The Scottish government has announced (20 February 2011) that its plan to reform the system of NHS compensation claims in Scotland has been backed by a panel of independent experts.   http://www.scotland.gov.uk/News/Releases/2011/02/18132915   The No-Fault Compensation Review Group set up by the Health Secretary in 2009 and headed by Professor Sheila McLean, an expert in law and medical... [Continue Reading]

Tomasz Krysztof Kmiecic, was a carpenter. In June 2006 he tried to fix a leaky garage roof at a Mrs Isaacs’ substantial and valuable home when he fell from a ladder. He shattered his right elbow and injured his hip and thigh. He is now permanently disabled and can never work again as a carpenter and general builder.   The firm that contracted Mr Kmiecic (on £60 to £80) a da... [Continue Reading]

Whatever your views about the Human Rights Act 1998 ("HRA"), most lawyers would admit that it has led to many interesting developments in the law, although not as many as were feared as we approached the turn of the century and the Act coming into force.  The approach of the courts in this jurisdiction has, for the most part, been reasonably restrictive although it is clear that in the arena ... [Continue Reading]

It's the primary school teacher's well-rehearsed refrain.  It's also (almost) the facts of Johnson v Silverlink Trains Limited, heard in Coventry County Court on 23rd February 2011. Mrs Johnson was on her way back from seeing Robbie Williams, along with about 65,000 others. She rushed to Milton Keynes station where a throng of people was blocking the entrance. Mrs Johnson's case was that a st... [Continue Reading]

 The Mayor of London, Boris Johnson has recently expounded: “goggles, yet; a woolly hat, yet; but a helmet – not on your nelly”, in a recent article for the Telegraph. He was of course commenting on what he somewhat characteristically termed the “elf and safety madness that is sweeping our culture”, in relation to the growing trend for skiers to wear helmets. How... [Continue Reading]

Good news for schedulers! There is now empirical support for all those additional holiday costs claims.   A survey of 3,000 people by Teletext Holidays (published on 22 February 2011) reveals that we will go on 121 holidays over our life times. The average Briton  goes on 2 holidays every year from the age of 18. The types of holiday and destination vary. We tend to travel to party capi... [Continue Reading]

The New York Times reported last week (12 February 2011) that today marks the five year anniversary since US Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas last spoke in court during oral argument.  Amusingly the reporter, Adam Liptak, speculated about how Justice Thomas would conduct himself today: "If he is true to form, Justice Thomas will spend the arguments as he always does: leaning back in... [Continue Reading]

Slade J handed down judgment this week in an appeal concerning the question of whether the claimant's legal representatives were entitled to a 100% uplift on their costs, in accordance with the fixed uplift regime for conditional fee agreements in road traffic cases, where the case settled on the day of trial, but before the trial commenced.  She also addressed the vexed question of... [Continue Reading]

In EB v Haughton [2011] EWHC 279 (QB) (hearing date 17 February 2011) the Claimant claimed damages for personal injuries caused by sexual abuse over a period of about one year in 1993. She relied on section 33 of the Limitation Act and argued that (1) she was a minor for a part of the period (2) her claim had been statute barred until the decision in A v Hoare [2008] All ER (D) 251 (Jan). The Defe... [Continue Reading]

Case note on XYZ v Portsmouth Hospitals NHS Trust with commentary on recoverability of future private medical expenses and loss of a chance [Continue Reading]