I recently acted in the High Court appeal in Wetherell v Student Loans Company Ltd [2024] EWHC 1443 (KB) which raises some interesting questions about the personal injury landscape after the Enterprise and Regulatory Reform Act 2013. When the Enterprise and Regulatory Reform Act 2013 came into force and personal injury claimants could no longer…
16 Apr 2024
On 10 April 2024, the High Court handed down its decision in Williams-Henry v Associated British Ports Holdings Ltd [2024] EWHC 806 (KB). In that judgment the presentation of the Claimant’s claim for personal injury was considered fundamentally dishonest and so was dismissed under section 57 of the Criminal Justice and Courts Act 2015 (“the 2015 Act”). In considering whether…
08 Jan 2024
After the introduction of the reforms to the Civil Procedure Rules in 2013, you may recall some judges becoming, at least initially, excited about the prospect of experts giving evidence concurrently (so-called “hot tubbing”). Since that early flush of excitement, I have been involved in only one trial in which it was used and I…
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04 Jul 2024
On 14 March 2024 the Court of Appeal handed down its judgment in White v Secretary of State for Health and Social Care [2024] EWCA Civ 244. The White appeal was one of two cases, heard together, the other being Cuthbert v Taylor Woodrow Construction Holdings. The issue in each case was that of breach…
07 Dec 2023
Provisional damages operate as an exception to the general rule that damages are assessed on a once-and-for-all basis. Where a claimant finds themselves at a risk of developing a disease or deterioration in their physical or mental condition in the future, the general rule would require the court to assess that risk and compensate the…
07 Dec 2023
On 17 July 2023, the Industrial Injuries Advisory Council (IIAC) published two important papers in relation to hand-arm vibration syndrome (HAVS). HAVS, then known as Vibration White Finger, was first prescribed as an industrial disease by the IIAC over 40 years ago following the publication of its Command Paper Cm 8350 in 1981. The background…
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04 December 2023
Following on from our October 2022 Rugby Union article on instrumented mouthguards, World Rugby will now be adopting mouthguards with smart technology that measures the force of impacts to the head in real time during matches. The mouthguards have already been used in the inaugural WXV competition and will be mandatory in World Rugby games…
30 November 2023
The Supreme Court has handed down its highly anticipated decision in TUI UK Ltd v Griffiths [2023] UKSC 48. The Supreme Court unanimously allowed the appeal of the Claimant, reversing the decision of the Court of Appeal. The judgment can be accessed here. The decision of the Court of Appeal is discussed in the author’s blog…
09 November 2023
An award of damages in an asbestosis claim is reasonably substantial, often in the region of six figures. It is almost always made on a provisional basis, a consequence of which is that, unless the return clauses are activated, special damages are usually lower than general damages. Therefore, the award for general damages is likely…
09 October 2023
What’s wrong with this picture (taken from this Breathe Freely Toolbox Talk)? Introduction In July of 2023, as I walked from the Combined Court Centre in Sheffield in the company of other disease lawyers, we passed a construction site that bore the impression of compliance with the Construction Design & Management Regulations 2015: a modern,…
01 August 2023
Whether assessing the likely award of general damages for pain, suffering and loss of amenity (“PSLA”) on behalf of a Claimant, setting a reserve or considering a Part 36 offer for a Defendant, it is important to ensure that one can be as accurate as possible in the assessment of general damages for PSLA. In…
28 July 2023
On 26 July 2023, the Court of Appeal handed down its decision in the case of FXF v English Karate Federation Ltd [2023] EWCA Civ 891, regarding the correct approach to dealing with applications to set aside default judgments. Specifically, the court addressed the issue whether the well-trodden criteria from Denton v TH White Ltd [2014] 1 WLR…
19 July 2023
Audiometric testing of employees has played a central role in the management of risk of exposure of workers to excessive levels of noise in industry for many decades. Audiometry can detect early damage to hearing. Typically where used by prudent employers, the testing would have comprised self-recorded automated audiometry (such as Bekesy audiograms). The reliability and relevance…
04 July 2023
Since the late 1990s, the courts have approached the issues of diagnosis and causation of Hand-Arm Vibration Syndrome (“HAVS”), and quantification of general damages, by reference to HAVS’s two constituent components: vascular HAVS and sensorineural HAVS. There is also evidence, however, that hand-transmitted vibration can damage the musculoskeletal system. Vascular HAVS involves damage to the…
14 June 2023
In the case of Montgomery v Lanarkshire Health Board [2015] AC 1430, the Supreme Court drew a distinction between a doctor’s role when considering possible investigatory or treatment options and, their advisory role in discussing with a patient any risks of injury which may be involved in any recommended treatment and possible alternatives. The former…
25 May 2023
On 9 May 2023, Ritchie J sitting in the High Court handed down judgment in Woodcock v Chief Constable of Northamptonshire Police [2023] EWHC 1062 (KB) which addressed the question of whether the police had a duty to warn the Claimant that her violent ex-partner was lurking outside her home. A link to the judgment…
23 May 2023
This is the first in a series of blogs that I shall be authoring on the Defective Premises Act 1972 (“DPA”) and some of the current trends that I am seeing with claims brought against landlords under s. 4. Introduction Claims under s. 4 of the DPA have, as a basic ingredient, notice as a…
18 May 2023
The risks associated with exposure to vibration from hand-held tools in the workplace have been increasingly well publicised over the last half-century and have resulted in specialist regulation in an effort to reduce injury. Despite that, employees suffering injury as a result of vibration exposure is not a thing of the past. The most recent…
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