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January 2019 Contents

Welcome to the January 2019 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
The 'scope of duty test' for causation: when 'but for' is just not enough - James Weston, 7BR
On Friday 23 November 2018 the Court of Appeal handed down judgment in Khan v MNX [2018] EWCA Civ 2609. The decision will have widespread implications for clinical negligence claims...
Fundamental dishonesty in occupational disease claims (part 3) - Paul Debney, Weightmans LLP
In this, the last of a series of 3 articles, Paul Debney, Partner and head of disease counter fraud at national firm Weightmans LLP, examines the impact of the suppression of evidence relevant to the causation of a condition...
The ambit of QOCS considered (again): who can recover costs in cases outside the straightforward Claimant v Defendant scenario? - Alice Nash, Hailsham Chambers
In Cartwright v Venduct Engineering Limited [2018] EWCA Civ 1654, decided in July 2018, the Court of Appeal held that in a QOCS case with multiple defendants, the ability to recover costs from damages pursuant to CPR r.44.14(1) extended to all the defendants, not just the defendant who paid those damages. Cartwright has subsequently been relied upon, with conflicting results...
Time to re-examine tree inspection regimes - Simon Jones & Susan Rands, BLM
In Witley Parish Council v Cavanagh [2018] EWCA Civ 2232, the claimant was seriously injured when a large mature lime tree fell across the road onto the single decker bus he was driving. The tree was on land owned by Witley Parish Council ("Witley") which accepted that it owed a duty of care to act as a reasonable and prudent landowner and to undertake regular inspections...
The complex reasons why a claimant takes legal action - Ali Malsher, Anthony Gold Solicitors
Reading the traditional media, it appears, clinical negligence claimants are motivated by finance only. Yet this doesn't equate with the experience of those who work in this area of law. The reasons claimants start the legal process are complex but there is a relationship between response of the health provider to adverse events and litigation...
Summary of Recent Cases, January 2019
Here is a summary of the recent notable court cases over the past month...
PI Practitioner, January 2019
Each issue a particular topic is highlighted, citing some of the useful cases and other materials in that area. This month we consider extensions to the limitation period in personal injury claims under s.33 of the Limitation Act 1980...
An Update from North of the Border, Edited by Kate Donachie, Brodies LLP
The importance of getting the wording of pre-trial agreements right - Kate Donachie & Mohsen Din, Brodies LLP
A joint minute is a form of pre-trial agreement which is lodged with the court and sets out non-controversial matters between the parties in advance of a proof (trial) or other substantive hearing. The use of joint minutes is actively encouraged by the courts because such agreement can reduce the scope of any hearing and the number of witnesses required. Recently there has been...
Clinical Negligence Medicine by Dr Mark Burgin
How PI experts can keep judges happy by showing their working in PI reports 2019 - Dr Mark Burgin
Dr. Mark Burgin BM BCh (oxon) MRCGP examines the tension between the instructions from claimant and defendant solicitors from the perspective of the expert's duty to the court...
A Novel Approach to Loss of a Chance Cases 2019 - Dr Mark Burgin
Dr. Mark Burgin BM BCh (oxon) MRCGP discusses how the law of causation has become inconsistent and contrary to natural justice whilst trying to decide loss of a chance cases...
What History tells us about Collapsing Health Systems 2019 - Dr Mark Burgin
Dr Mark Burgin BM BCh (oxon) MRCGP looks to history for clues of what it means for a health system to collapse and how to describe the pattern mathematically... preview http://www.pibulj.com/content/law-journal-summaries/news-category-4/4776-what-history-tells-us-about-collapsing-health-systems-2019-dr-mark-burgin
What does a Litigant in Person need from their Medical Expert? 2019 - Dr Mark Burgin
Dr Mark Burgin BM BCh (oxon) MRCGP discusses how to solve the challenges that come LiPs instructions and how to enjoy this complex type of work.

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