Motorists have never been able to rely solely upon a stated speed limit as justification to drive at a certain speed. This has recently been restated, having only lately been at the heart of another judgment of the High Court in Rehman v The Estate of George Brady & Anor [2012] EWHC78 (QB).   In an ex tempore judgment in the case of McCarthy & Anor v (1) Grimes (2) MIB (... [Continue Reading]

  Mr O’Brien and his nephew Mr Joyce must be amongst the most incompetent thieves around. They stole a ladder from the front garden of a house and put it into the back of the van but could not close the door. Mr O’Brien drove the van off to make a speedy getaway whilst Mr Joyce hung onto the back of the van, standing on a footplate with the ladder under or over his right arm. He w... [Continue Reading]

  The recent Court of Appeal decision in Ghaith v Indesit (2012) EWCA 642 underscores quite how onerous the statutory obligations imposed upon employers by the six-pack of EC Regulations can be. The rather unedifying context was stock-taking of spare parts for white goods (washing machines drums etc) for the Defendant company. The claimant, a service engineer, spent all day lifting and m... [Continue Reading]

Motor insurers are keen to keep up the pressure up on the courts to exonerate drivers or at least to ramp up the findings of contributory negligence in cases where pedestrian claimants wrongly walk into the road in front of approaching vehicles.  However, three recent decisions show the pace of change, if any, to be glacial.   First, there was a set back for motor insurers in Smith v Chi... [Continue Reading]

    How do you get off Scott-free when you have made an admission of liability and paid millions in damages? The answer in AC and Others v Devon County Council [2012] EWHA 796 was not by withdrawing that admission but bringing a Part 20 Claim. Even then the result is rather curious but the case raises some interesting points of highways law and permission to appeal was granted... [Continue Reading]

Picture the scene: a wild area of woodland, full of trees, leaves, plants and wildlife. How nice it would be to have an area like that within the grounds of your workplace. An area like that is going to be full of trip and slip hazards. Surely no-one would want it to be smoothed out, or for the carpet of leaves and bluebells to be replaced with some kind of solid surface?   But what happens ... [Continue Reading]