MoJ: Number of unrepresented claimants is not measure of OIC success – Legal Futures

‘The fact that fewer than 10% of claimants use the Official Injury Claim (OIC) portal without legal representation does not mean the system has failed to deliver, the government said yesterday.’

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Legal Futures, 30th November 2022

Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk

Court curtails Checkmylegalfees’ ‘fishing expedition’ for ATE details – Law Society’s Gazette

Posted November 14th, 2022 in costs, disclosure, insurance, law firms, news, personal injuries by tracey

‘The costs recovery outfit chasing personal injury firms on behalf of former clients has suffered another body blow through a new losing court judgment.’

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Law Society's Gazette, 11th November 2022

Source: www.lawgazette.co.uk

Losing litigant in mixed claim avoids immediate costs order – Law Society’s Gazette

Posted October 31st, 2022 in civil procedure rules, costs, damages, news, personal injuries by tracey

‘A litigant with a mixed claim will not have to pay costs immediately for one part of their claim which has been thrown out already. In Achille v Lawn Tennis Association Services Ltd the Court of Appeal agreed that it was premature for the costs order to be enforced now against claimant Richard Achille. Instead the court should wait until the conclusion of proceedings to decide what costs should follow.’

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Law Society’s Gazette, 28th October 2022

Source: www.lawgazette.co.uk

Speech by Lord Justice Bean – Personal Injuries Bar Association Speeches – Courts and Tribunals Judiciary

Posted October 28th, 2022 in judges, legal history, personal injuries, speeches by tracey

‘Personal Injuries Bar Association – Richard Davies Lecture 2022.’

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Courts and Tribunals Judiciary, 26th October 2022

Source: www.judiciary.uk

Belsner: Lawyers win in crucial costs recovery ruling – Law Society’s Gazette

Posted October 28th, 2022 in appeals, codes of practice, costs, damages, law firms, news, personal injuries, solicitors by tracey

‘Lawyers have won their appeal in a court ruling that will come as a massive relief across the personal injury market. Judges in the Court of Appeal ruled in Belsner v CAM Legal Services this morning that the firm’s personal injury client had made fair and reasonable deductions from her damages. The deductions were therefore lawful and did not need to be paid back.’

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Law Society’s Gazette, 27th October 2022

Source: www.lawgazette.co.uk

Contracting out of fixed costs in low value personal injury claims – Guildhall Chambers

‘In a low value personal injury claim, what is the proper interpretation of the phrase, “such costs to be the subject of detailed assessment if not agreed”? If the parties have agreed such a provision within a consent order compromising the claim, have they effectively ‘contracted out of’ the fixed costs regime that would otherwise be applicable to an ex-Protocol claim? The Court of Appeal considered these questions in this decision.’

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Guildhall Chambers, 13th October 2022

Source: www.guildhallchambers.co.uk

Instrumented Mouthguards and Tackle Height Lowered in Rugby Union: A Game Changer? – Ropewalk Chambers

Posted October 20th, 2022 in electronic monitoring, news, personal injuries, regulations, sport by sally

‘In another step forward, the use of Instrumented Mouthguards (iMGs) is being included by the RFU in their mission to reduce players’ risk of concussion.’

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Ropewalk Chambers, 19th October 2022

Source: www.ropewalk.co.uk

Pay Up, Or Else… Disclosure Obligations v Solicitors’ Liens – Gatehouse Chambers

Posted October 20th, 2022 in chambers articles, disclosure, negligence, news, personal injuries, solicitors by sally

‘Ellis v John Hodge Solicitors (a firm) [2022] EWHC 2284 (Comm) concerned a novel argument against disclosure. The Defendant solicitors had formerly been instructed by the Claimant in personal injury litigation. In later professional negligence proceedings against the Defendant, the Claimant sought disclosure of his client file from the personal injury claim. It was common ground that file was disclosable under CPR PD51U, being highly relevant to the Claimant’s professional negligence claim and Defendant’s counterclaim for unpaid fees. Nevertheless, the Defendant declined disclosure on the basis it was exercising its common law lien for unpaid fees. Accordingly, the issue was not whether the file’s specific disclosure should be ordered, but whether a solicitor’s common law rights to a lien in respect of costs can restrict CPR disclosure obligations. Read our case comment to find out what justified disclosure, without the usual “Robins” undertakings.’

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Gatehouse Chambers, 11th October 2022

Source: gatehouselaw.co.uk

Master of rolls questions ‘impenetrable’ client documents – Law Society’s Gazette

Posted October 6th, 2022 in agreements, fees, legal language, news, personal injuries, solicitors by sally

‘The ability of lay clients to understand the Law Society’s model conditional fee agreement was questioned by three of the most senior judges in England and Wales yesterday in a much-awaited Court of Appeal hearing.’

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Law Society's Gazette, 5th October 2022

Source: www.lawgazette.co.uk

MoJ rejects call for early review of whiplash tariff – Legal Futures

‘The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) has rejected a call for an early review of the tariff for the Official Injury Claim portal, although personal injury solicitors are continuing to lobby for it.’

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Legal Futures, 29th September 2022

Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk

Court denies claimant chance to recover deductions made by PI firm – Law Society’s Gazette

Posted September 15th, 2022 in damages, fees, news, personal injuries, solicitors by tracey

‘A former client who threatened his solicitors with legal action over deductions from his damages has been told he cannot pursue the case.’

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Law Society's Gazette, 14th September 2022

Source: www.lawgazette.co.uk

The Applicable Standard of Care in Cases Involving Medical Negligence Abroad – Ropewalk Clinical Negligence Blog

‘There is a paucity of reported decisions addressing the question of what the applicable standard of care is in cases involving negligent medical treatment carried out outside of the UK. There is considerable authority on the applicable standard of care in cases involving accidents occurring during package holidays to foreign destinations. It is a firmly established principle that the court must consider in the first instance, the local prevailing standards (in the place where the accident occurred) in determining whether there has been a breach of duty. Whilst compliance with local standards is not necessarily determinative (such as in cases where for no justifiable reason, those standards fall so far below internationally accepted or English standards that the court must look to other evidence to determine the appropriate standard); prevailing local standards is a very important signpost (for further discussion see the author’s review of the judgment in TUI v Morgan [2021] PIQR P12. Is the same approach taken by the court in cases involving negligent medical treatment performed abroad? This was an issue that was considered by Foster J in the case of Clarke v Kalecinski [2022] EWHC 488 (QB).

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Ropewalk Clinical Negligence Blog, 18th August 2022

Source: www.ropewalk.co.uk

Infected Blood victims to receive £100,000 interim compensation payment – gov.uk

Posted August 19th, 2022 in blood products, compensation, government departments, HIV, news, personal injuries by tracey

‘Thousands of victims of the infected blood scandal will each receive an interim compensation payment of £100,000.’

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gov.uk, 17th August 2022

Source: www.gov.uk

A Claimant’s Right To Apply for Further Damages Under a PDO Passes, on Death, to Their Estate and May Be Advanced by the Executor – Ropewalk Chambers

‘On Friday 22 July 2022, Johnson J handed down judgment in Power v Bernard Hastie & Company Ltd & others [2022] EWHC 1927 (QB) in respect of an application for an order for substitution made by the executor of the deceased’s estate. The judgment provides High Court authority for the proposition that a claimant’s right to seek further damages under a PDO passes, on their death, to their estate, a finding previously made by HHJ Roberts in his judgment in Guilfoyle v North Middlesex University Hospitals NHS Trust (County Court at Central London, 4 April 2018).’

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Ropewalk Chambers, 1st August 2022

Source: www.ropewalk.co.uk

OIC mixed claims: 14 months on and still no nearer the Court of Appeal – Legal Futures

Posted August 4th, 2022 in appeals, electronic filing, news, personal injuries, statistics by tracey

‘Little progress has been made in the plan to take test cases of so-called mixed claims from the Official Injury Claim (OIC) portal to the Court of Appeal, it admitted yesterday.’

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Legal Futures, 4th August 2022

Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk

High Court ruling a warning to lawyers who ‘shoehorn’ claimants into class actions – OUT-LAW.com

‘Lawyers must take note of a court’s refusal to allow multiple claimants with widely differing claims to use a single claim form, a legal expert has warned.’

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OUT-LAW.com, 27th July 2022

Source: www.pinsentmasons.com

E-scooters: legalise but regulate, says consumer body – Law Society’s Gazette

‘Victims of accidents involving illegally ridden e-scooters face an unnecessarily arduous battle for compensation, according to a report calling for legalisation and regulation for the battery-powered vehicles.’

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Law Society's Gazette, 25th July 2022

Source: www.lawgazette.co.uk

Case against rugby union governing bodies on dementia destined for courts – The Guardian

‘A legal case involving a group of rugby players diagnosed with early-onset dementia and other irreversible neurological impairments now looks destined for the courts. Proceedings are to be issued by Rylands Law on behalf of a group of professional and semi-professional players against World Rugby, the Rugby Football Union and the Welsh Rugby Union.’

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The Guardian, 25th July 2022

Source: www.theguardian.com

Court blocks bid to issue 3,500 cases on just one claim form – Law Society’s Gazette

‘The High Court has blocked a firm’s latest attempt to issue multiple different claims through the same claim form.’

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Law Society's Gazette, 15th July 2022

Source: www.lawgazette.co.uk

PI costs ruling could have “significant” impact on settled cases – Legal Futures

Posted July 11th, 2022 in appeals, barristers, compensation, costs, news, part 36 offers, personal injuries by tracey

‘A Court of Appeal ruling that the wording of a settlement of a personal injury claim supplanted fixed costs could have “significant” implications, including for cases that have already settled, a leading costs barrister has warned.’

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Legal Futures, 11th July 2022

Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk