Has the expansion of vicarious liability been halted? The Supreme Court hands down its judgment in Trustees of the Barry Congregation of Jehovah’s Witnesses v BXB. By David Williams, William Swift Recent years have seen a number of judgments on whether an employer or organisation should be…
The Damages Claims Portal, the Civil Reform Project and their impact on claims By David Williams HM Courts and Tribunal Service has published its roadmap to extend the Damages Claims Portal and…
Extending mandatory use of the Damages Claims Portal to Defendants By Joanna Folan, Andrew Parker, David Williams, Emma Fuller What’s changing? Claimants will already be familiar with issuing claims via the DCP, as its use…
Towards the digital court: the Damages Claims Portal (DCP) By Andrew Parker, Joanna Folan, David Williams, Emma Fuller The damages claims portal is to become mandatory for all claimant solicitors dealing with ANY claim…
Lloyd v Google: what impact will the Supreme Court’s judgment have on data breach claims? By David Williams On 10 November 2021, the Supreme Court handed down its judgment in the matter of Lloyd v Google,…
Pure Legal Limited Enters Administration By Hans Allnutt, Patrick Hill, David Williams, Adam Burrell On 2 November 2021, Pure Legal Limited, alongside a number of other companies within the Pure…
COVID-19: Litigation in the Time of a Pandemic LATEST UPDATES By David Williams, David Johnson The procedures of the Courts across the different jurisdictions of the United Kingdom are changing…
Is breach of a statutory duty evidence of negligence? By Cassandra Mitchell, David Williams The implementation of the Enterprise and Regulatory Reform Act 2013 , s…
Claimant Overjoyed at Unexpected Recovery or £35k Recovered Following Motorhome Collision By Jemma Lewis, In the case of Stephen Hampton v SegurCaixa Adeslas, our DAC Beachcroft Motor Recovery department…
Interest rate change in personal injury claims By David Williams, Peter Allchorne, Barrie Hall With effect from 1 June 2020, the interest rates payable on money held by the Court Funds Office…
Vicarious liability considered by the Supreme Court – have its elastic boundaries been flexed again? By David Williams On 1 April 2020, the Supreme Court handed down its judgments in two important cases on vicarious…
Changes to Bereavement Damages Awards from 1 May 2020 By Andrew Parker, David Williams, Peter Allchorne Following The Damages for Bereavement (Variation of Sum) (England and Wales) Order 2020, published…
Can a Refusal to Engage in ADR be Justified? By David Williams, Peter Allchorne, William Swift If reasons are given for the refusal to engage in ADR, the reasons should be explained to the other…
COVID-19: Litigation in the time of a pandemic SECOND UPDATE By David Williams, David Johnson As the positions adopted by each jurisdiction across the United Kingdom differ, and as the rules in…
COVID-19: and Employers Liability claims By David Johnson, David Williams The evolving situation in which the UK finds itself presents many challenges to businesses and…
COVID-19: Litigation in the time of a pandemic UPDATE By David Johnson, David Williams Following our alert of 17 March 2020 , the stance of the Courts has moved at pace, as we have…
COVID-19: Litigation in the time of a pandemic By David Johnson, David Williams The environment in which we all find ourselves is very different from that we faced only days ago,…
Amendments to the Civil Procedure Rules bring mandatory changes to statements of truth By David Williams, Peter Allchorne The forthcoming 113th and 114th amendments to the Civil Procedure Rules will see changes to the…
Vicarious liability for the criminal acts of an employee: abuse of position of trust results in school’s vicarious liability for actions of teacher By David Williams Following the Court of Appeal’s decision in Haringey London Borough Council v FZO, we take an…
How should costs arguments be resolved in Low Value Protocol claims? By Adam Burrell, David Williams, Peter Allchorne Following the introduction of the Low Value Protocols, in which costs are fixed for claims…
New Judicial College Guidelines published By David Williams, Peter Allchorne The 15th edition of the Judicial College Guidelines for the assessment of damages in personal…
Service of Proceedings on a Solicitor By David Williams, Peter Allchorne The recent case of Nangelenan v Royal Free Hampstead NHS Trust [ 2001 ] has highlighted a very…
Court Fee Remissions By Peter Allchorne, David Williams, Jonathan Bingham Recent increases in Court Fees have seen them rise to a point at which, for large proportions of…
Recoverability of Counsel’s Fees where a claim has exited the pre-action protocol By , David Williams, Jonathan Bingham, Peter Allchorne Recoverability of Counsel’s Fees where a claim has exited the pre-action protocol for low value…
Can Defendants rely on life expectancy expert evidence following Dodds? By Lea Brocklebank, David Williams Following the recent case of Russell v Davies and other similar claims , Lea Brocklebank and David…
Part 36, late acceptance and costs By David Williams, Peter Allchorne In what circumstances should the Court depart from the normal costs Order? The High Court…
What Happens to Personal Injury Claims when the Defendant becomes Insolvent? By David Williams, Barrie Hall Whilst the collapse of large firms such as Carillion and Thomas Cook have filled headlines for…
Should an organisation be liable for injuries suffered by a volunteer acting contrary to an express instruction? By David Williams, Jeremy Bennett, The question of whether an organisation should be liable for injuries suffered by a volunteer, a…
Have the boundaries of vicarious liability been defined further? By , David Williams The question of when businesses are and not vicariously liable for the actions of their employees…
Local Authorities not liable for collision at traffic light controlled junction By Nicola Hyam, David Williams In his recent judgment in Taylor v Gateshead Council and Newcastle City Council, His Honour Judge…
Disbursements in fixed costs cases – are agency fees recoverable in casualty claims? By David Williams The question of whether the fees incurred where agencies obtain medical records should be paid in…
Claimant retains burden of proving negligence: trial judge’s decision a step too far By David Williams Where the Claimant alleges that an accident within an ambulance occurred due to a negligent failure…
Is the service of medical evidence with proceedings mandatory? By David Williams, Peter Allchorne What are the consequences of a failure to serve medical evidence with the Particulars of Claim? …
Varnish v British Cycling-a potential extension of the gig economy cases By Richard Rowe, David Williams Sports governing bodies and their insurers keenly await the decision of the Employment Tribunal in…
The Civil Liability Act 2018 – what now? By Peter Allchorne, David Williams, Andrew Parker, Joanna Folan The Civil Liability Bill finally received Royal Assent and completed the Parliamentary process on…
The trials and tribulations of Santa Claus By David Williams, James Rhodes, Christopher Air Although normally Santa's most stressful time of year, the arrival of this Christmas season has…
Portal claims and contributory negligence: can the argument be raised if the claim's value increases? By David Williams, Peter Allchorne, Cassandra Mitchell Where liability is admitted in a claim commenced within the Pre-Action Protocols for Low Value…
Pre-Action Disclosure and the Low Value Protocol: what costs are payable? By David Williams Where claims commence within the Pre-Action Protocol for Low Value Personal Injury (Employers'…
Counterclaiming for personal injuries? QOCS protection: the Sequel By David Williams, Peter Allchorne In Ketchion v McEwan , HHJ Freedman decided that a Defendant in an RTA claim who counterclaims for…
How frequently should landowners inspect trees abutting high risk areas? By John Goodman, David Williams The question of whether a local authority landowner was negligent in setting the frequency of its…
Historic sexual abuse claim statute-barred when raised in existing proceedings By David Williams The question of whether a claim for damages for sexual abuse was statute-barred was considered by…
Have Vicarious Liability's boundaries been stretched again? By David Williams The question of whether a company should face liability for the actions of an employee, out of…
Counterclaiming for personal injuries? – QOCS protection all the way? By David Williams, Peter Allchorne The recent decision of HHJ Freedman in Ketchion v McEwan addressed the question of whether, when a…
Setting the Personal Injury Discount Rate: The Role of the Government Actuary's Department By Andrew Parker, David Williams The Civil Liability Bill will introduce major changes to the methodology for setting the Personal…
50 predictions: Casualty By Rod Searl, David Williams Foster carers, independent contractors and rogue employees – where should vicarious liability’s…
Ice climber's claim falls down on technical points By Jasminka O'Hora, David Williams The Court of Appeal in its judgment in Committeri v Club Mediterranee SA and Generali Assurances…
Fixed Costs and Part 36 offers - does late acceptance by the defendant lead to costs on the indemnity basis? By David Williams, Peter Allchorne The Court of Appeal's judgment in Broadhurst v Tan [link to Insurance Adviser Alert February 2017]…
Court of Appeal clarifies recovery of costs as exception to QOCS By David Williams, James Tallant Where a Claimant pursues multiple Defendants, recovering damages from some and discontinuing his…
Parliament's intended aim for the Enterprise and Regulatory Reform Act upheld by High Court By David Williams 1 October 2013 saw s…
Court of Appeal revisits the question of the duties of parent companies By David Williams The question of whether an employee of a subsidiary company may pursue its parent company, which…
Part 36, interim payments, liability offers and costs By David Williams, Peter Allchorne 2018 has already seen five judgments on the application of Part 36 offers which should be borne in…
Fixed costs on claims commenced within the Portal, even if settlement order fails to record it By David Williams, Peter Allchorne Claims commenced within the Low Value Protocols, which are not allocated to the multi-track, should…
Forms of Authority for Medical Records post-GDPR By David Williams, Peter Allchorne, Jade Kowalski In defending personal injury claims, the ability of compensating insurers and their representatives…
Breaking the chain of causation – holidaymaker's risk-taking eclipses hotel's breach of duty By Jasminka O'Hora, David Williams, José María Pimentel At what point do a Claimant's own actions become so remote or unforeseeable that a Defendant, which…
Causation key to motocross claim's defeat By David Williams, Richard Rowe The question of whether the organisers of a motocross practice day faced liability for the injuries…
Impaired lines of sight and motor accidents: should a landowner or highways authority face liability? By John Goodman, David Knapp, David Williams In a useful case for Highway Authorities and other landowners the Court of Appeal has once again…
When should surveillance evidence be served? By Claire Laver, David Williams The question of when a Defendant should serve surveillance evidence is often important in seeking…
Staircase accident falls away over fundamentally dishonest evidence By Claire Laver, David Williams Where a Court makes a finding of fact that the Claimant's pleaded claim is based on incorrect…
Portal costs payable even if solicitors excluded from settlement By David Williams, Peter Allchorne Following the Court of Appeal's judgment of 2015, the Supreme Court has considered the question of…
Travel Claims Protocol April 2018 By David Williams, Claire Laver, Jasminka O'Hora Following the creation of the new Pre-Action Protocol for Package Travel Claims, the fixed costs…
NHS Charges-Increase for accidents from 1 April 2018 By David Williams, Peter Allchorne The amount compensators are required to pay to the Compensation Recovery Unit in relation to…
Beauticians, Behaviours and Bogus Claims By Claire Laver, David Williams The proportion of claims handled by DAC Beachcroft Claims Limited involving allegations of…
Discount Rate Reform–the only way is up! By David Williams, Andrew Parker, Joanna Folan The Civil Liability Bill contains proposals relating to Whiplash Reform and amends the Damages Act…
Duty of Care Owed by Police Clarified by Supreme Court – With a Sting in the Tail? By David Knapp, David Williams A comparatively straightforward arrest by a Police Officer has prompted an important review of the…
London Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games v Sinfield By David Williams, Claire Laver When is an exaggerated claim so exaggerated as to be fundamentally dishonest, resulting in its…
The Judicial College Guidelines – 25 years after their introduction, the 14th Edition is published By Andrew Parker, David Williams, Joanna Folan 25 years after the publication of the 1 st Edition of the Judicial Studies Board Guidelines (as…
Roberts v Johnstone: in a time of negative discount rate By David Williams, Andrew Parker, Paul Taylor The recent change in the discount rate from 2.5% to -0…
JCA v Lucas By Peter Allchorne, Andrew Parker, David Williams The question of costs in claims commenced within the Low Value Protocols has been considered…
Disproportionate ATE premium slashed from £31,976.49 to £2,120 By Simon Perkins, David Williams In 2009, Lord Justice Jackson stated that " in some areas of civil litigation, costs are…
Bird v Acorn Group Ltd By Peter Allchorne, David Williams Whilst the reforms introduced by Lord Justice Jackson in 2013 have reduced the costs paid by…
Obvious risks and occupiers' duties By David Williams The question of whether an occupier is responsible for injuries suffered by a visitor where the…
In-depth analysis: The many-headed hydra of fraud By Kate Abrahams, David Williams, Nick Young, Jade Kowalski The continuing drive to tackle insurance fraud has met with an encouraging degree of success in…
Proof of fraud previously suspected can unravel the finality of a settlement By David Williams, Andrew Parker The question of whether post-settlement evidence may be used to recover the ill-gotten gains of a…
Can a Claimant's own negligence break the chain of causation? By David Williams, Peter Allchorne, Tom Baker The question of when a claimant who proves negligence and causation should be denied compensation…
Should Jackson's 10% uplift to general damages give Claimants the penny and the bun? By David Williams, Tom Baker The Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012, as part of the reforms proposed by…
Does suspicion of fraud excuse delay? By David Williams, Peter Allchorne The Jackson reforms and ensuing judgments including Mitchell v News Group Newspapers Limited and…
Part 36 and fixed costs outside the Portal By Peter Allchorne, David Williams, Tom Baker The apparent inconsistency between the provisions governing fixed costs for personal injury claims…
Asbestos related lung cancer and the apportionment of liability By Will Potts, David Williams, Tom Baker The question of how the courts should approach causation in a claim for asbestos-related lung…
Future Loss of Earnings - is the Ogden approach the only calculation? By David Williams On 23 July 2015, the Court of Appeal, led by Jackson LJ, handed down its judgment in Billett v…
Insurance Adviser: Supreme Court confirms insurers' right of recoupment in mesothelioma claims By David Williams In a judgment handed down on 20 May 2015, the Supreme Court confirmed that insurers have an…
The Overhaul of Part 36 By Tom Baker, David Williams The new Part 36 will come into force on 06/04/2015 and will apply to all Part 36 offers made on or…
DAC Beachcroft Adviser Alert: The Enterprise & Regulatory Reform Act 2013 By Tom Baker, David Williams From 1 October 2013, s…
Insurance Adviser Alert: The Queen and the Justice Secretary - June 2014 By Andrew Parker, David Williams Last week saw the announcement in the Queen's Speech of new legislative measures to help defend…
Insurance Adviser Alert: Employees of subsidiaries may not be able to pursue a parent company - May 2014 By Tom Baker, David Williams The Court of Appeal recently considered the relationship between parent and subsidiary companies in…
Insurance Adviser Alert: NHS Charges Increase - March 2014 By Tom Baker, David Williams The amount compensators are required to pay to the Compensation Recovery Unit in relation to…
