PI Brief Update

30 January 2008 Summary

NEWSLETTER

LAW JOURNAL

Personal Injury Articles

The Impact of the Changes to The Highway Code - Anthony Johnson, 1 Temple Gardens
On 1st October of last year the Department of Transport published a new edition of the Highway Code, the first comprehensive revision of the text since 1999.

Surveillance Evidence: Is it Always Necessary to Stay Within the Limits of the Law? - Sarah Prager, 1 Chancery Lane
This article examines the use of surveillance evidence which has been obtained by dubious or illegal methods: is it admissible, and if so, under what circumstances?

Deaths in Hospital: Part II: Savage v South Essex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust - Eliot Woolf & Christopher Wilson-Smith QC, Outer Temple Chambers
We recently wrote about the first instance decision in Savage v South Essex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust [2007] LS Law Med 291, in which Swift J held that the death of a patient compulsorily detained under the Mental Health Act had to prove gross negligence in order to establish a breach of Article 2 of the European Convention on Human Rights. On 20th December 2007, the decision was reversed by the Court of Appeal ([2007] EWCA Civ 1375).

Competently Managing Damages - William Latimer-Sayer, Cloisters
It is trite law that those who lack capacity may recover damages to reflect the likely costs of managing their award which would not otherwise have been incurred. Those costs would include Court of Protection fees and also the cost of appointing a professional trustee or a deputy under the Mental Capacity Act 2005...

Clinical Negligence Articles

The Vexation Of Indexation – A Running Story? - Richard Booth, 1 Crown Office Row
Richard Booth looks at the recent Court of Appeal decision in Thompstone and related appeals and asks whether the House of Lords is likely to be any more taken with the Defendants’ arguments than was the Court of Appeal.

Medico-Legal Articles, Edited by Dr Hugh Koch

Psychology for Lawyers: Recent Advances - Dr Hugh Koch, Hugh Koch Associates
Medico-legal experts and lawyers working together have the necessity and opportunity to learn about each other’s skills and professional background...

Presumed Consent in Organ Donation: The Devil is in the Detail - Odette Hutchinson, Birmingham City University
This article follows the recent publication of the Organs for Donation Task Force report, "Organs for Transplants", and considers the debate surrounding a change in the law in favour of presumed consent in organ donation.

Mediation & ADR Articles, Edited by Justin Patten, Human Law

Personal Injury Mediation: What is Coming Down the Track and When Will it Hit Me? - Tim Wallis, Expedite Resolution Ltd
From 1999 to 2007 PI practitioners could risk ignoring ADR and mediation without much real chance of being hurt by costs sanctions. This article will spell out how and why things are starting to change and what PI practitioners might do about it.