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December 2018 Contents

Welcome to the December 2018 issue of PI Brief Update Law Journal. Click the relevant links below to read the articles.

CPD

Note that there are no new monthly CPD quizzes since the SRA and the BSB have both updated their CPD schemes to eliminate this requirement. Reading PIBULJ articles can still help to meet your CPD needs. For further details see our CPD Information page.

 

Personal Injury Articles
Where Paternal Depression Meets Secondary Victim Claims - Chantelle Bacchus, Bolt Burdon Kemp
When we talk about post-natal depression, we often think of mothers. This is a fair assumption and 1 in 5 women develop mental health problems during pregnancy or in the first year after childbirth. However, now we know that dads suffer from post-natal depression too...
Note on the Supreme Court Judgment in Darnley - Jeremy Pendlebury, 7BR
The Supreme Court, per the judgment of Lord Lloyd-Jones (with whom Lady Hale and Lords, Reed, Kerr and Hodge all agreed), allowed the appeal by Michael Darnley from the dismissal by the Court of Appeal of his appeal from the dismissal of his claim by the trial judge. Mr. Darnley will now recover damages for the devastating brain damage...
Cavanagh v Witley Parish Council [2018] EWCA Civ 2232 - Peter Wake, Weightmans LLP
In a recent decision which contains some salutary learning points for defendants, the Court of Appeal has found the defendant local authority to be liable to the claimant for a tree that fell onto the highway and collided with the bus he was driving...
Cauda Equina Syndrome - Sandra De Souza, Anthony Gold Solicitors
Cauda Equina Syndrome (CES) is a serious condition which occurs when the nerves in the spinal canal have been damaged. These nerves control the bladder, bowel, genitals and movement of legs. Symptoms of CES include loss of sensation and pain in one or both legs, numbness and a deterioration or loss of bowel and/or bladder control...
Editorial: Trial Bundles - Aidan Ellis, Temple Garden Chambers
Instead of my usual December 'review of the year', I will end 2018 with some thoughts about trial bundles. I have had a significant number of trials this month (not all effective), and in many of them issues have arisen (or could have arisen) about the state of the trial bundle...
Review of Highway Code Due for 2019 - Charles Heppenstall, Weightmans LLP
On the 18th October 2018 the Ministry of Transport announced a proposed update of the Highway Code, to further codify driving practices intended to protect cyclists and pedestrians. This follows the publication in September of the DoT's highway casualty statistics for 2017. Although these revealed...
An Introduction to Cooling - Flora Midgley, Bolt Burdon Kemp
The NHS uses controlled cooling to treat newborn babies who suffer brain injuries following a deprivation of oxygen during birth/labour. I am a solicitor at Bolt Burdon Kemp in the Child Brain Injury team, I specialise in compensation claims for children who have suffered brain injuries - as many of our clients suffer these injuries at birth, often because of...
Summary of Recent Cases, December 2018
Here is a summary of the recent notable court cases over the past month...
PI Practitioner, December 2018
Each issue a particular topic is highlighted, citing some of the useful cases and other materials in that area. This month's issue focuses on applications for permission to bring in additional fields of medical evidence, and specifically the case of Sharron Denise Hall v Derby Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust [2018] EWHC 3276 (QB), which provides a stark illustration of 'how not to do it'...
Medico-Legal Articles, Edited by Dr Hugh Koch
Legal Mind Case and Commentary No 20 - Assessing Distress Post-Cyber Breaches [Koch HCH, Laraway A, Pelser C & Lamswood S 2018]
This is the twentieth in a series of Case reports and Commentaries from Dr Koch and colleagues. A recent case involving data breaches is summarised below and debated...
Clinical Negligence Medicine by Dr Mark Burgin
Artificial Intelligence and the Professions 2018 - Dr Mark Burgin
Dr Mark Burgin BM BCh (oxon) MRCGP explains how the recent advances in AI such as convolutional neural nets will change the everyday work of the professional...
Medical Legal Experts Working in Prisons 2018 - Dr Mark Burgin
Dr Mark Burgin BM BCh (oxon) MRCGP explains the pitfalls that can occur when performing a Prison Visit for medical legal purposes and the problems arising from increasingly restricted availability of private areas for examinations...
An Introduction to Expert Report Writing 2018 - Dr Mark Burgin
Dr Mark Burgin BM BCh (oxon) MRCGP considers the generic skill of report writing from the point of view of an agency providing training to the new expert...
Book Reviews
'Tough Choices' by Daniel Sokol - Reviewed by Aidan O'Brien
Tough Choices is a fascinating collection of case studies and vignettes, drawn from Daniel Sokol's experience on the front line of medical ethics and law...

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