February 2026 Contents
 Welcome to the February 2026 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.
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| Personal Injury Articles | |
 High Court Refuses to Play Ball: Footballs, Fences and Foreseeability - Georgina Pressdee, Temple Garden Chambers This article examines the recent decision of the High Court to dismiss the Claimant's appeal in Adam Lillystone v Bradgate Education Partnership [2025] EWHC 3341. The Claimant had sustained an injury to his hand on the Defendant's premises - a football pitch surrounded by a 4.5m fence with a further 2-2.5m perimeter fence. After kicking a ball out of bounds, he climbed the locked perimeter gate to retrieve it and lacerated his hand on a metal burr at the top. He sought damages under the Occupiers' Liability Acts 1957 and 1984... |
 What compelling reason? Second limb of the summary judgment test CPR r. 24.3(b) - Michael Brooks Reid, Temple Garden Chambers Michael Brooks Reid discusses an appeal decision in an interesting employer's liability meets clinical negligence case of Michelle Prudence v Gloucestershire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust [2026] EWHC 96 (KB). The two claimants were midwives at the Aveta Birth Unit in Cheltenham Hospital ("the Birth Unit"), a facility suitable only for low-risk births. The relevant guidelines required, on any unexplained vaginal bleeding, immediate transfer to the Gloucester Hospital ("the Hospital") for full obstetric consultant care. The relevant guidelines warned: "beware of blood-stained liquor" (blood in the amniotic fluid)... |
 Supreme Court revisits civil illegality in death by killing case - Michael Brooks Reid, Temple Garden Chambers Michael Brooks Reid discusses the recent Supreme Court case G4S Health Services (UK) Ltd v Lewis-Ranwell [2026] UKSC 2, in which the panel was asked to decide, in the absence of any direct authority, whether the doctrine of illegality prevented a claimant from recovering losses in respect of his killing of three elderly men, in circumstances where he had been found not guilty of murder by reason of insanity. The Claimant was diagnosed with schizophrenia and had previously been in psychiatric intensive care. On 8 and 9 February 2019, he was twice held in police custody, for suspected burglary and then for causing grievous bodily harm. He exhibited severe... |
 A Conflict of Schedules: Court of Appeal Rules on Failure to File a Costs Schedule - Georgina Pressdee, Temple Garden Chambers On 19 December 2025, Lord Justice Bean dismissed the Claimant's appeal in The King (on the application of Public and Commercial Services Union) v The Secretary of State for the Home Department [2025] EWCA Civ 175 in a unanimous judgment on behalf of the Court of Appeal. The judgment confirms that a failure to file a costs schedule does not preclude the successful party to an appeal from obtaining an order for costs... |
| Clinical Negligence Medicine by Dr Mark Burgin | |
 Superlawyer: Working with The Greats - Dr Mark Burgin Dr Mark Burgin explains how the best lawyers can empower experts to write better reports that address all the material issues. A common source of friction exists between the instructing solicitor and the medical expert regarding the nature of instructions. The expert may argue they are simply providing a medical report, while the solicitor insists the expert address broader legal or procedural issues. Without clear boundaries, the exchange can degenerate into lawyers offering medical opinions and experts attempting to explain the law... |
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![Appeal judge rules that credit hire company has no costs liability following a finding of fundamental dishonesty in personal injury case: RSA v. Fastrack Solutions Limited [2023] 4 WLUK 92 - David Bowden, Erimus Chambers](/content/images/resized/images/stories/carkeys_72_72.jpg)
