April 2011 #94 – Law Journals

Evidence: Expert witness liability

Julian Matthews considers the care required when commissioning, reading and relying upon expert reports and interpreting the findings. ‘Taking recommendations, made by an expert, at face value will not suffice. The legal team have a duty to their client to ensure that they have properly understood any caveats that the expert has placed upon their …

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Unsightly Claims: Scar revision costs

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Christopher Stone looks at the treatments available and costs involved for scar amelioration ‘The mechanism of injury and the nature of the traumatic wound are often the most important factors in determining the quality of the final scar. Injuries resulting in significant tissue loss, including major burn injuries, are clearly likely to cause the worst …

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Case Report: Ricky Edwards-Tubb v JD Wetherspoon plc

Demise of legal professional privilege; end to expert shopping? ‘The whole ethos of personal injuries litigation, since the introduction of the CPR and its associated protocols, expects an equivalent level of openness and communication from litigators and parties before and after issue.’This appeal raised the following question: if the claimant has obtained a medical report …

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Oral Evidence: Experts at trial

Mark Solon offers tactical advice on trial preparation ‘If there is a choice, performance is more important than reputation. However, some of the skills that an expert requires can be acquired “on the job”, and an inexperienced expert witness with the required expertise in the relevant discipline is often preferable to the perhaps over-used and …

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CRU: Recovery of benefits

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Practical tips regarding appeals from Compensation Recovery Unit decisions are provided by John Marston, Keith Wilding and William Hillier ‘Lawyers in private commercial practice tend not to have a clear grasp of the work of the Tribunal Service.’ Lawyers working in the personal injury field are aware of the requirements set out in the Social …

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Mental Health: The extent of a duty of care

Emma Holt reviews the lottery of protection of the most fundamental of human rights: the right to life, for the highly vulnerable people in society ‘Baroness Hale’s obiter comments in para 101 of Savage v South Essex NHS Trust [2008] bear close analysis: she commented that it is difficult to distinguish between different classes of …

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Bill Of Costs: Now that is a big Bill

Paul Jones examines an extremely useful case that provides a senior costs judge’s guidance on issues large and small ‘The claimant’s 100% success fee was always likely to be contentious, and so it proved. Master Hurst accepted that, at the time the risk assessment was undertaken, an assessment of the prospects of success at 50/50 …

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