PI Brief Update

29 August 2008 Summary

NEWSLETTER

LAW JOURNAL

Personal Injury Articles

Fraudulent Claims: What Happens Next? - Katherine Deal, 3 Hare Court
Fraudulent claims are no doubt as old as the legal profession itself. Whether the claimant is basing his claim on a wholly inaccurate version of events, or has a genuine claim and simply exaggerates part of it, defendants and the court must keep a careful eye out to attempt to identify the bad apples in the barrel of honest litigants.

Credit hire and collision damage waiver - Aidan Ellis, 1 Temple Gardens
Claims for credit hire are fraught with technical issues but one which often seems to be over-looked is the claims which are made for collision damage waiver (CDW). This article provides a brief guide to the main principles applied to this area.

The Role of the ABI GTA in Credit Hire Claims - Anthony Johnson, 1 Temple Gardens
The Association of British Insurers General Terms of Agreement (ABI GTA) is an accord between subscribing insurers and credit hire organisations (CHOs) which is intended to, amongst other things, simplify the process of settling credit hire claims by enabling claims to be settled quickly on terms agreeable to both sides.

Clinical Negligence Articles

Smoke-Free Regulations and Current Exemptions - Lisa Rodgers, Birmingham City University
This article considers the recent case of R (on the application of G) v Nottinghamshire Healthcare NHS Trust [2008] EWHC 1096 (Admin), handed down on 20 May 2008.

Medico-Legal Articles, Edited by Dr Hugh Koch

Post-disaster Physical Symptoms (Slottja et al, 2008) - Dr. K.V.J. Newn & Dr Hugh Koch
The relationship between exposure to disasters and subsequent unexplained physical health has an interesting relationship with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). Physical health problems often occur alongside a diagnosis of PTSD (e.g. Wolfe et al; 1999) and it has been proposed that PTSD has a mediating (Schnurr & Green, 2004) or moderating (Van de Berg et al 2005) role between exposure to a traumatic event and subsequent physical health symptoms.

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

ADR is the answer! - Maurice Nichols, Browne Jacobson
Do you as a personal injury solicitor recognise the following scenario? You work hard on a case which proves to be unsettleable. At the Court door counsel arrives. A quick huddle with his opposite number, numbers for discussion emerge and after a few minutes a settlement materialises.

Is there a Need to Mediate? - Philip Hesketh, Clarkson Hirst Solicitors
An article examining the rules and obligations that lie behind the recent changes to the allocation questionnaire and the penalties that parties may face if they refuse to consider mediation.

Charon QC

Charon QC, Aug 2008
The harbingers of doom gather as the credit-crunch brings into focus the rising/falling fortunes of lawyers and law firms.