June 2016 Contents
 Welcome to the June 2016 issue of PI Brief Update Law Journal. Click the relevant links below to read the articles and take the CPD quiz. Please remember to fill in our quick feedback form after you have finished. CPD Quiz The PI Brief Update Law Journal (PIBULJ) is accredited by the Solicitors Regulation Authority (ref EGB/LBPL) and the Bar Standards Board (provider ID: 2177). The CPD is also valid for CILEx (formerly ILEX) members and for members of the Chartered Insurance Institute. The quiz can provide 1.5 hours of CPD under the hours system. See our CPD Info page for further details including recent changes to the CPD system. Please check with the relevant organisations for full details of their CPD rules. Take the CPD Quiz Feedback Form CPD Information
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| Personal Injury Articles | |
 Impact of 'Brexit' on Personal Injury Claims - Flora Wood, Ashfords Claimant and Defendant lawyers are used to applying many EU-based regulations and Directives to personal injury claims. How could Brexit affect legal remedies for UK citizens? |
 Don't Overlook Foreseeability: Scott v Gavigan [2016] EWCA Civ 544, [2016] All ER (D) 35 (Jun) - Niall Maclean, 12 King's Bench Walk On a clear summer evening the Defendant was riding his motorcycle down a long straight road in south London. His speed was about the 30mph, the limit for the road. Walking towards him on the pavement on the opposite side of the road was the Claimant... |
 The Decision in Parker v Butler [2016] EWHC 1251: The Applicability of QOCS to Appeals - Craig Fisher, 7 Harrington Street Chambers Parker v Butler started life as a fairly unremarkable road traffic collision on the M18/M180 roundabout that occurred on 10 April 2013, and fell into that all too common category of cases "who changed lanes"... |
 FE (By his litigation friend PE) v St George's University Hospital NHS Trust [2016] EWCH 553 - Rachel Vickers, Outer Temple Chambers The Claimant was born by emergency Caesarean section at St George's Hospital on 25th January 2011. He suffered hypoxic ischaemic at birth leading to cerebral palsy... |
 Over Year-Long Wait for Employment Records from HMRC is Denial of Access to Justice and Breach of ECHR - Roger Maddocks, Irwin Mitchell LLP Occupational Illness Lawyers Call For Urgent Government Action... |
 Trial Advocacy Fees Recoverable Even if the Matter Settles on the Day of Trial - Francesca O'Neil, 1 Chancery Lane The appeal court has found that, even where a matter settles "at the door of the court" and so no effective trial has taken place, the fixed trial advocacy fee is recoverable under CPR Pt 45 Pt IIIA. The court further found that... |
 Editorial: Vacated Trials - Aidan Ellis, Temple Garden Chambers In the course of June so far, three of my trials have been vacated - two for lack of Court time and one converted to a 30 minute CMC because the trial bundle was filed one day late. On one further occasion... |
 Trial by Ambush? - Ella Davis, 1 Chancery Lane In Hayden v Maidstone & Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust [2016] EWHC 1121 (QB) Foskett J, albeit with "considerable misgiving", allowed a Defendant to rely on surveillance footage that had been disclosed so late that it caused the trial date to be vacated. The decision is not so much of interest because of its outcome but for the judge's more general comments on the issue of when surveillance evidence might properly be served... |
 Injuries Resulting in Blindness - Rose Gibson, Simpson Millar LLP Having dealt with a number of cases involving loss of sight over the years, it was not until I had to visit the JC Guidelines for a case involving total sudden blindness to a teenage girl that I was acting for that it really sunk in to me how woefully inadequate damages for injuries are in the UK... |
 Why Settlement of a Personal Injury Claim Does Not Bring the Application of the RTA Protocol to an End - Ben Hicks, 1 Chancery Lane The recent Court of Appeal decision in Phillips v Willis [2016] EWCA Civ 401 has provided welcome clarity as to the fate of claims initially made through the RTA portal when the personal injury element has been resolved prior to litigation commencing at Stage 3, but a dispute as to low-value special damages remains live between the parties... |
 Loss of Earnings: Clinical Negligence and Causation - Gordon Exall, Zenith Chambers & Hardwicke The need to prove that a claim for loss of earnings arises from the negligence complained of can be overlooked. A failure to consider the key issue of causation can lead to claims being made which, ultimately, cannot be proven. An example of this can be seen in the decision of Mr Justice Nicol in Manzi -v- King's College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust [2016] EWHC 1190 (QB)... |
 QOCS: Applies to Appeals? - Thomas Crockett, 1 Chancery Lane Qualified One-way Costs Shifting: does it apply to appeals? Yes, according to Edis J in Parker v Butler [2016] EWHC 1251 (QB), who held: If (as is likely to be the case here) the claimant's access to justice is dependent on the benefit of QOCS, that access will be significantly reduced if he is exposed to a risk as to the costs of any unsuccessful appeal which he may bring or... |
 Mrs H v Mr Robinson - Emma Melia & Miray Wahba, Spencers Solicitors The Deceased, male aged 50 at the date of the accident died in a tragic road traffic accident which occurred on 1 October 2011. The claim was brought by the Deceased's wife, who was appointed Administrator of the Deceased's estate and was the Claimant... |
 Mr A v Mr Chana - Emma Melia & Miray Wahba, Spencers Solicitors The Claimant, male aged 49 at the date of the accident was involved in a serious road traffic accident. The Claimant sustained soft tissue injuries to his lumbar spine and significant head injuries as a result of the accident. The Claimant went on to suffer post-traumatic epilepsy... |
 Serious Injury Guide - Duncan Rutter, DAC Beachcroft The Serious Injury Guide is a voluntary guide that applies to personal injury claims worth £250,000 or more. It does not apply to clinical negligence or asbestos related disease claims and doesn't affect a solicitor's duty to act in the best interests of his/her client. So far 13 insurers and 53 law firms have signed up to it... |
 Clean Air: A Claim Under Article 1? - Ian Miller, 1 Chancery Lane In February 2013 nine-year-old Ella Kissi-Debrah from Hither Green in South London died after suffering a severe asthma attack. "Can the courts be used to establish that we have a human right to clean air?" asked Nick Robinson on the Today Programme... |
 Summary of Recent Cases, June 2016 Here is a summary of the recent notable court cases over the past month. |
 PI Practitioner, June 2016 Each issue a particular topic is highlighted, citing some of the useful cases and other materials in that area. This month: QOCS protection for appeals. |
| An Update from North of the Border, Edited by John Wilson & Lauren Pasi, Brodies LLP | |
 Keep It Simple, Sheriff: Simple Procedure in the Sheriff Court - Peter Demick & Ben Bestgen, Brodies LLP Riding on the winds of change in Scotland's civil courts reforms (with our special focus on personal injury), we have already seen the creation of the All-Scotland Sheriff (Personal Injury) Court, a new Sheriff Appeal Court and the increase of the jurisdictional limit for bringing cases in... |
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| Medico-Legal Articles, Edited by Dr Hugh Koch | |
 Legal Mind Case and Commentary No.4: Plausible Causes Only, Please - Dr Hugh Koch and Dr Paul Elson This is the fourth in a series of Case reports and Commentaries from Dr Koch and colleagues. Attribution is complex and requires an assessment of plausibility, not just temporal linking. Case: Graves v Brouwer [2015] EWCA Civ 595... |
 Legal Mind Case and Commentary No.5: Assessing Dishonesty - Dr Hugh Koch & Dr Elizabeth Boyd Case: Gamsby v Rowland. County Court Birmingham 22/09/15. The claimant sought damage for personal injury following a road traffic accident. There was a difference of opinion between claimant and defendant over the circumstances of the accident... |
