May 2014 Contents
 Welcome to the May 2014 issue of PI Brief Update Law Journal. Click the relevant links below to read the articles and take the CPD quiz. Please remember to fill in our quick feedback form after you have finished. CPD Quiz The quiz is designed to meet the CPD requirements of the SRA and the BSB. It provides 1.5 hours accredited distance learning. Law Brief Publishing Ltd is registered with the Solicitors Regulation Authority for England and Wales, ref EGB/LBPL, and with the Bar Standards Board. The CPD is also valid for cILEX (formerly ILEX) members and for members of the Chartered Insurance Institute (CII). Please check with the relevant organisation for full details of their CPD rules. Take the CPD Quiz Feedback Form CPD Information Download PIBULJ PDF to Read on your PC, Phone or Tablet We have made this month's issue into a PDF so that you can download it to read on the train, in the garden, or anywhere else you might not have a good internet connection. There are two versions, one is optimised for reading on a computer, iPad, other tablets, or for printing. The other one is optimised for reading on iPhones, Android phones etc. Access the PIBULJ May 2014 PDF Version
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| Personal Injury Articles | |
 FREE CHAPTER: 'Occupiers, Highways and Defective Premises Claims: A Practical Guide Post-Jackson' by Andrew Mckie, Clerksroom A free chapter from the new book 'Occupiers, Highways and Defective Premises Claims: A Practical Guide Post-Jackson' by Andrew Mckie, Covering how to run highways, occupiers and defective premises claims in an economical and efficient way, post-Jackson and in fixed costs. The book covers issues in relation to Occupiers Liability cases (1957 and 1984), Highways cases (1980), Defective Premises (1972) and nuisance, and in particular focuses on the day to day issues in practice that one encounters with such cases. |
 Costs Budgeting's 'First Birthday': 2014 Update - Tom Gibson, Outer Temple Chambers As costs budgeting passed its 'first birthday' in April 2014, this article summarises the recent CPR updates and case law in the area. It also contains some practical tips for this relatively new area of law. |
 Public Liability and Highways Claims Post-Jackson: Part 36 and Litigation Tactics - Andrew Mckie, Clerksroom Chapter two from the new book 'Occupiers, Highways and Defective Premises Claims: A Practical Guide Post-Jackson' by Andrew Mckie. This chapter deals with using the new amendments to the CPR post April 2013 and post July 2013, when the Jackson reforms came into effect to a) vet cases early on, b) obtain disclosure quickly, and c) settling the case before it gets to trial, and how Part 36 can encourage that. |
 Public Liability and Highways Claims Post-Jackson: The Portals - Andrew Mckie, Clerksroom Chapter three from the new book 'Occupiers, Highways and Defective Premises Claims: A Practical Guide Post-Jackson' by Andrew Mckie. What stays in, and what comes out of the portal, may be a key decision for some claimant law firms as to whether they feel it is economical to undertake this type of work... |
 Editorial: Statements of Truth - Aidan Ellis, Temple Garden Chambers Where a witness has some conversational but imperfect English, whether or not to seek assistance from an interpreter can be a difficult decision. But the consequences of failing to get a statement of case or witness statement properly verified may be severe and it is therefore worth revisiting the key provisions. |
 Public Liability and Highways Claims Post-Jackson: Causation and Initial Liability Investigations - Andrew Mckie, Clerksroom This chapter will concentrate solely on investigating causation in relation to highways slipping and tripping claims and occupiers claims and focus on the early investigations to be undertaken in relation to such cases at the outset. |
 The Forthcoming Guideline Hourly Rates 2014 - Matthew Hoe, Jaggards & Taylor Rose Law The CJC Costs Committee has delayed the announcement of its recommendations for new guideline hourly rates for solicitors. Still, the announcement will be made at some time in the next few weeks. It is likely to be of considerable importance to... |
 Redaction of Expert Reports - Jack Harding, 1 Chancery Lane What is the position where a litigant instructs an expert to comment upon matters within their expertise and the expert, whilst producing an acceptable overall report, trespasses into areas which are the realm of the trial judge? |
 The "Anomalous" Fatal Accidents Act - Charles Bagot, Hardwicke Those are not my words but the view expressed on 2 April by Lord Sumption on the effective over-compensation which can result under the Fatal Accidents Act 1976 ("the FAA")... |
 Mitchell Reaches Hire? - Jasmine Murphy, Hardwicke Eleven years on from the House of Lords' decision in Lagden v O'Connor [2003] UKHL 64 "impecuniosity" remains a hot topic in the world of credit hire. The Court of Appeal case... |
 Setting the Discount Rate: Time to Depart From Wells? - Peter Walmsley, Clyde & Co LLP The overriding principle of damages for personal injuries is restitution, putting the claimant back in the position he/she would have been absent the tort, so far as is financially possible. The claimant is to be provided with 100% compensation, no more, no less... |
 Employers' Liability Insurance: More Risk of Personal Liability for Directors in Scotland - Will McIntosh & Fiona Beal, Brodies LLP Following a recent Scottish court decisioni, there is now a distinction between Scotland and England as to when a director may be personally liable for his company's failure to have proper employers' liability insurance in place... |
 Historic Sexual Abuse: Where Next for Pi Claims? - Catarina Sjoelin Knight, Senior Lecturer at Nottingham Law School and door tenant at 36 Bedford RowSince sex abuse allegations against Jimmy Savile hit the headlines in late 2012 and the Metropolitan Police began Operation Yewtree, historic sexual abuse has rarely been absent from the media. Recent crime figures seem to show a surge in reports of sexual offences... |
 Occupiers Rights... - Angus Piper, 1 Chancery Lane The National Press seem to enjoy the facts of a personal injury claim, decided last week in the High Court by John Leighton-Williams QC, sitting as a Deputy High Court Judge. The case was Lisa Driver v Roman Painted House Trust and Dover City Council. It arose from a night out in July 2007, where Mrs Driver had... |
 Accidents at Work: The TUC and the Myth of The Compensation Culture - Gordon Exall, Zenith Chambers The TUC's ever helpful guide to health and safety is out for April and available online . The Bulletin covers numerous aspects of health and safety in the workplace. However one notable article relates to the "compensation myth". |
 Beauty is a Fragile Gift (Ovid): The Decision in Webster v Liddington [2014] EWCA Civ 560 - Sarah Prager, 1 Chancery Lane Sarah Prager considers the impact of the recent decision of the Court of Appeal in Webster v Liddington [2014] EWCA Civ 560 in cases arising out of negligently performed cosmetic surgery. |
 Vicarious Liability for Associate or Locum Clinicians: Whetstone v Medical Protection Society Ltd - Paul Stagg, 1 Chancery Lane The question of whether practice partners or principals are vicariously liable for negligent treatment provided by associates or locums is one which has frequently exercised the medical defence organisations in recent years. |
 Fatal Accidents Act 1976 Does Not Apply in Foreign Law Cases - Sarah Crowther, 3 Hare Court In a judgment handed down on 2 April 2014, the Supreme Court has considered the application of the principles of the Private International Law (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1995 to wrongful death claims where the substantive law is that of a country other than England. |
 Is It Time to Call in the WIP Doctor? - Edel Rome, Citadel Law Edel Rome, solicitor at Citadel Law, shows how diagnostic review can improve financial viability for clinical negligence lawyers. Our diagnostic reviews of law firms' clinical negligence caseloads often highlight low levels of expertise and poor risk management. These have a substantial impact on... |
 The Cost of Mental Illness - John van der Luit-Drummond, legal journalist John van der Luit-Drummond takes a look at the legal risks to businesses of not protecting their employees from mental illnesses such as stress and anxiety disorders. |
 Summary of Recent Cases, May 2014 Here is a summary of the recent notable court cases over the past month. |
 PI Practitioner, May 2014 Each issue a particular topic is highlighted, citing some of the useful cases and other materials in that area. This month: T&L Sugars Ltd v Tate & Lyle Industries Ltd [2014] EWHC 1066 (Comm) |
| Medico-Legal Articles, Edited by Dr Hugh Koch | |
 Some New Thoughts on Anterior Knee Pain - Mr John Mackinnon Anterior knee pain, is a condition in which patients often complain of pain that they experience at the front rather than the back of the knee, and which prevents them kneeling or crouching, climbing or descending stairs or slopes, and which can make sitting with the knees bent really very difficult... |
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| Expert Witness Articles | |
 Accreditation of Medical Expert Witnesses - Mark Solon, Bond Solon Demands imposed on expert witnesses have never been greater. Despite there being no single qualification for experts, who come from a wide variety of backgrounds, the solicitors, insurers and agencies who instruct them need to identify those who understand their duty to the court, and possess... |
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| Marketing for Solicitors | |
 Building a PI Brand - Chris Rodgers, First4Lawyers In today's consumer driven world, what better way to demonstrate who you are, what you do, and how good you are than through a brand? |
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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)
