procedure rules, costs, fees, news, personal injuries, valuation by sally

‘Counsel’s fees for valuing claims which fall out of the personal injury protocols are not subject to fixed costs, the High Court has ruled.’

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Litigation Futures, 10th August 2020

Source: www.litigationfutures.com

Claimant ordered to pay defence costs after fundamental dishonesty finding – Law Society’s Gazette

Posted August 5th, 2020 in appeals, compensation, costs, damages, deceit, indemnities, news, personal injuries by sally

‘The High Court has reversed a costs order on appeal after a successful defendant had initially been forced to pay most of the losing claimant’s costs.’

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Law Society's Gazette, 1st August 2020

Source: www.lawgazette.co.uk

Council charged over death of girl, 5, killed by playground swing faces £2m legal bill – Daily Telegraph

‘A council has reportedly been charged over the death of a five-year-old girl who was killed by a rotting playground swing, and faces a potential £2m legal bill.’

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Daily Telegraph, 4th August 2020

Source: www.telegraph.co.uk

Court rules £2.2m claim was abuse of process but will live on – Law Society’s Gazette

‘The Court of Appeal has overturned a decision to strike out a £2.2m personal injury claim, despite concluding it was issued inappropriately and there had been an abuse of process.’

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Law Society's Gazette, 4th August 2020

Source: www.lawgazette.co.uk

CA reinstates £2.6m that languished in RTA portal for four years – Litigation Futures

‘The Court of Appeal has overturned a decision to strike out a £2.6m personal injury claim which remained in the RTA portal for almost four years before the claimant’s solicitors sought to transfer it to the multi-track.’

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Litigation Futures, 4th August 2020

Source: www.litigationfutures.com

Personal injury claim numbers continue to fall – Litigation Futures

Posted July 22nd, 2020 in compensation, news, personal injuries, statistics by sally

‘The number of personal injury claims registered with the Compensation Recovery Unit (CRU) fell over the last year to the lowest point in a decade, newly published figures have shown.’

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Litigation Futures, 22nd July 2020

Source: www.litigationfutures.com

Covid-19 will have “major impact” on £700m medico-legal market – Litigation Futures

‘The medico-legal and insurance services (MLIS) market had an estimated turnover of £700m last year but the coronavirus will have a “major impact”, a report has warned.’

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Litigation Futures, 16th July 2020

Source: www.litigationfutures.com

Family of man Tasered in his home consider suing Met police – The Guardian

Posted July 17th, 2020 in firearms, news, ombudsmen, personal injuries, police, professional conduct by sally

‘The family of a man Tasered in his own home are considering suing Scotland Yard after the police watchdog said it had not exonerated officers involved in the case – despite the Metropolitan police claiming it had done so.’

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The Guardian, 16th July 2020

Source: www.theguardian.com

Protected parties, anonymity orders and clinical negligence; PQ (a child by her litigation friend) v Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust [2020] EWHC 1662 (QB) – Parklane Plowden Chambers

‘In PQ (a child, by her litigation friend) v Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust, Martin Spencer J was required to rule on an application that the identity of the Claimant and her family be anonymised, for the purposes of a liability-only clinical negligence trial. Although only a short, first-instance decision, the case effectively makes anonymisation orders in such circumstances all but inevitable.’

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Parklane Plowden Chambers, 30th June 2020

Source: www.parklaneplowden.co.uk

PI lawyers and insurers expect dip in RTA claims – Litigation Futures

‘Personal injury (PI) law firms and insurers expect a dip in workload over the next six months as a result of Covid-19 but expect the market to have recovered by the end of 2021, a survey has suggested.’

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Litigation Futures, 10th July 2020

Source: www.litigationfutures.com

Evans v Betesh Partnership and McGinty [2020] EWHC 1589 (QB) – Parklane Plowden Chambers

‘High Court decision (24/06/20) concerning solicitor/barrister professional negligence arising out of a personal injury case.’

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Parklane Plowden Chambers, 24th June 2020

Source: www.parklaneplowden.co.uk

Toby Chaplin (by his mother and litigation friend, Diane Chaplin) v Ben Pistol, Allianz Insurance Plc [2020] EWHC 1543 (QB),2020 WL 03254432 – No. 5 Chambers

‘At 28, the Claimant had acquired a traumatic brain injury and been rendered tetraplegic in an accident caused by the negligent driving of the Defendant. The case came before Master Eastman in July 2019 for case management. At that stage, it was common ground between the experts in neurology for each party that the Claimant’s injuries had significantly reduced his life expectancy. However, they disagreed as to the extent of the reduction, Dr Liu for the Claimant estimating that his life expectancy to be 30-35% of normal; Professor Collin for the Defendant adopting a figure of 30-44% of normal. There were also differences in the experts’ approach to available statistics. Whilst the range of figures adopted by each expert were not far apart and it was likely that the Claimant’s care costs would by awarded by way of a PPO, it was nonetheless accepted that the difference between the parties translated to a 7-figure sum. At the CMC before Master Eastman in July 2019, the Defendant’s application for permission to rely on a report, from medical statisticians on the issue of the Claimant’s life expectancy, was dismissed on the basis that neither party’s neurology expert deferred to evidence from a statistician to assist them in determining the Claimant’s life-expectancy and such evidence would not add to their existing analysis of the available statistics. The Defendant did not appeal.’

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No. 5 Chambers, 22nd June 2020

Source: www.no5.com