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Robert Bourne considers a siginificant but often overlooked reform, the arrival of CPR 44.2(8) ‘The costs ordered to be paid will be those that “reflect a reasonable assessment of what was likely to be awarded.”’ In recent years it has been recognised that if a party is bound to receive a certain part of the …
Continue reading "Civil Procedure Rules: Payment on account of costs – what is the right percentage?"
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Section 2 Mental Health Act 1983; duty of care; burden of proof ‘The case was determined based on the simple finding that the Trust, by its security personnel, failed to take reasonable steps to ensure the safety of the claimant; and that this failure caused him to suffer injury.’ The claimant sustained his head injuries …
Continue reading "Case Report: Webley v St George’s Hospital NHS Trust and anr [2014] EWHC 299"
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Jim Tindal summarises mental capacity, CPR 21 and Dunhill v Burgin [2014] ‘The issue at the heart of Dunhill was: what “claim” must the claimant have capacity to commence? The claim which it was wrongly believed at the time the claimant had, or the (much bigger) claim they in fact had unknown to anyone at …
Continue reading "Capacity: When does a settlement settle nothing?"
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Julian Matthews looks at the case law and some recent illustrations ‘The touchstone for liability in clinical negligence claims remains the Bolam test, and Chester and Birch do not warrant a wholly different approach in cases concerning advice.’ The standard of care the law requires of a doctor has become well established using the terms …
Continue reading "Clinical Negligence: What does a clinician have to tell the patient?"
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Stephanie Prior examines a range of cases that have arisen due to issues with third-generation contraceptives ‘Doctors must take into consideration the individual patient’s risk factors before prescribing the patient a combined hormonal contraceptive pill.’ In January 2011 I was interviewed on the radio and on TV to discuss the implications of the implanon contraceptive …
Continue reading "Family Planning: Yasmin – the designer contraceptive pill, or is it?"
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Nigel Cooksley QC and Rosalie Snocken identify the problem areas and advise against settling too early ‘If funds can be made available then do not “make do”. Even if there is a compromise on liability due to litigation risk or contributory negligence, obtain an interim payment, engage a case manager and put into effect the …
Continue reading "Quantum: Maximising damages in brain injury cases"
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In the first of a two part article Christopher Jessel analyses the difficult issues which arise when pursuing injury claims which occurred on recreational land ‘The rules for occupiers’ liability can apply differently to open spaces used for recreation from the way they do to enclosed premises such as buildings, especially where access is not …
Continue reading "Occupiers Liability: Voluntary risk"
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Bill Braithwaite QC considers the need for financial planning at an early stage in catastrophic injury ‘Many clients find it difficult to contemplate looking so far into the future but lawyers always deal with these issues on the balance of probabilities.’When I started in silk, over 20 years ago, life care planning was developing in …
Continue reading "Advocate’s Advice: Plan for life"
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Paul Jones advises when it is appropriate to issue costs-only proceedings ‘In Knowles v Goldborn, the court concluded that the claimant had failed to make any real or genuine attempt to agree settlement of the claimant’s costs and, therefore, the issue of costs only proceedings was premature.’ Any practitioner who deals with costs will almost …
Continue reading "Costs: Trigger happy"
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Deirdre Goodwin provides analysis and considers the effect of a finding of incapacity to conduct proceedings upon the status of settlements not approved under CPR r21 ‘The re-assertion of the principle that an apparently fully informed and properly advised settlement will be treated as void if a claimant is retrospectively considered to be a protected …
Continue reading "Capacity: Test of capacity to conduct proceedings"
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