Category: personal injuries

Gavin Edmondson Ltd v Haven Insurance Co Ltd – WLR Daily

Posted December 9th, 2015 in accidents, appeals, costs, fees, law reports, personal injuries, pre-action conduct, road traffic, solicitors by sally

Gavin Edmondson Ltd v Haven Insurance Co Ltd [2015] EWCA Civ 1230; [2015] WLR (D) 496

‘A solicitors firm which had concluded conditional fee agreements with road traffic victims and had entered those details in accordance with the Pre-action Protocol for Low Value Personal Injury Claims in Road Traffic Accidents on the website used by lawyers and insurers in such circumstances was entitled, when the claimants settled their personal injury claims directly with the defendants’ insurers, to recover the fixed costs and other sums payable under the Protocol scheme.’

WLR Daily, 2nd December 2015

Source: www.iclr.co.uk

Serious Personal Injury Litigation – A Quantum Update – Byrom Chambers

Posted December 9th, 2015 in bills, carers, compensation, damages, hospitals, negligence, news, personal injuries, remuneration by sally

‘We are now bombarded with case reports by email and over the Internet. The reporting of 1st instance quantum decisions used to be a comparative rarity before 1992 and the PIQR. Even then there was a time lag in publication and many decisions were never covered. On one level, we are immensely fortunate now to be able to discern how the best counsel and 1st instance judges set about their respective tasks in serious personal injuries litigation; but with that opportunity comes the obligation on the serious practitioner to take the time really to get to grips with the lengthy judgments. It is not easy. This paper, evolving since the autumn of 2007, is an exercise in the on-going fulfilment of that obligation.’

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Byrom Chambers, 7th December 2015

Source: www.byromstreet.com

Professional negligence warning over PI, commercial and family work – Legal Futures

Posted December 8th, 2015 in law firms, negligence, news, personal injuries, reports by sally

‘Personal injury, commercial and family work will all fuel negligence claims against lawyers, insurance specialist BLM has warned in a white paper.’

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Legal Futures, 8th December 2015

Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk

SRA to research competence of personal injury lawyers – Legal Futures

Posted December 4th, 2015 in news, personal injuries, quality assurance, solicitors, Solicitors Regulation Authority by tracey

‘The Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) is to launch a research project on the “competence” of personal injury lawyers, it has emerged.’

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Legal Futures, 4th December 2015

Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk

Autumn Statement: £5k small claims limit and end to general damages in whiplash – Legal Futures

Posted November 26th, 2015 in budgets, courts, damages, news, personal injuries, small claims by tracey

‘The government is set to remove the right to general damages for minor soft tissue injuries and increase the small claims limit for personal injury claims from £1,000 to £5,000, it was announced in the Autumn Statement today.’

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Legal Futures, 25th November 2015

Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk

Legal profession welcomes unbundling decision – Law Society’s Gazette

Posted November 25th, 2015 in appeals, budgets, duty of care, fees, legal aid, negligence, news, personal injuries, solicitors by sally

‘Court of Appeal ruling that solicitors may offer ‘unbundled’ services without being held liable for matters beyond those in their client retainer has been widely welcomed by the profession. ‘

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Law Society’s Gazette, 23rd November 2015

Source: www.lawgazette.co.uk

Automotive Automatism – Zenith PI Blog

Posted November 16th, 2015 in automatism, defences, news, personal injuries, road traffic by sally

‘I recently appeared in a County Court trial on behalf of the Defendant in which we were relying upon the rarely employed defence of automatism. For those of you who might stumble upon this sort of case once in a while, this article may provide some assistance as to how the Court will deal with such a defence.’

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Zenith PI Blog, 13th November 2015

Source: www.zenithpi.wordpress.com

Jeremy Clarkson and BBC sued for racial discrimination by Top Gear producer – The Guardian

Posted November 16th, 2015 in media, news, personal injuries, race discrimination by sally

‘The Top Gear producer verbally and physically attacked by Jeremy Clarkson is suing the BBC and the former presenter of the BBC2 motoring show for more than £100,000 for racial discrimination and personal injury.’

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The Guardian, 13th November 2015

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

MOJ Portal Stage 3 and Part 36: What are protocol offers? – Park Square Barristers

Posted November 12th, 2015 in burden of proof, civil procedure rules, costs, news, part 36 offers, personal injuries by sally

‘A regular issue that is being raised at MOJ Stage 3 hearings, particularly since the introduction of the 13th edition of the JC Guidelines: can parties make new offers in their Part B forms and benefit from the cost consequences of Part 36.29 for beating/matching them? This article aims to set out the relevant rules and paragraphs to determine this issue.’

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Park Square Barristers, 6th November 2015

Source: www.parksquarebarristers.co.uk

Judge calls for fast-track civil contempt procedure after application is stymied by criminal trial – Litigation Futures

Posted November 4th, 2015 in civil justice, civil procedure rules, compensation, contempt of court, damages, delay, evidence, fraud, news, personal injuries by sally

‘A claimant found to have brought a bogus personal injury claim – but then cleared of fraud in the Crown Court – can only face civil contempt proceedings if there is new evidence, the High Court has ruled.’

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Litigation Futures, 4th November 2015

Source: www.litigationfutures.com

Assessing Damages when the Claimant was Already Seriously Incapacitated: Court of Appeal Decision – Zenith PI Blog

Posted November 3rd, 2015 in appeals, damages, disabled persons, hospitals, negligence, news, personal injuries by sally

‘In Reaney -v- University Hospital of North Staffordshire NHS Trust [2015] EWCA Civ 1119 the Court of Appeal considered the appropriate approach to the award of damages when injuries are caused to a claimant who, prior to the defendant’s negligence, was already seriously disabled.’

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Zenith PI Blog, 2nd November 2015

Source: www.zenithpi.wordpress.com

Compensation hunter jailed for staging fall in Asda – Daily Telegraph

Posted October 30th, 2015 in compensation, fraud, news, personal injuries, sentencing by sally

‘CCTV cameras caught Louis Dempsey, 35, deliberately falling over in the Asda store in Brighton and showed he was lying.’

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Daily Telegraph, 29th October 2015

Source: www.telegraph.co.uk

Jackson urges government to end insolvency litigation exemption from his reforms –

Posted October 21st, 2015 in bankruptcy, civil justice, civil procedure rules, costs, insolvency, legal aid, news, personal injuries, Supreme Court by sally

‘Lord Justice Jackson has called for the recently extended exemption for insolvency cases from the impact of his reforms to come to an end, describing recoverability as “an instrument of oppression, which is liable to crush defendants who have a good defence”.’

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Litigation Futures, 20th October 2015

Source: www.litigationfutures.com

£4m payout for man who suffered brain damage in crash – The Guardian

Posted October 12th, 2015 in accidents, compensation, insurance, news, personal injuries, road traffic by tracey

‘A man in his 20s who suffered severe brain damage in a car crash when he was a teenager is to get more than £4m compensation, lawyers say.’

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The Guardian, 12th October 2015

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Trumping the Trump – or how to meet a claim to privilege following discontinuance in a fundamental dishonesty claim – Park Square Barristers

Posted October 7th, 2015 in disclosure, evidence, news, personal injuries, privilege by sally

‘It is common practice for an unscrupulous claimant, to run a doubtful personal injury claim to the door of the court, hoping to force a settlement, and then, at the last minute, to discontinue, in order to avoid the risk of failure, a finding of fundamental dishonesty and a costs liability.’

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Park Square Barrister, 18th September 2015

Source: www.parksquarebarristers.co.uk

Some Guidance on Interpretation of the Effect of the Enterprise Act – Zenith PI Blog

Posted October 6th, 2015 in employment, health & safety, judgments, news, personal injuries, regulations by sally

‘Personal injury specialists have long awaited clear guidance on how the changes effected by Section 69 of the Enterprise and Regulatory Reform Act 2013 will be interpreted by the courts.’

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Zenith PI Blog, 2nd October 2015

Source: www.zenithpi.wordpress.com

Revised Rehab Code introduces “streamlined” process for low-value claims – Litigation Futures

Posted October 1st, 2015 in codes of practice, insurance, news, personal injuries, rehabilitation by sally

‘The updated Rehabiliation Code is set to come into operation on 1 December and for the first time includes a separate section for lower-value claims in recognition of the need for a more streamlined process in cases worth less than £25,000.’

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Litigation Futures, 30th September 2015

Source: www.litigationfutures.com

A & M v Royal Mail Group – ATE Premiums and Success Fees Under CPR 21 – Zenith PI Blog

Posted September 30th, 2015 in accidents, civil procedure rules, costs, damages, fees, news, personal injuries, road traffic, solicitors by sally

‘A and M, aged 12 and 4 respectively, brought claims in damages for personal injuries and consequential losses sustained in a road traffic accident on the 31st July 2013. Agreement was reached with the insurers for the Defendant for both general damages and special damages through the usual minor injury claim portal process. Naturally, that agreement was subject to the ultimate approval of the Court pursuant to Part 21 CPR. DJ Lumb at the County Court Sitting at Birmingham was able to provisionally approve awards of £2115 and £2065 respectively on 14th August 2015. In addition, the Defendant agreed to pay the fixed recoverable costs calculated in accordance with CPR Part 45. The case had progressed in the standard way up until this point.’

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Zenith PI Blog, 29th September 2015

Source: www.zenithpi.wordpress.com

Is that the sound of change to NIHL claims? – Zenith PI Blog

Posted September 29th, 2015 in Civil Justice Council, costs, news, noise, personal injuries by sally

‘The Civil Justice Council has set up a working group, to be chaired by Andrew Parker of DAC Beachcroft, to advise the present government as to the handling of noise induced hearing loss claims. Membership of the working group will represent solicitors, claims managers, insurers, the Ministry of Justice and the judiciary.’

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Zenith PI Blog, 28th September 2015

Source: www.zenithpi.wordpress.com

MoJ tells noise-induced hearing loss working group to focus on fixed fees – Litigation Futures

Posted September 28th, 2015 in costs, fees, Ministry of Justice, news, noise, personal injuries by sally

‘The Civil Justice Council (CJC) group asked by the Ministry of Justice to investigate noise-induced hearing loss (NIHL) claims is to look at how a fixed-costs regime might work, it has been announced.’

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Litigation Futures, 28th September 2015

Source: www.litigationfutures.com