News Category 2
Allergies, Chemical Sensitivity and Susceptibility - Alan Care, Thomson Snell & Passmore
02/02/15. The Bradford Hill criteria remain the starting point for any consideration of causation, be it legal or medical and scientific. It has long been said that law and medical science do not make happy bed fellows. How true this is. See the discussion in the Supreme Court’s mesothelioma judgment of Sienkiewicz (from page 31) about epidemiology, causation and “doubling of risk” and also C Miller’s “Causation in personal injury: legal or epidemiological common sense...
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Personal Injury Case Review Scotland 2014: Part 1 - Douglas McGregor, Brodies LLP
01/02/15. The changes to be introduced by the Courts Reform (Scotland) Act 2014 have been making many of the personal injury headlines this year in Scotland and no doubt the reforms will also be the focus of attention over the next 12 months too. The discussions may just have overshadowed some of the interesting personal injury cases decided in Scotland in 2014, so Douglas McGregor, Professional Support Lawyer in Brodies' Dispute Resolution and Litigation team takes a look back at a selection of last year's more significant decisions in the first of a two-part feature.
Secondary victim of a road traffic collision
Young v MacVean [2014] CSOH 133; 2014 SLT 934
Heading for the gym to meet her 26 year old, son Mrs Young came across the results of a road traffic collision which had occurred around 90 minutes earlier. The police and other emergency services were already at the scene and dealing with the aftermath. Lady Rae describes it in her judgment as...
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Public Liability & Highways Claims Post-Jackson: The Portals - Andrew Mckie, Clerksroom
28/01/15. Chapter Three from the book 'RTA Personal Injury Claims Post Jackson: A Practical Guide' by Andrew Mckie. The public liability (PL) portals came into effect on 31 July 2013. Any book looking at slipping and tripping claims post-Jackson, would not be complete without an examination of the portals, and perhaps more importantly for claimant practitioners, the exit points from the Low Value Portals. What stays in, and what comes out of the portal, may be a key decision for some claimant law firms as to whether they feel it is economical to undertake this type of work.
It is arguable that the success of the RTA portal, has encouraged the MOJ to introduce the Low Value Portal for slipping and tripping claims. However, early indications seems to be that the dropout rates from the portal are quite substantial, which is probably for two reasons; a) the timescales for the defendant to investigate cases in the portal are inadequate, and b) slipping and tripping cases are evidentially more complex than road traffic cases, hence it is much more difficult to determine the issue of liability.
If a slip or tripping claim starts in the Low Value Portal and liability is admitted, then the case will remain in the Portal to the conclusion, subject to other dropout points. If liability is denied, then the case will exit the Portal, and ordinarily, proceed in Fixed Recoverable costs, discussed in other Chapters...
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Applications for Payments on Account of Costs - Matthew Hoe, Jaggards & Taylor Rose Law
24/01/15. An application for a payment on account of costs is the jet pump of cashflow. Beware of it reversing the flow. More claimants are now applying for payments on account of costs in the early stages of costs negotiations or detailed assessment proceedings, particularly in the low value County Court litigation that falls within the scope of provisional assessment. Provisional assessment costs are capped. Claimants do not earn as much from each case as they might have done before. These payment on account applications and the extra fees they may generate might seem an attractive and simple means to boost income. However, each application I have encountered has been dismissed or withdrawn. A common reason for that is that the court finds that there is no jurisdiction to make an order for an interim payment at that intermediate stage...
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Not So Cut and Dry When It Comes to Hairdressing Injuries - Nicola Perry, Bartletts Solicitors
23/01/15. Earlier this month, Nia Griffith MP made a call in a parliamentary debate for hairdressers to be subject to a compulsory state register. Whilst there has been no indication from the government that this suggestion will be implemented it does highlight the difficulty with the hairdressing industry as a whole. This is the fact that despite hairdressers undertaking some potentially risky treatments there is no compulsory system of regulation. In fact all we have at present is a system of voluntary registration with the Hairdressing Council, a body which was set up under the Hairdressers (Registration) Act 1964. This article explores some of the issues which arise when those risks result in injury and a claim is being considered...
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![Appeal judge rules that credit hire company has no costs liability following a finding of fundamental dishonesty in personal injury case: RSA v. Fastrack Solutions Limited [2023] 4 WLUK 92 - David Bowden, Erimus Chambers](/content/images/resized/images/stories/carkeys_72_72.jpg)
