PI Brief Update

January 2011 Summary

NEWSLETTER

LAW JOURNAL

Personal Injury Articles

Exaggeration, inflated claims and the award of costs - Professor Mark Hill QC, Pump Court Chambers
If you don’t ask you don’t get. This mantra has animated the drafting of claims for special damages and, not infrequently, those parts of Claimant’s witness statements which deal with the devastating consequences of a trivial injury on his or her daily life...

Winning At All Costs - Simon Purkis, Pump Court Chambers
Winning isn’t everything... It’s the only thing. Right? This may be the case in the world of American football, but in the world of legal costs things are still slightly murkier. Although the unremitting introduction of fixed costs means that the days of disputes over the level of success fees may be numbered, there are still occasions where disputes on this issue are live. The recent decision in Fortune v Roe [2010] EWHC 90180 (Costs) deals with a road traffic accident where the fixed percentage success fees provided in Part 45.16 did not apply since this rule was not in force at the date of the accident.

Medico-Legal Articles, Edited by Dr Hugh Koch

Even a minor head injury may have long-term consequences - Dr Kathryn Peace, Consultant Clinical Neuropsychologist & Dr Karen Addy, Clinical Neuropsychologist & Dr Louise Payne, Clinical Psychologist
Even a modest blow to the head in a road traffic accident may result in concussion. Indicators of this are brief loss of consciousness, a period of confusion, loss of memory for all or part of the critical incident, vomiting, nausea or headache...

Mediation & ADR Articles, Edited by Tim Wallis, Trust Mediation Ltd

When is a case ready to settle and when is it ready to mediate? A mediator’s view - Tim Wallis, Trust Mediation Ltd
I am often asked for my opinion about when is the right time to mediate a claim. My usual answer is: As soon as you have sufficient information to make a business decision about the case (bearing in mind that you might be able to obtain outstanding information at the mediation)...

Marketing for Solicitors

Forecasting Trends 2: 2011 Forecasts - Jenny Cotton, Mortons Marketing
"More difficult than usual" has been quoted by many. Is this true for your practice? Recent weeks have shown many organisations have suffered from predictable events whose timing is not predictable eg we know flu outbreaks or bad weather does impact strongly on some businesses but does it influence your practice and when...

Book Reviews

Civil Appeals: Principle and Procedure - James Leabeater, James Purchase, Lynne McCafferty and Sean O’Sullivan
Reviewed by Aidan Ellis, Temple Garden Chambers

Charon QC

Charon QC, January 2011
Laziness, ignorance of the law, manipulation for political purpose or intellectual deficiency? - Modern law reporting...