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Equitas annual report
Equitas’s report for the year ending 31 March 2000 shows financial improvements, though some audit caveats remain.
The runoff vehicle for Lloyd’s liabilities up to and including those of 1993 saw a surplus rise from £772mn to..
Online Published Date:
01 September 2000
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122 - 01 September 2000
A- (excellent) rating for Iron Trades
A M Best has assigned an A- (excellent) financial strength rating to Iron Trades Insurance, reflecting the company’s high profile in the UK employers’ liability market, benefits expected from its recent acquisition by QBE Insurance Group..
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01 September 2000
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122 - 01 September 2000
Aviation sales
Loss-adjusting and surveying operation Lloyd’s Aviation, formed in 1960, has been sold to Charles Taylor Group for US$4mn. This is the second-largest such operation in the international insurance market, with a 30% share of the market’s..
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01 September 2000
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122 - 01 September 2000
Ace offers PI claims service
..
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01 September 2000
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US lawyers seek coverage at Lloyd’s
US lawyers could become increasingly dependent on overseas insurers to provide their professional liability cover, according to Lloyd’s chairman Max Taylor, speaking to the American Bar Association.
‘While it is too early to say that..
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01 September 2000
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122 - 01 September 2000
Slow action on e-risk
A survey by Assurex International found that the majority of US businesses lacked basic e-risk coverage, despite the sharp increase of hacker attacks and other e-litigation.
Perhaps alerted by the Love Bug virus – estimated to have cost more..
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01 September 2000
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122 - 01 September 2000
Air fatalities rise
Eleven total losses of western-built jet airlines in the first six months of this year show a significant increase on the two previous years’ record. Passenger fatalities were also up – 366 in the first half of this year against 512 for..
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01 September 2000
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122 - 01 September 2000
Everglades payments
Families of the 110 people who died in the 1996 ValuJet crash in the Everglades have received at least US$262mn in compensation. These payments, made to all but two families, came from insurers; Lloyd’s (as SabreTech’s insurer) US$151mn,..
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01 September 2000
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122 - 01 September 2000
Concorde debris
Although it was by no means the most costly crash – in lives or hull – of recent years, the special place occupied by Concorde in the popular imagination means the cause of loss is widely and eagerly awaited.
But the investigating teams..
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01 September 2000
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122 - 01 September 2000
Essential BMJ
The majority of those concerned with liability issues – insurers and lawyers – need to keep an eye on tobacco issues. While direct insurer involvement by Big Tobacco is unlikely while they continue to run their own defence strategy,..
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01 September 2000
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122 - 01 September 2000
Swiss banks’ holocaust settlement approved
A US District Court judge has approved a US$1.25bn settlement by Swiss banks of claims from Holocaust survivors and their families, prevented from withdrawing money they deposited before World War Two. Credit Suisse and UBS are among those banks..
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01 September 2000
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122 - 01 September 2000
Largest race discrimination payout
But American General Corp, the number three US insurer, is still able to report a second-quarter profit of US$94mn after a one-off charge of US$193mn and realised investment losses of US$38mn.
American General agreed in June to pay fines and..
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01 September 2000
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122 - 01 September 2000
Case update
Subject Asbestos claims to be heard in England
Result Although South Africa is the most appropriate forum for a 3,000-strong claim for asbestos injuries sustained in that country, the lack of means for plaintiffs to obtain appropriate legal..
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01 September 2000
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122 - 01 September 2000
Awards and settlements
Bank worker suffering ‘intolerable’ stress
at work wins settlement in excess of £100,000, agreed shortly before hearing due in Birmingham County Court, without admission of liability. Thought to be the first such settlement in the..
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01 September 2000
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122 - 01 September 2000
Events
British Insurance Law Association
27 September • Annual conferen ce
Details: BILA • tel 020 7417 4780 •
bila@cii.co.uk
Liability Insurance Workshop
1–2 November • London
Details: Becky Stene at IBC/DYP Training..
Online Published Date:
01 September 2000
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122 - 01 September 2000
People on the move
Linklaters/Oppenhoff & Radler
merger completed. This is expected to speed talks between Linklaters and four other European law firms, which, if carried through, would lead to one of the biggest legal firms in the world.
The new firm will be..
Online Published Date:
01 September 2000
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122 - 01 September 2000
Hong Kong to streamline injury claims
The Hong Kong judiciary is reviewing legal procedures for insured claims arising from workplace injuries, seeking a fair way of speeding settlement.
The Hong Kong Federation of Insurers supports this and has also joined a private sector taskforce to..
Online Published Date:
01 September 2000
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122 - 01 September 2000
Indian market opens
After six years of delays, the liberalised US$6.5bn Indian insurance market has opened to bids from domestic companies and their foreign partners for operating licences.
Hand in hand with the market, go the courts! ‘Those looking to India as..
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01 September 2000
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122 - 01 September 2000
Pleasure boat liability
The Greek government has introduced a new law requiring private and professional pleasure boats, including charter yachts, whether flying Greek or foreign flag, to carry liability insurance for death or injury both of those on board and third..
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01 September 2000
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122 - 01 September 2000
Eversheds goes east
Eversheds moves into Southeast Asia via a linkup with leading Singapore practice Khattar Wong, creating a Euro-Asian practice with 1,910 lawyers. The move also gives it association with C M Chye & Murad in Kuala Lumpur and access to a Hong Kong..
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01 September 2000
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122 - 01 September 2000
Barristers’ pay falls
Contrary to popular conceptions, barristers’ pay is not on a permanent upward curve. A report from BDO Stoy Harward shows a 15% drop in 1999, with the median for a practitioner of 10 years’ call £71,800 (£84,000 last year)...
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01 September 2000
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122 - 01 September 2000
Child Support Agency
If there are no claims in the pipeline against the Child Support Agency (CSA), there soon may be. Last year there were allegations that the errors of the CSA had led to business bankruptcies and suicides.
The stress and hardship implicit from the..
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01 September 2000
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122 - 01 September 2000
Solicitors failing to advise
Despite the requirements of the Law Society’s costs information and client care code, a survey by First Legal Indemnity found that over 40% of solicitors surveyed failed to advise clients to take out after-the-event insurance.
A separate..
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01 September 2000
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122 - 01 September 2000
Court outcomes wrongly recorded
A review of 1,500 sample cases by the Crown Prosecution Service inspectorate found that over 8% of magistrates’ court results, and almost 5% of those in crown court, were wrongly recorded by the CPS. Applied nationally this indicates almost..
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01 September 2000
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122 - 01 September 2000
…and separation
Less acrimonious that the Andersen split, KPMG is to split off its consultancy arm as a public company later this year. It is one of several firms seeking to do so in order to escape US regulators’ conflict of interest rules.
Subject to..
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01 September 2000
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122 - 01 September 2000
Divorce…
The court of arbitration of the Paris-based International Chamber of Commerce has ruled that Andersen Consulting and accounts firm Arthur Andersen should separate, due to irreconcilable differences.
Ending more than two years of acrimony, Andersen..
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01 September 2000
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122 - 01 September 2000
E-signatures legal
..
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01 September 2000
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122 - 01 September 2000
Irish deterioration
The net underwriting loss in the Irish non-life market for 1999 deteriorated from I£198mn to I£216.7mn. This is from stats published by the Irish Insurance Federation, whose members write 97% of Irish non-life business.
Gross premiums rose..
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01 September 2000
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122 - 01 September 2000
Zurich appoints panel
Zurich Professional, headed by former SIF director Liz Mullins and formed in response to new insurance arrangements for solicitors, has appointed its 10-strong law firm panel. While the in-house team is expected to solve a good proportion of..
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01 September 2000
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122 - 01 September 2000
Insurers sign for Law Society’s terms
..
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01 September 2000
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Abbey to run Law Society scheme
Abbey Legal Protection has won the contract to run the only personal injury referral and conditional fee scheme endorsed by the Law Society. As a result, an enhanced Accident Line Protect will be launched in October.
The scheme will put clients into..
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01 September 2000
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122 - 01 September 2000
St Paul guarantees e-documents’ authenticity
St Paul Surety, already experienced in the cover of e-risks, is underwriting a new policy that guarantees the authenticity of electronic original documents used in mortgage and leasing transactions.
This is thought to be the first programme to focus..
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01 September 2000
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122 - 01 September 2000
EC targets Microsoft
In a move that could cost Microsoft 10% of global revenues, the European Commission has extended antitrust investigations of Windows 2000 software to include server software. This follows a complaint from Sun Microsystems, alleging that Microsoft..
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01 September 2000
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122 - 01 September 2000
First online solicitor/accountant venture
City law firm Berwin Leighton and leading accountancy Deloitte & Touche are together to invest £5mn to set up the first online joint venture. Be-Professional is to be launched in October, providing business solutions online to small and..
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01 September 2000
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122 - 01 September 2000
Loss of immunity
In cases brought forward by the Solicitors’ Indemnity Fund, seeking to establish equality of protection for solicitors with that enjoyed by advocates and barristers, they succeeded – though not as intended. Equality now obtains to all..
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01 September 2000
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122 - 01 September 2000
Oldest mutual sale not the end of wrangle
The immediate result of the House of Lords ruling on Equitable Life’s guaranteed annuity rate (GAR) policies is the market offer of the world’s oldest extant mutual, established in 1762.
With £33bn funds under management and a value..
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01 September 2000
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122 - 01 September 2000
Rector was ‘God’s employee’
A judicial review of the non-renewal of contract of Church of England clergyman Ray Owen has left church immunity to employment laws intact, with no redefinition of the status of clergy as employees of God.
In the past this was little problem, as..
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01 September 2000
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122 - 01 September 2000
‘Root out racism’ hotline report
A report from the Trades Union Congress (TUC), based on calls to the hotline, shows ‘appalling levels of racist abuse’, with many who complain to their employers ‘deliberately isolated, ignored, further victimised and even..
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01 September 2000
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122 - 01 September 2000
Equitable pays to keep staff
Unlike the situation in most sales and mergers, Equitable Life is more than anxious to keep its sales staff in post, offering £10mn in bonuses to 400 sales staff if they guarantee to stay on after the company is sold (see Professional..
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01 September 2000
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122 - 01 September 2000
Asbestos in Concorde
..
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01 September 2000
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122 - 01 September 2000
EPA investigates shelved report
The US Environmental Protection Agency is investigating failure of its officers to act on evidence showing that W R Grace & Co was using asbestos in a wide range of building materials. The report, which shows levels of usage despite the..
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01 September 2000
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122 - 01 September 2000
First Baltimore verdict
Former crane operator Ernest Cumberland has been awarded US$5.25mn by a Baltimore jury. He suffered lung damage from exposure to asbestos.
The payment, comprising US$4mn compensation (he has to use oxygen equipment to breathe) and US$1.25mn for..
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01 September 2000
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122 - 01 September 2000
Claims against Cape to be heard in UK
The House of Lords has decided in favour of around 3,000 South Africans, mostly miners, suffering asbestos-related diseases, for their claims against Cape to go ahead in the UK.
Although their diseases were contracted while working at Cape’s..
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01 September 2000
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122 - 01 September 2000
£1.2bn for rail safety
Railtrack is to receive a sum of £1.2bn from government funds towards the cost of introducing technology to deal with trains that pass signals at red. There are around 600 such incidents each year.
The Train Protection Warning System –..
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01 September 2000
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122 - 01 September 2000
Tunnel fine may be written off
Uxbridge magistrates’ court officials have asked the Health & Safety Executive to write off the £500,000 fine imposed six years ago for contributing to the collapse of the Heathrow tunnel.
This is because the Austrian firm,..
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01 September 2000
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122 - 01 September 2000
Workplace safety stats
The report of the Health & Safety Commission (HSC) for the year ending 31 March 2000 shows a downward trend in the number and incidence rate of workplace injuries.
Fatal injuries fell from 0.9 per 100,000 workers to 0.8, and major injuries from..
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01 September 2000
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122 - 01 September 2000
£300 fine no deterrent
Union representatives are pressing for speedy introduction of law providing penalties for corporate manslaughter. This is on the basis of the 20% rise in construction site deaths last year to 86 – and for these there were only 41 prosecutions,..
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01 September 2000
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122 - 01 September 2000
Nuclear sub repairs
Legal action against the UK government, demanding the removal of nuclear submarine HMS Timeless
stranded on Gibraltar since developing a leak in the reactor cooling system in May, is in preparation by leading law firm Hassans.
Local anger stems not..
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01 September 2000
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122 - 01 September 2000
Japan reinstates benefit
The reinstatement of benefit to a former crew member of Japanese fishing vessel Lucky Dragon V
, exposed to radiation from a US test in 1954, could support existing claims worldwide and spark others.
The decision was taken on appeal by the Japanese..
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01 September 2000
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122 - 01 September 2000
TWA 800
A four-year US$32mn in-house investigation by Boeing has failed to find any indication of why the TWA flight 800 of a Boeing 747-100 exploded and crashed in the sea shortly after takeoff for Paris from New York, with the loss of all 230 people on..
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01 September 2000
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122 - 01 September 2000
Swissair 111 mediation
As judge James Giles’s mediation of 15 specimen suits progresses, Graham Nichols, chief executive of Westminster Aviation Insurance Group and chairman of the London-based Aviation Insurance Offices’ Association, commented: ‘It is..
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01 September 2000
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122 - 01 September 2000
Stena ferry arrested by widow
High-speed ferry Stena Discovery
was arrested on the instigation of the widow of John Sibley, swept overboard to his death from the fishing boat Purdy
by wash from the vessel.
The action is one of negligence against owners and operators, in that..
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01 September 2000
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122 - 01 September 2000
Celebrity not liable for legionnaires’ outbreak
But filter manufacturer Essef is to pay US$7mn (40% to Celebrity Cruises and 60% to passengers). A New York jury found that the Belgian-made filters – used in the spa – did not comply with US standards, leading to an outbreak of..
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01 September 2000
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122 - 01 September 2000
Cargo owners target Treasure owners
The owners and insurers of the cargo of iron ore carried by the Treasure
, which sank off the coast of South Africa, are suing owners for US$4mn.
Their claim is based on the Treasure
owners’ breach of obligation to carry the cargo..
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01 September 2000
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122 - 01 September 2000
Air pollution US$93.2mn settlement
The largest-ever pollution-from-factories settlement has been achieved between the US Environmental Protection Agency and building materials manufacturer Williamette Industries of Oregon.
Air pollution from operations at 13 sites attracted a civil..
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01 September 2000
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122 - 01 September 2000
Deliberate contamination of Meuse
Toxic chemicals were poured into a stream leading into the River Meuse in northern France. This was by workers laid off from the Cellatex textile factory in Givet. On a sit-in, they have also threatened to blow up the factory unless given generous..
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01 September 2000
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122 - 01 September 2000
Petrobras spills; footballer called in
In Petrobras’s fourth serious spill this year, and the worst oil spill from any source for 25 years, pollution caused widespread damage and put drinking water at risk along a 140-mile stretch of Brazil’s Iguaçu River, downstream..
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01 September 2000
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122 - 01 September 2000
Safe to say sorry
A new law signed by governor Gray Davis provides that apologies or ‘benevolent gestures of sympathy’ cannot be used or interpreted as admissions of guilt or liability in California courts.
The bill was prepared to assist in mediation of..
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01 September 2000
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122 - 01 September 2000
Lead paint verdict
A New York jury has awarded US$49.5mn to a boy suffering severe brain impairment from lead poisoning. This was ingested through nibbling paint chippings in the block of flats where he lived; he was already of low IQ.
The verdict was brought against..
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01 September 2000
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122 - 01 September 2000
Injury before symptoms
A New York judge has ruled, in Campbell v Metropolitan Property & Casualty Co
, that bodily injury from lead poisoning (from paint) occurs before the symptoms become manifest.
The insurer’s argument that the ‘occurrence’..
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01 September 2000
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122 - 01 September 2000
Punitive standards
A California Appeal Court, in Antonio Aguilar v Ashland Chemical Co
, has thrown out a US$380mn punitive award (already halved by the trial judge), although accepting that the plaintiffs suffered ‘horrific illnesses’ from handling..
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01 September 2000
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122 - 01 September 2000
BSE, CJD and OPs
Humans harder to infect
than previously believed, according to a study from the Wellcome Trust Centre for the Epidemiology for Infections Disease, published in Nature
on 10 August 2000.
Contradicting earlier EU scientific committee suggestions of..
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01 September 2000
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122 - 01 September 2000
Gynaecologist struck off
Richard Neale, accused of harming many women through his incompetence, has been struck off the medical register. He had been struck off in Canada 15 years before, but procedures allowed him to set up in practice in Britain.
General Medical Council..
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01 September 2000
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122 - 01 September 2000
Mobile phones in schools
Education secretary David Blunkett is to write to all schools setting out health risks and urging that limits be set on pupils’ use of mobile phones to emergencies only. Where a mobile phone base station is nearby, schools are also urged to..
Online Published Date:
01 September 2000
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122 - 01 September 2000
Poor care killing victims
On the same day as the scathing report on the National Health Service by consultants from Virgin Atlantic, in which it was described as undermined by poor management and abysmal customer care, a report from the Royal College of Surgeons is more..
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01 September 2000
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122 - 01 September 2000
MDU annual report
The 1999 report of the Medical Defence Union shows the value of claims for that year was £287mn, a threefold increase in claims against members during the last decade. Money paid out in respect of negligence amounted to £77mn, almost..
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01 September 2000
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122 - 01 September 2000
Volenti and ex turpi upheld
In a public liability claim by a road-building protestor, the defences of volenti non fit injuria
and ex turpi causa non oritur actio
(respectively, voluntary assumption of risk and preclusion from profiting from illegal activity)..
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01 September 2000
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122 - 01 September 2000
Slowness of CICB
A report from the House of Commons Public Accounts Committee shows that victims of violent crime wait for an average of eight months to receive compensation from the Criminal Injuries Compensation Board. The report, Compensating Victims of Violent..
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01 September 2000
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122 - 01 September 2000
Right to sue for blood infection
An unnamed haemophiliac man who alleges he was infected with the hepatitis C virus through blood transfusion is the first individual in England and Wales to be granted legal aid to challenge a government-imposed waiver.
He also seeks a public..
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01 September 2000
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122 - 01 September 2000
Education authorities’ duty re dyslexia
The ruling of the House of Lords in three cases stemming from lack of educational care for pupils suffering from dyslexia and one case arising from the problems of muscular dystrophy (see Phelps
in Case update) the liabilities of local authorities..
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01 September 2000
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122 - 01 September 2000
McDonald’s in hot water – again!
A group of 12 UK law firms, led by Manchester-based Slater Heelis Collier Littler and London’s Shamash & Steel, is targeting McDonald’s with initial claims on behalf of 20 customers (mainly children). They allege that drinks were..
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01 September 2000
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122 - 01 September 2000
Hillsborough: ‘corporate killing’?
Eleven years after the 96-death disaster, in which a gate was opened allowing a crush of football fans to pour into a lethal cul-de-sac, manslaughter charges against the two senior police officers on duty have led to acquittal and stalemate.
The..
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01 September 2000
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122 - 01 September 2000
Farmer claims for search damage
Met with a hail of criticism, farmer Paul Langmead has withdrawn his £10,000 claim for damage to crops during the search for murder victim Sarah Payne.
Compensation was sought from Sussex Police, which commented: ‘We do receive claims of..
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01 September 2000
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122 - 01 September 2000
Unquantified risk
There have been plenty of reports on the safety, risks or uncertainties of mobile phones, but little enlightenment.
The publication of a seven-year 75-study commissioned report in the US from a Wireless Technology research team concluded there were..
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01 September 2000
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122 - 01 September 2000
Firestone recall
Japanese tyre manufacturer Bridgestone has issued recall for up to 15mn Firestone tyres used on light trucks and sports utility vehicles in the US.
Up to 7mn of these are believed to be in use, while the others are either worn out and discarded or..
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01 September 2000
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122 - 01 September 2000
Critical satisfaction
A report from the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) highlights widespread and – often dangerously – substandard work in car servicing.
OFT director John Bridgeman, castigating ‘large firms, franchised dealers and local garages’,..
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01 September 2000
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122 - 01 September 2000