Personal Injury Blogs Archive

There was no doubting that it was a “cruel combination of circumstances” when a cherry tree that had been growing on land immediately adjacent to a dual carriageway, suddenly fell directly onto Mr Hoyle’s car the exact moment he was driving past. Mr Hoyle sadly died at the scene. A claim under the Fatal Accidents…

The law in slipping cases is, in theory, settled and straightforward. One question that often arises in practice, however, is whether the defendant bears an evidential burden of proving that it had in place a proper and adequate system. It is a misconception to say that such a burden always arises in this context. This…

In serious personal injury cases, the claim for future commercial care and case management is typically the most valuable and hotly-contested head of loss. In this blog I offer practical guidance to those involved in such claims as to how to deal with what has been recognised as a “perfect storm” of difficulties in recruiting…

This blog looks at Functional Neurological Disorder (“FND”): what it is, how it is diagnosed, what medico-legal issues arise, and potential treatments. What is FND? FND is an umbrella term which can cover a whole spectrum of symptoms that do not arise as a consequence of neurological pathology. Historically, what we now call FND has…

A ‘public authority’ is generally an entity which possesses the power and ability to intervene in a variety of situations where a private entity would be unable to. Of course, as the saying goes, ‘with great power comes great responsibility’. Plainly, that applies were a public authority has positively acted, and in doing so, causes…

On 16 May 2017 Mrs Hazel Brown tragically drowned when her car left the C164 highway near Redruth in Cornwall and entered the Stithians Reservoir. This case concerned a fatal accident claim by her family against the two occupiers of the reservoir and against the local highway authority. At first instance, before HHJ Allan Gore QC…

The question of who can claim for “nervous shock” is upon us again. The issue is one which has periodically ventured as far as the House of Lords, since the decision in Bourhill v Young [1943] AC 92 and, following the decision of the Court of Appeal in the conjoined cases of Paul v Royal…

In Campbell v Advantage Insurance Co [2021] EWCA Civ 1698 the Court of Appeal has given guidance on the assessment of passengers’ contributory negligence in drink-driver cases.  The Facts Dean Brown had driven the claimant, Lyum Campbell, and Dean’s brother, Aaron Brown, to a club. All three consumed significant quantities of alcohol and in the…

It is not uncommon for a losing party to be disgruntled by the outcome of his/her case. However, the majority of the time, the findings of fact which have brought a judge to their conclusion will be unimpeachable and the reasons given, whilst potentially contrary to the beliefs of the losing party, will be sufficiently…

On 19 November 2021 the Court of Appeal handed down judgment in an important decision on an employer’s liability claim for damages for personal injury suffered by an Assistant Head Teacher who was assaulted by a pupil. Dingemans LJ gave the sole reasoned judgment, with which Andrews and Arnold LJJ agreed, dismissing the Claimant’s appeal…

The Court of Appeal handed down judgment last month allowing the Defendant’s appeal against the decision of Martin Spencer J in the case of Griffiths v TUI UK Ltd. The High Court decision is discussed in the author’s blog entitled “The Limitations of Challenging Uncontroverted Expert Evidence”, which can be read here. The decision of the Court of…

The High Court recently considered the meaning of ‘trespassers’ and the relevance of a person’s state of mind and intention for the purposes of the Occupiers’ Liability Act 1984 in the case of Ovu v London Underground Ltd [2021] EWHC 2733 (QB). Judgment was handed down on 13 October 2021. Factual Background On a freezing cold night…