‘In the landmark decision in Jet2 Holidays Limited v Hughes & Hughes [2019] EWCA Civ 1858, the Court of Appeal (Sir Terence Etherton MR, Hamblen and Flaux LJJ) confirmed that the High Court has jurisdiction to commit for contempt of court in respect of false witness statements made under a pre-action protocol (PAP) even though proceedings were never issued.’
Law Society's Gazette, 13th January 2020
Source: www.lawgazette.co.uk
‘Personal injury analysis: Convincing telematics evidence, coupled with evidence of social media links between the claimant and defendant, was sufficient for a road traffic accident claim to be dismissed and findings of fundamental dishonesty to be made against both the claimant and first defendant. Fundamental dishonesty will be pursued by an insurance company even if the finding is made against their own insured. Emily Formby discusses the case for Lexis PSL.’
39 Essex Chambers, 7th January 2020
Source: www.39essex.com
‘The Association of British Insurers (ABI) has decided not to launch judicial review proceedings over the previous government’s decision to raise the discount rate, but only to -0.25%.’
Litigation Futures, 17th December 2019
Source: www.litigationfutures.com
‘A disabled woman has been awarded £5,000 in an out-of-court settlement after being called a “lying bitch” by a welfare official in formal legal papers after challenging a decision to cut her disability benefits.’
The Guardian, 12th December 2019
Source: www.theguardian.com
‘A solicitor who spent £46,600 of a disabled client’s interim payments on costs and disbursements instead of on rehabilitation, has been fined £50,000 by the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal (SDT).’
Legal Futures, 13th December 2019
Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk
‘The High Court has allowed a claimant to recover costs outside the personal injury protocol after they upped the value of the claim from £5,000 to more than £25,000. In the process, a deputy master rejected the defendant’s application that claimant solicitors effectively misled the court about the claim’s true value.’
Law Society's Gazette, 10th December 2019
Source: www.lawgazette.co.uk
‘A partner who said she felt “threatened and intimidated” by clients who would not accept her advice to discontinue has been struck off for lying about the progress of their cases.’
Legal Futures, 9th December 2019
Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk
‘The average time between a small claim being issued and going to trial continues to spiral upwards ahead of the reforms which will send hundreds of thousands of personal injury claims into the system.’
Litigation Futures, 6th December 2019
Source: www.litigationfutures.com
‘Hampshire County Council has been fined £1.4m after a six-year-old girl playing on an unsecured street bollard suffered a life-changing head injury.’
Local Government Lawyer, 5th December 2019
Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk
‘On 21 January 2014, a road traffic accident took place in Milton Keynes (liability having been conceded). The Claimant’s (hereinafter referred to as “C”) Honda Jazz was struck from behind by a Fiat Punto; there are 3 defendants (referred to collectively as “D”).’
3PB, 4th November 2019
Source: www.3pb.co.uk
‘A claim relating to an unlawful trespass to the Claimant’s person that occurred on 26 October 2014. During the course of their work, three sub-contractors engaged on a construction site by First Defendant, namely the Claimant, Kieran Fowler and Alan Fowler, became involved in an argument concerning their work. The incident started as verbal argument on a scaffold and culminated a few minutes later (off the scaffold) with Kieran Fowler striking the Claimant violently over the head with a scaffolding pole. As a result, the Claimant sustained a right-sided subdural haemorrhage, a subarachnoid haemorrhage, and extensive skull fractures. Following the incident Kieran Fowler was convicted of causing Grievous Bodily Harm and sentenced to 12 years in prison. The Claimant’s case was that the First Defendant were vicariously liable for the actions of Kieran Fowler. The Second Defendant was the insurer of the First Defendant.’
12 King's Bench Walk, 20th November 2019
Source: www.12kbw.co.uk
‘The Supreme Court has delivered another significant Judgment arising from the handling of the VWF litigation against British Coal.’
Parklane Plowden Chambers, 20th November 2019
Source: www.parklaneplowden.co.uk
‘The Judgment in Wickes Building Supplies Ltd v William Gerarde Blair [2019] EWCA CIV 1934 focused on the procedure to be followed if a claimant seeks to rely on evidence served out of time when following the stage 3 procedure.’
Parklane Plowden Chambers, 21st November 2019
Source: www.parklaneplowden.co.uk
‘In a unanimous judgment, the Supreme Court has dismissed an appeal by a firm of solicitors in relation to a professional negligence claim concerning alleged under-settlement of a coal miner’s personal injury claim in 2003. The Supreme Court found that, since medical evidence of the nature subsequently obtained in the context of the professional negligence claim would not have been obtained in 2003, it should not be admissible when assessing the extent of the Claimant’s loss in the professional negligence claim. In reaching its decision, and unlike the Court of Appeal, it did not give its general views on the admissibility of evidence that would not have been available at the time of the original underlying claim.’
UKSC Blog, 26th November 2019
Source: ukscblog.com
‘This appeal and cross appeal were about a road traffic accident that the Defendant alleged had been staged. Ultimately, the Defendant succeeded in demonstrating that the Claimant had presented a claim that was fundamentally dishonest, albeit that the Court found that his dishonesty related to quantum rather than liability.’
St John's Buildings, 5th November 2019
Source: stjohnsbuildings.com
‘Personal Injury analysis: Where the personal injury aspect of a claim had resulted in the case being allocated to the fast track, the claimant was awarded costs to be assessed on the normal fixed costs basis under CPR 45.29B. The decision offers a useful affirmation of the default costs rules that will be applied by the courts in fast track claims. Colm Nugent, barrister at Hardwicke Chambers, discusses this case.’
Hardwicke Chambers, 12th November 2019
Source: hardwicke.co.uk
‘The Claimant, Mr Blair, suffered an accident at work resulting in personal injury. He submitted an EL1 Claims Notification Form, following Stage 1 of the MOJ Protocol for Low Value Employers’ Liability Claims. Liability was admitted. The parties thereafter unsuccessfully attempted to agree damages as part of Stage 2 of the Protocol and the case moved to Stage 3.’
Park Square Barristers, 19th November 2019
Source: www.parksquarebarristers.co.uk
‘The Court of Appeal has allowed a holiday company to bring contempt proceedings against two holiday-makers based on statements made before proceedings were even issued.’
Law Society's Gazette, 14th November 2019
Source: www.lawgazette.co.uk
‘The government has pledged to set up a statutory compensation scheme for people making personal injury claims against failed holiday company Thomas Cook after it emerged the firm mainly self-insured them.’
Litigation Futures, 7th November 2019
Source: www.litigationfutures.com
‘The recently decided appeal of Mansur Haider v DSM Demolition Ltd [2019] EWHC 2712 (QB), is an interesting case and will be useful to practitioners who deal with road traffic matters, both on the finding in respect of liability and the finding of fundamental dishonesty.’
Park Square Barristers, 31st October 2019
Source: www.parksquarebarristers.co.uk
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