November 2017 #160 – Law Journals

The Discount Rate: All change please

Charlie Cory-Wright QC and Sadie Crapper summarise government proposals for changing how the discount rate is set ‘The government believes the current assumption that claimants will only invest in very-low-risk investments is unrealistic and may produce significantly larger awards than provide 100% compensation.’ The moment we all were waiting for arrived on 7 September 2017 …

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Prolonged Disorders Of Consciousness: Accurate assessment and investigation of clients

Helen Gill-Thwaites and Karen Elliott advise what to expect from your expert and assessors ‘While SMART is an assessment tool it is more accurately described as a “intensive investigative strategy” by examining the impact of all of the key principles as described in the RCP guidelines 2013.’ Accurate assessment of a client with prolonged disorders …

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Fraud: Dealing with the new reality

George Davies provides an invaluable insight and his personal view on how fraud cases are currently being dealt with by the courts ‘The current reality is that we have to litigate with an increasingly imperfect system.’ Up until a few years ago, allegations of fraud in road traffic claims were taken very seriously by the …

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Costs: To fix or not to fix?

Paul Jones considers the potential conflict between fixed costs and Part 36 offers ‘Could the court, following late acceptance of a Part 36 offer in a fixed-costs case, make an order for the costs incurred in the late period to be paid in addition to the fixed costs?’ The system of fixed costs, which covers …

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Childbirth Injury: Liability issues

R S

Rushmi Sethi examines clinical negligence claims concerning childbirth injury ‘The doctor’s obligation, other than in cases where it would damage the patient’s welfare, was to present the material risks and uncertainties of different treatments, and to allow patients to make decisions that would affect their health and well-being on proper information.’ Relatively few childbirth injury …

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Case Report: BAE Systems (Operations) Ltd v Konczak [2017] EWCA Civ 1188

Apportionment of liability; psychiatric injury; pre-existing illness ‘The tone of Underhill LJ’s judgment is that it will be difficult to convince a court that apportionment is not going to be possible.’ This case revisits the vexed question of divisibility of psychiatric (and other) injury. It is an employment case of wide importance and application. The …

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