November 2025 Contents
 Welcome to the Novmeber 2025 issue of PI Brief Update Law Journal. Click the relevant links below to read the articles. CPD Note that there are no new monthly CPD quizzes since the SRA and the BSB have both updated their CPD schemes to eliminate this requirement. Reading PIBULJ articles can still help to meet your CPD needs. For further details see our CPD Information page.
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| Personal Injury Articles | |
 A Matter of Construction: Home Extensions under the Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme - Georgina Presdee, Temple Garden Chambers On 12 September 2025, the Court of Appeal handed down its unanimous decision in Stephenson v First-Tier Tribunal (Social Entitlement Chamber) v Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority [2025] EWCA Civ 1160. The lead Judgment from Dingemans LJ clarifies the construction of paragraph 42(b) of the 2001 Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme and comments on the recoverability of home extensions more generally. Paragraph 42 makes provision for additional compensation to qualifying Claimants who were dependent on the deceased for... |
 A Question of Fact: Factual findings and evaluation of evidence in the High Court - Michael Brooks Reid, Temple Garden Chambers Michael Brooks Reid discusses the High Court's approach to evaluation of evidence in the clinical negligence case Deakin-Stephenson v Behar & Chelsea and Westminster Hospital NHS Foundation Trust [2024] EWHC 2338 (KB). The Claimant, DS, was admitted to hospital in November 2016 with diverticulitis and a localised perforation. Following what she alleged to be negligent treatment, the Claimant required a permanent stoma. The central disputes at trial concerned what had been said and done at the time--particularly whether DS and her family had requested referral to a colorectal surgeon and what advice was given about... |
 Throwing good money after bad? A warning on wasted costs - Michael Brooks Reid, Temple Garden Chambers Michael Brooks Reid comments on the Employment Appeal Tribunal's consideration of the wasted costs jurisdiction in the case of Gurney v Randall and Others [2025] EAT 154. The Claimant, R, had been, though an informal arrangement beginning in 1990, a cleaner of a residential building in Harrow. In 2020, R was informed that her engagement was terminated. Wishing to challenge her termination, R was referred by her trade union to a direct access barrister... |
 Plead it or Weep: The Pitfalls of Oral Evidence in an OIC - Georgina Presdee, Temple Garden Chambers OIC hearings can, at times, feel like a lawless landscape when it comes to witness evidence. This article seeks to clarify when a witness can and should be allowed to give oral evidence at an OIC hearing, with reference to the procedure set out in PD27B. All paragraph references are to PD27B. If a party intends for a witness (including the Claimant) to give evidence at an OIC hearing, they should list the witness in their Claim Form or Acknowledgement of Service ('the pleadings'). For Claimants, this requirement is... |
| Clinical Negligence Medicine by Dr Mark Burgin | |
 Mazur and the Wild West in Law and Medicine - Dr Mark Burgin Dr Mark Burgin explains how the case of Mazur has shone a light on how delegation by professional groups is challenging current regulatory structures and undermining reputation in law and medicine. Mazur appears to be a simple decision about the protection given the title solicitor. That it caused disruption suggests that there may be deeper problem. Much of the work that two decades ago was performed by doctors and lawyers is now carried out by associates. These associates are experienced and competent so there is no problem, or is there?... |
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![Appeal judge rules that credit hire company has no costs liability following a finding of fundamental dishonesty in personal injury case: RSA v. Fastrack Solutions Limited [2023] 4 WLUK 92 - David Bowden, Erimus Chambers](/content/images/resized/images/stories/carkeys_72_72.jpg)
