PI Brief Update

'Unconvincing and unreliable' witnesses vs dishonest ones: relevant factors and lessons to learn for litigation: Brint v Barking, Havering and Redbridge University Hospitals NHS Trust [2021] EWHC 290 (QB) - Paul Erdunast, Temple Garden Chambers

08/03/21. There are cases where an unconvincing and unreliable witness is not dishonest. That much is not news; it is obvious. The point of this piece is to give tips to Defendan...

Case Summary: P v C - Steven Barke, Spencers Solicitors

02/03/21. Case Name: P v C

Accident Date: 05/03/2019

Settlement Date: 22/06/2020

TOTAL GROSS SETTLEMENT: £16,000.00

Background

The claimant was involved in a road traffic accident wh...

Practitioner's Update: Kumar v Hellard [2021] EWHC 181 (Ch) - Harry Peto, Temple Garden Chambers

Update to CPR 36.5 coming in April 2021 pressure on Part 36 offerees - Paul Erdunast, Temple Garden Chambers

24/02/21. On 6 April 2021, the usual yearly amendments will be made to the CPR as per The Civil Procedure (Amendment) Rules 2021. These include a particularly interesting new rul...

Case Summary: E v I - Karen Cawood, Spencers Solicitors

15/02/21. Case Name
: 
E v I



Court Name
: County Court Money Claims Centre



Accident Date: 23/01/2018



Settlement Date: 
20/06/2020



TOTAL GROSS SETTLEMENT: £57,500.00
 
 Backgro...

Pinnegar v Kellogg and ICI - Jim Hester, Parklane Plowden Chambers

03/02/21. This case is the latest in a series where the issue as to the reliability and credibility of historic witness evidence has been raised. I have written about similar cas...

Azam v University Hospital Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust [2020] EWHC 3384 (QB) - Paul Erdunast, Temple Garden Chambers

30/01/21. This case is a helpful reminder that if a party wishes to rely on prejudice against it, it should provide evidence of such prejudice. This applies in numerous situation...

Asbestosis: assessing damages on a provisional basis - Jim Hester,Parklane Plowden Chambers

26/01/21.   Hamilton v NG Bailey Limited [2020] EWHC 2910 (QB) provides a useful view of how a court might approach quantum in an asbestosis case when considering damages on a...

Case Summary: W v UHD - Karen Cawood, Spencers Solicitors

Case Name: W v UHD

Date of knowledge: 12th July 2016

Settlement date: 27th April 2020

TOTAL GROSS SETTLEMENT: £25,000

Background

This is a clinical negligence claim. W was ...

FREE CHAPTER AND FOREWORD from 'A Practical Guide to the Small Claims Track - 2nd Edition' by Dominic Bright

08/01/21. FOREWORD TO THE SECOND EDITION

A litigant in England and Wales is most likely to come into contact with the civil courts, principally the county court, in connection wit...

Case Summary: M v L - Steven Barke, Spencers Solicitors Limited

22/12/20. Case Name: M v L

Court Name: SHEFFIELD

Accident Date: 

21/11/2016



Settlement Date: 

12/11/2019



TOTAL GROSS SETTLEMENT: £35,000.00

Background

Th...

FREE CHAPTER from ‘A Practical Guide to Claims Arising from Fatal Accidents – 2nd Edition’ by James Patience

Claims arising out of a Fatal Accident can be complex, high value and fraught with emotion. This book offers the practitioner a clear and comprehensive guide to all of the issue...

Summary of Recent Cases, December 2020

15/12/20. Here is a summary of the recent notable court cases over the past month. You can also receive these for free by registering for our PI Brief Update newsletter. Just sel...

How well do law firms understand their clients and the effectiveness of their own marketing? - Qamar Anwar, First4Lawyers

04/12/20. This year more than any in recent memory has highlighted how much businesses need to be aware of their costs and budgets. Businesses can be forgiven for not having pred...

Summary of Recent Cases, November 2020

15/11/20. Here is a summary of the recent notable court cases over the past month. You can also receive these for free by registering for our PI Brief Update newsletter. Just sel...

FREE CHAPTER from 'A Practical Guide to the Compensation Recovery Unit and NHS Charges in Personal Injury Claims in England & Wales' by Andrew Cousins

11/10/20. The Compensation Recovery Unit provides a system whereby the Department for Work and Pensions may clawback a proportion of some of the damages awarded or agreed to be p...

Swift v Carpenter and the Cost of Special Accommodation - Carin Hunt, Outer Temple Chambers

20/10/20. The case of Swift v Carpenter was heard by the Court of Appeal on 23 -25 June 2020 and judgment is eagerly awaited by catastrophic injury practitioners. This article gi...

Summary of Recent Cases, October 2020

15/10/20. Here is a summary of the recent notable court cases over the past month. You can also receive these for free by registering for our PI Brief Update newsletter. Just sel...

FREE CHAPTER from ‘A Practical Guide to Clinical Negligence – 2nd Edition’ by Geoffrey Simpson-Scott

09/10/20. Modern clinical negligence litigation remains complex. It requires the detailed and accurate assessment of the case; an understanding of many different areas of medicin...

Clinical Consent: Where Are We Now? - Ruwena Khan, Park Square Barristers

1. 30/09/20. Clinical negligence litigation continues apace; the doctor-patient relationship ever-evolving, medical professional guidance adapting and incremental changes to the c...

Setting aside default judgment in the High Court requires promptness even after the application has been made - Paul Erdunast, Temple Garden Chambers

04/03/21.  The Lord Chancellor (as Successor to the Legal Services Commission) v Halberstadt-Twum (t/a Cleveland Solicitors) & Anor [2021] EWHC 413. Unlike the County Co...

Calculating 3-years - Jim Hester, Parklane Plowden Chambers

01/03/21. A narrow point that occasionally arises is how ‘3-years’ is calculated for the purposes of limitation. In accident cases or in disease cases, for example, where a diagn...

Hacking Part 36 offers by waiting a day after the relevant period, accepting the offer, and then disputing costs: Pallett v MGN Ltd [2021] EWHC 76 (CH) - Paul Erdunast, Temple Garden Chambers

25/02/21. If Part 36 offeree has a good argument as to why it should not pay the costs of a certain period, then Part 36 seemingly has what computer experts might call a “hack” o...

Case Summary: B v T - Karen Cawood, Spencers Solicitors

16/02/21. Case Name
: 
B v T



Court Name
: 
County Court Money Claims Centre



Accident Date
: 
11/01/2017



Settlement Date: 

11/05/2020
 
 TOTAL GROSS SETTLEMENT:&n...

Traffic accident victim receives £1 million in damages - Andy Shaw, Higgs & Sons

02/02/21. A Stockport woman who suffered serious injuries in a road traffic accident has received more than £1 million in damages after a six-year legal battle.

The lady sustained...

Devonshires Solicitors LLP v Elbishlawi and Lam Developments Ltd [2021] EWHC 173 (Comm) - Harry Peto, Temple Garden Chambers

31/01/21. This was an application for summary judgment in respect of a claim for fees against the Defendants, who were former clients of the Claimant. The First Defendant was the...

Godfrey v Automotive Products Limited (unreported, 17 December 2020) - Paul Erdunast, Temple Garden Chambers

29/01/21. Can a Claimant who is required to take out a loan in order to fund litigation disbursements recover interest on the loan from the Defendant? DJ Baldwin, a regional cost...

Landmark Ruling Clarifies Accommodation Claims - Claire Burnell, Higgs & Sons

24/01/21. The long-awaited Swift v Carpenter ruling gives solicitors some welcome clarity on how to assess accommodation claims for those suffering serious injury in the wake of ...

Case Summary: M v W - Helen Reynolds, Spencers Solicitors

14/01/21. Case Name: M v W

Court Name: BIRKENHEAD

Accident Date: 19/06/2012

Settlement Date: 26/02/2020

TOTAL GROSS SETTLEMENT: £18,650.00

Background

The Claimant, aged 9 at the time o...

FREE CHAPTER from 'A Practical Guide to Asbestos Claims' by Jonathan Owen & Gareth McAloon

This book is for the busy and new practitioner who is building their experience and expertise in asbestos claims. It is not written from the perspective of one side or the other...

PI Practitioner, December 2020

16/12/20. Each issue a particular topic is highlighted, citing some of the useful cases and other materials in that area. You can also receive these for free by registering...

Belsner v CAM Legal Services judgment raises more questions than answers - Ged Courtney, Kain Knight

05/12/20. On Friday 16th October 2020, the Court handed down an eagerly-awaited judgement for personal injury lawyers. It was hoped that the appeal in Belsner v CAM Legal Services...

Sports Injuries and the Law - Michelle Liddy, Oriel Chambers

22/11/20. Very often in sports there are incidents which lawyers must wonder about in a way that others may not. When Luis Suarez bit off more than he could chew in Liverpool’s P...

PI Practitioner, November 2020

16/11/20. Each issue a particular topic is highlighted, citing some of the useful cases and other materials in that area. You can also receive these for free by registering for o...

FREE CHAPTER from 'A Practical Guide to Costs in Personal Injury Claims - 2nd Edition' by Matthew Hoe

10/11/20. It’s two decades since the CPR came in. Costs are now fixed; many of the problems with costs are fixed; but costs law is anything but simple. There is so much you need ...

Clinical Negligence Claims and the Myth of Defensive Medicine - Paul Sankey, Enable Law

21/10/20. Do claims for damages risk encouraging defensive medicine? Lord Justice Irwin thought so and described it as 'self-evident' in a 2017 Court of Appeal judgment [1] . In fa...

PI Practitioner, October 2020

16/10/20. Each issue a particular topic is highlighted, citing some of the useful cases and other materials in that area. You can also receive these for free by registering for o...

How will COVID-19 change the personal injury landscape? - Kelvin Farmaner, Trethowans LLP & David Wilson, Van Ameyde UK Limited

12/10/20. In the motor insurance space the headline news is that there has been a downward trend in terms of claims volumes.

Personal Injury

A downward trend is expected with milli...

FREE CHAPTER from ‘A Practical Guide to the Law of Medical Treatment Decisions’ by Ben Troke

Decisions about medical treatment can be about life and death, such as withdrawal of treatment or (not) providing CPR.  Or about quality of life, liberty and independence, ...

What is the test of breach of duty in pure diagnosis cases? - Paul Sankey, Enable Law

28/09/20. When it comes to treatment, the test of breach of duty is the Bolam test. A different test applies to providing information to patients since Montgomery v Lanarkshire H...