PI Brief Update

Noise Immission Level (NIL): Part 1, the Basics - Jim Hester, Parklane Plowden Chambers

26/04/21. The basic requirements for a diagnosis of Noise Induced Hearing Loss consist of 2 elements: audiology which is consistent with NIHL and a history of exposure to a suffi...

How falling ill with COVID may be a good reason for failure to comply with an unless order: Finvest Holdings Sarl v Lovering [2021] 3 WLUK 579 - Paul Erdunast, Temple Garden Chambers

21/04/21. Where a party contracts COVID and is therefore unable to work, that may be a good reason for the failure to comply with an order - even an unless order. Furthermore, th...

Practitioner's Update: Mustard v Flower & Ors [2021] EWHC 846 (QB) - Harry Peto, Temple Garden Chambers

19/04/21. This case arose out of a road traffic accident. One of the Defendants (“the Defendant”) applied to amend its Defence to allege fundamental dishonesty (“FD”) and that th...

Case Summary: B v HH - Stephanie Robinson, Spencers Solicitors

02/04/21. Case Name : B v HH

Accident Date : 14/09/2019

Settlement Date : 21/10/2020

TOTAL GROSS SETTLEMENT : £8000.00

Background and Liability

Public Liability

The Claimant, a pedestr...

'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...

High Court rejects submission that the objective evidence should be taken as the primary source of reliance compared with witnesses' recollection, even in a road traffic accident from over five years ago: Barrow & Ors v Merrett & Anor [2021] EWHC 792 (QB)

22/04/21. This case will provide a helpful guide to how a court assesses the evidence in a trial on liability in a road traffic accident where the events happened some time ago. ...

Costs: Sir Henry Royce Memorial Foundation v Mark Gregory Hardy [2021] EWHC 817 (Ch) - Harry Peto, Temple Garden Chambers

20/04/21. The general law is that costs are in the discretion of the court, but if the court makes a costs order, the general rule is that the unsuccessful party in the proceedin...

Case Summary: H v P - Mary Kay, Spencers Solicitors

05/04/21. Case Name : H v P

Accident Date : 14/07/2014

Settlement Date : 04/09/2020

TOTAL GROSS SETTLEMENT : £100,000.00

Background

The Claimant was aged 34 at the time of the acciden...

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...

Abuse of Process: Credit hire brought outside of the MOJ portal: Poku v Abedin - Amrit Atwal, Park Square Barristers

01/03/21. Your claim is an abuse of process. No, your application is!

This is an appeal in the matter of Poku v Abedin [2020] by the Claimant against a decision by DDJ Omoregie i...

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...