Can we really blame the Americans? Some in the media and our society have blamed our compensation culture on the Americans. An article in the Guardian online questioned this referring to analysis carried out by Aviva on claims going back to the 1860s. Is it really the litigious Americans who are responsible for our modern compensation culture when… ·    &nb... [Continue Reading]

Every law student who has sat through their first lecture on tort law is likely to come away remembering something about a Mrs Donoghue. She of course went to a cafe in Paisley and ordered a bottle of ginger beer to drink with an ice cream. As she poured out some of the drink, she alleged she found the remains of a decomposed snail. The rest is – as they say – history, as Lord Atkin pr... [Continue Reading]

  ‘Myth or fact?’ asks a report produced by APIL entitled ‘The Whiplash Report 2012’. The report is on APIL’s website and aims to debunk the myths being peddled in the debate surrounding claims for whiplash injuries. APIL has come to slay the dragon of ‘hyperbole’ and ‘hysteria’ surrounding the subject of whiplash. Our brave knight has tak... [Continue Reading]

The Times today carried an article entitled “NHS will cough up for music lessons and manicures.” It was referring to the three year trial of personal health budgets, whereby people in the NHS Continuing Care programme are able to determine themselves, how best to spend the money allocated to them.    Their budgets are of course typically spent on many items one routinely se... [Continue Reading]

  It may be tempting to ignore the implications of the Jackson reforms until April, however the increase in general damages needs to be factored into quantum assessments now. In short this is because: ·         With effect from 1 April 2013 the level of general damages will increase by 10 per cent (as stated in Simmons v Castle [2012] EWCA Civ... [Continue Reading]

    Do you doodle in meetings? Should you doodle in meetings?   There is both good news and bad.       The good news is that doodling may be good for you! A study by the University of Plymouth and published in Applied Cognitive Psychology suggests that doodling actually helps improve concentration and memory. Two groups of people were asked to listen ... [Continue Reading]

Just this morning, the Supreme Court has given judgment in the historic child abuse case of Catholic Child Welfare Society v Various Claimants (1) The Institute of Christian Brothers (2) [2012] UKSC 56. A fuller report will appear on the PiBlawg, no doubt in due course.     Lord Phillips, giving the sole judgement of the Court held that there are two stages in establishing vicarious liab... [Continue Reading]

Many of the posts on this blog are about cases at the cutting edge of jurisprudence. Quite rightly; it would be embarrassing to discover that a case you have relied on is no longer good law. Staying up-to-date is a necessary part of modern practice. A necessary evil, perhaps, when one considers the number and length of judgments that now spew forth from the courts.It may be of some comfort to the ... [Continue Reading]

The ECJ dealt a hammer blow to European airlines this morning in the long-awaited joined cases of TUI and Nelson (Cases C-581/10 and C-629/10). The full text will be available shortly but judging by the press summary, the Court has adopted almost verbatim the Opinion of Advocate General Bot.  This case confirms the decision in Sturgeon (Case C-402/07) that where an air carrier operates o... [Continue Reading]

One of the more widely promulgated arguments against the legal aid cuts and reform of civil justice funding is that any savings will be eclipsed by the additional costs to the courts and to other parties caused by an expected rise in Litigants in Person (“LIPs”).   Already, most litigators have faced the tribulations involved in facing a LIP opponent. Inappropriate orders are soug... [Continue Reading]