Case review: Clinical negligence update

Dr Simon Fox QC provides a summary of all the important cases from 2017 ‘In ABC, the court considered the public interest, duty of confidentiality to the father, undermining of the doctor-patient relationship, pressure on patients to agree to disclosure, psychiatric harm to non-patients, burden on medical staff and incremental manner of development of the …
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Compensation: Vicarious liability – still ‘on the move‘

Philip Davy considers the far-reaching decision of the Supreme Court which held a local authority vicariously liable for the tortious acts of foster carers ‘This was not a case of negligence or fault-based liability; instead it was a case focused upon whether, and if so in what circumstances, ‘non-fault‘ liability could attach to the local …
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Regulation: The push for change

Andrew Mckie evaluates the future of the claims industry ‘With the changes to the claims management company (CMC) market well under way, there will also be changes implemented to the solicitor personal injury market.‘ The years 2018-19 are going to be huge for the personal injury world (yet again!). Changes are aloft in all different …
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Liability: Withdrawing admissions

Shaun Ferris highlights that a significant change in the value of a claim is a relevant criteria ‘There was an incentive for parties speedily and proportionately to settle fast-track claims and it would discourage such an approach if a substantial increase in value was not a reason to withdraw an earlier admission‘. In Wood v …
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Clinical negligence: Thrombosis and anticoagulation related claims

Julian Matthews examines some of the issues in this little-written-about area, with particular reference to the issues of patient consent which now arise following Montgomery ‘A proper and adequate supply of information to the patient and their relatives and carers at each stage is crucial in ensuring the safety of patients.‘ Issues related to blood …
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Costs: Whose file is it anyway?

A growth area in costs litigation is solicitors‘ clients challenging whether the success fee was reasonable. Paul Jones reports on two conflicting cases regarding disclosure ‘It was the claimants‘ contention that the costs deducted were potentially unreasonable and may be subject to reduction at a solicitor/client assessment.‘ The Law Society Gazette recently led with the …
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Case report: London Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games (in liquidation) v Sinfield [2018] EWHC 51 (QB)

Fundamental dishonesty; special damages for expenses ‘The dishonesty was motivated not by a wish to create a false claim but “to conceal and get away with the muddled and careless presentation of his case in the past“.‘ This is a fundamental dishonesty case. The factual analysis on appeal provides a useful illustration of how to …
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Duty of care: It‘s a fair cop

Patrick West explores a recent Supreme Court case on police liability ‘Is there a general rule that police are not under any duty of care when discharging their function of investigating and preventing crime?‘ Everyone who has passed through law school will remember the case about the snail in the ginger beer. Poor old Mrs …
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