PI industry protocol aims to prevent Covid-19 game-playing – Litigation Futures

‘A protocol aimed at cutting out opportunistic tactics by either claimants or defendants in personal injury (PI) cases during the Covid-19 pandemic has been unveiled by leading claimant firm Thompsons and the Association of British Insurers (ABI).’

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Litigation Futures, 25th March 2020

Source: www.litigationfutures.com

Paralegal banned for settling PI claim without authority – Litigation Futures

‘A personal injury paralegal who settled his client’s claim without her authority for less than counsel had advised, and then misled her into retrospectively agreeing, has been banned from the profession.’

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Litigation Futures, 20th March 2020

Source: www.litigationfutures.com

When Ignorance is bliss for a protected party – Byrom Street Chambers

‘Darrel Crilley provides his views on what is becoming known as an EXB Order. For certain clients who lack capacity, whether that lack of capacity arises from a brain injury, psychiatric illness or some synergistic combination of the two, it has been identified that their best interests can be served by them not knowing the quantum and constituent parts of a settlement reached on their behalf.’

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Byrom Street Chambers, 9th March 2020

Source: www.byromstreet.com

No whiplash rules until May as clock ticks down to launch – Legal Fututes

‘Personal injury law firms and insurers look unlikely to have sight of the new rules governing the whiplash portal until May as they were not signed off at this month’s meeting of the Civil Procedure Rule Committee (CPRC), it has emerged.’

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Legal Futures, 17th March 2020

Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk

Dishonesty “doesn’t need to persist” to be fundamental – Litigation Futures

Posted March 16th, 2020 in accidents, compensation, damages, deceit, news, personal injuries by sally

‘A recorder was wrong to find that a personal injury claimant was not fundamentally dishonest because he did not persist with his dishonesty, the High Court has decided.’

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Litigation Futures, 16th March 2020

Source: www.litigationfutures.com

Defendant sentenced after being caught on CCTV injuring himself to claim against housing association – Local Government Lawyer

‘A man has been sentenced after CCTV caught him purposely banging his knee five times on a paving stone in order to make a fake injury claim against a housing association.’

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Local Government Lawyer, 10th March 2020

Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk

MoJ: Three months is enough to prepare for whiplash reforms – Legal Futures

‘Three months should be enough time for personal injury law firms and defendant insurers to be ready for the whiplash reforms, the government official leading the work said yesterday.’

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Legal Futures, 3rd March 2020

Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk

Supreme Court refuses MIB permission to appeal in landmark case establishing liability for accidents on private land – Exchange Chambers

‘On 13.2.20 the Supreme Court (Lord Reed (President), Lady Arden and Lord Hamblen JJSC) refused the MIB’s application for permission to appeal against a finding that it was directly liable under EU law for injuries sustained by a pedestrian who was struck by an uninsured vehicle on private land. At the same time, it concluded that it was not necessary to refer the case for any ruling by the Court of Justice of the European Union. As a result, David Knifton QC (who acted for the Claimant) explains, the MIB has exhausted all avenues of appeal, and will have to meet Mr Lewis’s claim for the catastrophic injuries he suffered.’

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Exchange Chambers, 20th February 2020

Source: www.exchangechambers.co.uk

County Court considers costs rules in personal injury case (Khan v Aviva Insurance Ltd) – Hardwicke Chambers

Posted March 3rd, 2020 in civil procedure rules, costs, county courts, damages, news, personal injuries by sally

‘Practitioners will be familiar with cases where costs are assessed according to the principles applicable in different tracks. In such circumstances, Khan v Aviva is of practical assistance by reaffirming the court’s general discretion to award issue-based costs, despite the presence of more restrictive costs regimes. The case therefore provides a helpful route to resisting adverse costs orders.’

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Hardwicke Chambers, 21st February 2020

Source: hardwicke.co.uk

Claimant who exited portal by error avoids fixed costs – Litigation Futures

Posted February 28th, 2020 in accidents, civil procedure rules, compensation, costs, news, personal injuries by tracey

‘A costs judge was entitled to find that a case that erroneously exited the portal would have done so legitimately at some stage and so the claimant was entitled to regular, rather than fixed, costs, the High Court has ruled.’

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Litigation Futures, 27th February 2020

Source: www.litigationfutures.com

Whiplash reforms delayed as MoJ removes claimants’ safety net – Law Society’s Gazette

‘Justice secretary Robert Buckland QC MP has finally confirmed that the RTA portal for whiplash claims is being delayed.’

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Law Society's Gazette, 27th February 2020

Source: www.lawgazette.co.uk

Roundheads and Cavaliers – Ropewalk Chambers

‘One issue that arises from time to time in personal injury litigation is the question of whether an injured claimant must look to the tenant or landlord of premises where she sustained her injury in order to seek redress through a personal injury claim.’

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Ropewalk Chambers, February 2020

Source: www.ropewalk.co.uk

Cyclist settles case for £30,000 after hitting pedestrian who was looking at phone – The Guardian

Posted February 25th, 2020 in bicycles, compensation, costs, news, personal injuries by sally

‘A cyclist who knocked over a woman who was looking at her mobile phone while crossing a road and was then threatened with financially ruinous legal costs has settled the case.’

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The Guardian, 24th February 2020

Source: www.theguardian.com

Parties can contract out of fixed costs regime – Litigation Futures

Posted February 24th, 2020 in accidents, compensation, costs, news, personal injuries by sally

‘Parties can agree to contract out of fixed costs, a regional costs judge has ruled.’

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Litigation Futures, 24th February 2020

Source: www.litigationfutures.com

Out of the Ordinary: Rob Hunter and Bethany Sanders on the Courts’ Approach to Life Expectancy Evidence – Devereux Chambers

Posted February 21st, 2020 in chambers articles, damages, expert witnesses, news, personal injuries by sally

‘In this December article for Personal Injury Focus, Devereux’s Rob Hunter and Bethany Sanders of Leigh Day explore the complexity of life expectancy evidence, providing background, comment, and practice advice on the issue.’

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Devereux Chambers, 14th February 2020

Source: www.devereuxchambers.co.uk

Pitfalls in Clinical Negligence Claims: A Case Study – Hailsham Chambers

‘On 18 December 2019, Her Honour Judge Melissa Clarke, the Designated Civil Judge sitting at Oxford Combined Court, handed down judgment in Docherty v Oxford University Hospitals NHS Trust (Unreported, 25, 26 & 27 November 2019). This was a clinical negligence claim in which the Claimant made various allegations in respect of her immediate post-natal care which led to her sustaining a serious ankle injury when she fainted due to anaemia caused by blood lost during an instrumental delivery the previous morning.’

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Hailsham Chambers, 13th February 2020

Source: www.hailshamchambers.com

QOCS rule to change but not in relation to Tomlin orders – Litigation Futures

Posted February 18th, 2020 in civil procedure rules, costs, news, personal injuries by sally

‘An urgently needed amendment to the rules on qualified one-way costs shifting (QOCS) in so-called mixed claims will come into force in the coming weeks, the Civil Procedure Rule Committee (CPRC) has decided.’

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Litigation Futures, 18th February 2020

Source: www.litigationfutures.com

Claimant who sued over pothole injury given suspended sentence after evidence of extreme sports participation – Local Government Lawyer

‘Walsall Council has successfully prosecuted a man who falsely claimed significant compensation following an injury when falling in a pothole.’

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Local Government Lawyer, 17th February 2020

Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk

Clinical negligence and PI costs – Law Society’s Gazette

Posted February 17th, 2020 in civil procedure rules, compensation, costs, delay, negligence, news, personal injuries by sally

‘Following the decision in I v Hull & East Yorkshire Hospitals NHS Trust (25 February 2019), applications for a further interim payment on account of costs have become common in high-value clinical negligence and personal injury claims where there is likely to be substantial delay before quantum can be determined by the court. In the recent decision in RXK v Hampshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust [2019] EWHC 2751 (QB), Master Cook observed that there was no decision of the High Court on the principle of whether such applications are well founded and have an adequate judicial basis in the rules and/or the authorities. Thus, the master took the opportunity in RXK to provide guidance ‘in the hope that such applications would be better prepared in future’.’

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Law Society's Gazette, 17th February 2020

Source: www.lawgazette.co.uk

MoJ rules out any major changes to bereavement damages system – Law Society’s Gazette

Posted February 13th, 2020 in accidents, bereavement, damages, news, personal injuries by tracey

‘The government has confirmed it has no plans to look more widely at the system for awarding bereavement damages to relatives.’

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Law Society's Gazette, 13th February 2020

Source: www.lawgazette.co.uk