Negligence: Causation of loss

Julian Matthews explores a defendant’s liability when there are multiple causes of a given loss ‘While this basis of approach makes clear logical sense, and appears to be wholly in line with the approach of the Court of Appeal, there are significant concerns that the practical working of the approach will result in significant injustice.’ …
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Medical Negligence: The care that would have been needed in any event

Emma Zeb and Glyn Edwards consider the Court of Appeal decision in Reany v University Hospital of North Staffs NHS Trust [2015] and the impact this has on care and medical treatment claims ‘The question of whether or not the claimant would have paid for the care package received on a ‘but for’ basis is …
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Causation Of Loss: A question of care

What are the implications of the reversal by the Court of Appeal of the decision in Reaney v University Hospital of North Staffordshire? Julian Matthews considers the ramifications ‘In relation to the issue of causation, the Master of the Rolls emphasised that the important issue was whether the nature of the care required absent the …
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Catastrophic Injury: An exercise in persuasion

Stephen Cottrell outlines the art of drafting schedules of loss in catastrophic injury claims ‘Schedules in catastrophic injury cases […] are pieces of craftsmanship rather than works of art, designed with the needs of the claimant in mind and presented as attractively as possible for the benefit of the defendant’s insurer and the judge.’ Catastrophic …
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Causation: Reducing damages due to pre-existing conditions – a tenable argument?

Julian Matthews discusses two recent cases which illustrate the potentially far reaching consequences of the rules of causation of damage ‘These cases clearly illustrate that the focus of attention in the assessment of damages in cases where there is a medical or other disability subsisting prior to the date of negligence must be upon the …
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Negligence: Material contribution to damage

One of the more intellectually challenging concepts in the field of clinical negligence is that of material contribution. Julian Matthews highlights two recent cases which illustrate some of the issues which arise ‘A defendant cannot be held to be liable for loss or damage that it did not cause or to which it made no …
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