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Contempt of court: Committal where the die has already been cast

Anthony Johnson reports that judges will not tolerate dishonesty ‘The judge concluded that, having exercised the discretion under CPR 81.13(3)(a) afresh, the public interest in the case clearly militated in favour of committal proceedings being brought.’ The Court of Appeal’s recent decision in Zurich Insurance plc v Romaine [2019] is essential reading for any party …
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Costs orders: QOCS or not?

Do not assume QOCS automatically applies, warns Jasmine Murphy ‘Where a personal injury claim includes claims for other things like car repairs or credit hire for example, QOCS protection is not automatically given.’ It is easy to assume that qualified one-way costs shifting (QOCS) applies automatically to every personal injury case. However the most recent …
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Breach of duty: Assessing the standard of care: junior doctors

Does conferring with a consultant absolve a junior doctor? Rajkiran Barhey summarises a recent case ‘While at first blush it may seem unfair to require the same standard of care from junior doctors as their more senior colleagues, a number of considerations must be borne in mind.’ The Scottish case of Andrews v Greater Glasgow …
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Case report: Mackenzie v Alcoa Manufacturing (GB) Ltd [2019] EWCA Civ 2110

Noise-induced hearing loss; adverse inferences; noise surveys ‘In reviewing Garnham J’s decision, the court restated how cautious judges should be in overturning decisions of fact, particularly as they had not had the benefit of hearing what they referred to as the “sea” of evidence.’ Historic noise-induced hearing loss (NIHL) claims are notorious for posing evidential …
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Costs: Assessment of fixed costs: a three-stage process

Paul Jones highlights a recent case that provides helpful guidance in an area where the rules are silent ‘The defendant’s submission was that CPR 36.20 gave rise to a deemed order for costs to be assessed by the court and, the claimant, therefore, should have sought a detailed assessment of those costs.’ One of the …
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Case report: Ho v Adelekun [2019] EWCA Civ 1988

Contracting out of fixed costs; Part 36 offers; RTA Protocol ‘This decision provides welcome clarity as to the limited circumstances in which fixed costs will be disapplied by implication.’ This case concerned the application of the fixed costs regime for ex-Protocol cases at sIIIA of CPR Part 45, following acceptance of an ostensible Part 36 …
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Evidence: Covert recording in a PI claim

Grace Nicholls considers the implications of a recent case that concerned the recording of medical examinations by the claimant ‘While noting that the covert recordings of Mr M and Mr K were “reprehensible”, the judge observed that the evidence obtained through the recording of Dr T’s examination was highly relevant and probative, indeed as were …
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Service: Late delivery

Applications for extensions of time for service of a claim form are risky and should be avoided. Ian Meikle reports on the latest Court of Appeal guidance ‘The reason given for the need for more time was simply “there have been delays in arranging for service of the documents”. No witness statement was served with …
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Motor insurance: Racing exclusions in motor policies

John McDonald explores the interesting area of insurance policy exclusions and who ultimately ends up footing the bill ‘Even if an insurer can establish that the racing exclusion in its policy wording is on its face effective to exclude cover in respect of the activity being carried on by its insured at the time of …
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