In Woodland v Swimming Teachers Association and others [2011] EWHC 2631 Counsel for the Claimant contended that that a local authority owed a non-delegable duty of care to its pupils such that it was responsible for the actions of non-employees who had dealing with its pupils during the course of the school day - in this case a swimming pool lifeguard at a swimming pool away from the school a... [Continue Reading]

  The Court of Appeal recently handed down judgment in Dawkins v Carnival Plc (2011) EWCA Civ 1237. Despite the rather exotic backdrop (on board the cruise ship ‘Oriana’ travelling in international waters), the claim is a classic restatement of the operation of the evidential burden in slipping claims.   Mrs Dawkins slipped on some liquid in the ship’s restaurant. Fello... [Continue Reading]

When does the consequence of a breach of duty become so difficult to foresee that the chain of causation is broken? The answer to this question following the Court of Appeal’s judgment in the case of Hadlow v Peterborough City Council (20th October 2011, unreported*), is very rarely indeed.   The claimant was a teacher at a secure facility for potentially dangerous women operated by the... [Continue Reading]

Wales is battling Australia in the Rugby World Cup third place play-off as I type; accordingly it is fitting that our thoughts turn to rugby. Yesterday the Court of Appeal considered the case of Jack Sutton who was injured as a teenager when training with Syston Rugby Football Club.  As he dropped to the ground in training his knee connected with a plastic object, found to be a broken crick... [Continue Reading]

In an earlier post on piBlawg – “An End to Expert Shopping” – Thomas Crockett discussed the likely impact of Edwards-Tubb v JD Wetherspoon PLC [2011] EWCA Civ 136.    In Edwards-Tubb it was held that a claimant who obtains a medical report from an expert (A), but chooses, for whatever reason, not to rely on it and applies, instead, for permission to rely on anoth... [Continue Reading]

The new edition of the Ogden Tables (Ogden 7) was released yesterday (10 October 2011) by the Government Actuary’s Department (GAD) The previous Tables (Ogden 6) were published in March 2007 and contained multipliers based on projected mortality rates derived from the 2004 based population data sets and projections for the UK published in October 2005 by the Office for National Statistics (O... [Continue Reading]

  Since the birth of the piBlawg a number of posts have related to fraud and an apparent increase in applications for committal following findings of exaggeration and fraud. Continuing with the theme, the case of Lane v Shah [2011] was reported on Lawtel on Wednesday 5 October 2011. The First Respondent (the Claimant in the underlying action) had sought damages for personal injurie... [Continue Reading]

      What more could possibly be said about non-fraudulent rear end shunts? After just over a century of the motorcar the answer is almost certainly very little. You will therefore be relieved to hear that the case of Steadman does not break new ground but there are some helpful judicial comments. The case involved the number 49 bus on the one hand and a Ferrari on the other; a bus... [Continue Reading]

From today, non-lawyers will be able to invest in and own legal businesses for the first time.   Banks, supermarkets and other entities will be able to offer the services of a lawyer alongside their groceries and cash machines.   Although dubbed Tesco Law by some, there has been no confirmation that Tesco will be entering this market.  Yet.  The Co... [Continue Reading]

The Scottish Ambulance Service was understandably a bit miffed when its Saturday afternoon was interrupted by a call from the Kismot curry house, requiring transport to hospital for two participants in its Kismot Killer curry eating competition.  A charitable endeavour, raising money for a children's charity, the aims of the competition were undeniably noble.    An American student... [Continue Reading]