Personal Injury Blogs Archive

Litkraft Ltd v (1) Cottrell (2) Williams (3) Goldsmith [2023] EWHC 465 (Comm) has touched upon, but not decided, whether certain fee sharing arrangements could amount to a probited referral fee under section 56 of the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012 (“LASPO”). The court did however decide that a contractual claim for unpaid…

This blog reviews the forthcoming changes to the QOCS regime which will reverse the effect of Ho v Adelekun [2021] UKSC 43 and other recent cases. The Civil Procedure (Amendment) Rules 2023/105 (for brevity, ‘the Amendment Rules’) are about to amend the CPR’s QOCS provisions in an apparent attempt to negate the effects of various recent authorities,…

In Mundy v TUI UK Ltd [2023] EWHC 385 (Ch) (judgment available here), Collins Rice J heard an appeal which considered the implications of the Claimant’s Part 36 offer to split “liability” at 90%/10%. The Facts in Mundy The matter arose out of a claim for damages for ‘holiday sickness’ when the Claimant went on an all-inclusive package holiday…

In Rabot v Hassam; Briggs v Laditan [2023] EWCA Civ 19 the Court of Appeal considered how to assess quantum for pain, suffering and loss of amenity (“PSLA”) where a claimant suffers whiplash injury which falls within the scope of the fixed tariff system contained within the Whiplash Injury Regulations 2021 (“the Regulations”), pursuant to the Civil Liability Act 2018 (“the…

Two important recent cases have grappled with the issue of how qualified one-way costs shifting (“QOCS”) affects the situation where a defendant’s offer is belatedly accepted. Can the defendant enforce a costs order against the settlement sum? The issue arises because the core QOCS provision, CPR 44.14, as it presently stands is worded as follows:…

Ex turpi causa non oritur actio literally translates to ‘the action does not arise from a shameful cause’. In other words, as stated by Lord Mansfield CJ in Holman v Johnson (1775) 1 Cowp 341, 343: “no court will lend its aid to a man who founds his cause of action upon an immoral or an illegal act”.…

The last 12 months have seen political and economic changes which would have been hard to imagine even a few years ago. Everyone will have their own views of how we have got into this position but this short blog focuses on how this turmoil might affect presentation and resolution of personal injury claims. Interest…

The past decade has seen incremental expansion in the scope of the duty of care imposed on public authorities, from the imposition of vicarious liability in Armes v Nottingham City Council [2018] AC 355 to the confirmation that there is no public interest special immunity for police in Robinson v Chief Constable of West Yorkshire Police [2018] AC 736.…

In another step forward, the use of Instrumented Mouthguards (iMGs) is being included by the RFU in their mission to reduce players’ risk of concussion.  Following research across the 2020/21 season using Harlequins and other men’s and women’s top tier teams, iMGs are to be offered to all elite English teams this season. The RFU,…

The passing of the Enterprise and Regulatory Reform Act 2013 (‘ERRA’) was anticipated to have a profound impact on the way in which employer’s liability claims were litigated. The effect of section 69 was to remove civil liability for breaches of the variety of health and safety regulations which imposed strict liability on employers to…

Both s. 13 of the Data Protection Act 1998 (“DPA 98”) and Art. 82 of the General Data Protection Regulation (“GDPR”) provide an individual with a right to compensation where she suffers material or non-material damage (including distress) – see Google Inc v Vidal-Hall [2015] EWCA Civ 311 and s. 168 of the Data Protection Act 2018…

Benjamin Franklin held that death, along with taxes, were the only certainties. When the former occurs after a cause of action in a personal injury claim has arisen there will be consequences for that claim. When a person who is, or was intended to be, a party to a personal injury claim dies (so we…