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Changes in shareholder suit coverage
Leading US liability insurers including Chubb and American International Group are changing the terms of cover for corporate executives and board members faced with suits from disgruntled shareholders.
Moving from total coverage (minus deductible)..
Online Published Date:
01 September 2001
Appeared in issue:
134 - 01 September 2001
Legal expense insurers recoup cover
Ernst & Young’s (E&Y) legal expenses insurers will recoup US$125mn from several Lloyd’s syndicates and some AIG subsidiaries, following a New York jury decision (reported in the Wall Street Journal
, 30 July 2001).
Stemming..
Online Published Date:
01 September 2001
Appeared in issue:
134 - 01 September 2001
Rules for solicitors’ PI insurance
New rules for professional indemnity insurance for solicitors come into effect from 1 September 2001. These include a requirement of disclosure of qualifying insurer, changes to the reimbursement right of the insurer and terms for the extension of..
Online Published Date:
01 September 2001
Appeared in issue:
134 - 01 September 2001
R J Kiln takes over medmal business
R J Kiln & Co is set to take over Crowe’s syndicate 1204 medical malpractice liability business, years of account 2000 and 2001 as well as future business, from October. Crowe plan to concentrate on UK retail business.
The..
Online Published Date:
01 September 2001
Appeared in issue:
134 - 01 September 2001
Insurers reserve for levy
Analysts expect the Policyholders’ Protection Board (PPB) will have to impose the first additional levy for eight years in the light of recent collapses.
Probably in the region of £70mn, this will far outstrip the £5mn voluntary..
Online Published Date:
01 September 2001
Appeared in issue:
134 - 01 September 2001
Bridgestone threatens safety regulator
As the Firestone/Ford tyre wrangle rolls on, Japanese parent company Bridgestone has stepped up their threat to sue US regulator NHTSA if it determines that Firestone tyres are defective and orders a further recall.
President Shigeo Watanabe said:..
Online Published Date:
01 September 2001
Appeared in issue:
134 - 01 September 2001
CNA makes asbestos reserves
A US$2.1bn strengthening of reserves – around half in respect of old asbestos and environmental claims – has pushed CNA Financial into an operating loss of US$2.08bn (net loss US$1.8bn) for the second quarter of the year. The second..
Online Published Date:
01 September 2001
Appeared in issue:
134 - 01 September 2001
Equitas tightens on asbestos claims
Along with increased provision of £1.7bn, bringing asbestos reserves to £8bn, Equitas (as other London market players) has tightened the terms of payment on asbestos claims. Defendants facing multitudes of claim have been opting for..
Online Published Date:
01 September 2001
Appeared in issue:
134 - 01 September 2001
Awards and settlements
Paralysed on a school skiing trip,
the school was found 50% liable for the injuries of a 17-year-old boy. The court ruled the school was ‘in breach of duty of care because it failed to react appropriately to a demonstration of..
Online Published Date:
01 September 2001
Appeared in issue:
134 - 01 September 2001
Ombudsman for NHS professionals
A consultation document is out on the appointment of an ombudsman to hear complaints about maladministration by professional bodies working in the National Health Service, including the General Medical Council. This stems from the Kennedy Report..
Online Published Date:
01 September 2001
Appeared in issue:
134 - 01 September 2001
Protocol facilitates negotiation
A professional negligence preaction protocol, in force in late July 2001, make provision for parties to negotiate unless a claim is denied in its entirety. It also provides that letters of claim that differ from subsequent statements in court will..
Online Published Date:
01 September 2001
Appeared in issue:
134 - 01 September 2001
Hidden dissatisfaction with solicitors
Those involved in the fast-changing market of solicitors’ professional indemnity cover would do well to consider the findings of consumer magazine Which?
Examination of the real level of client dissatisfaction with solicitors suggests it..
Online Published Date:
01 September 2001
Appeared in issue:
134 - 01 September 2001
Enforcing solicitors to need more cover?
Proposals in a green paper issued by the Lord Chancellor’s department would require solicitors who enforce court orders to be licensed, pay into a compensation fund and take out additional indemnity insurance. This is part of wider measures to..
Online Published Date:
01 September 2001
Appeared in issue:
134 - 01 September 2001
FSA for law firms
The Financial Services Authority (FSA) is to take on a regulatory role from 30 November this year for law firms carrying out mainstream investment business.
But only about 250 of the estimated 7,500 law firms currently regulated by Law Society to..
Online Published Date:
01 September 2001
Appeared in issue:
134 - 01 September 2001
Limitation recommendations
Law Commission Report No 270, issued on 10 July 2001, recommends that the Limitation Act 1980 be repealed and replaced by a new act applying single limitations, as far as possible, for all claims of remedy or enforcement of right.
Claims would be..
Online Published Date:
01 September 2001
Appeared in issue:
134 - 01 September 2001
Third Parties (Rights Against Insurers) repeal?
The Law Commissions of England, Wales and Scotland are to recommend the repeal of the Third Parties (Rights Against Insurers) Act of 1930.
While this allowed injured parties to claim from an insurer where the defendant was insolvent (so that any..
Online Published Date:
01 September 2001
Appeared in issue:
134 - 01 September 2001
Labelling
FSA fines
The Food Standards Agency (FSA) is to target misleading labelling with fines of up to £5,000. Even though most consumers see through the guff, there is ‘far too much meaningless drivel and sloppy, emotive, overromantic..
Online Published Date:
01 September 2001
Appeared in issue:
134 - 01 September 2001
AIG covers services over internet
American International Group has introduced an endorsement to its financial institutions liability policies to extend cover to professional services performed through the internet. Coverage limits are available up to US$25mn, based on overall..
Online Published Date:
01 September 2001
Appeared in issue:
134 - 01 September 2001
ePolicy.com D&O
Philadelphia Insurance, through ePolicy.com Insurance Services, is offering online directors’ and officers’ cover for directors and officers of nonprofit organisations within 48 states. It covers officers and the entity itself for the..
Online Published Date:
01 September 2001
Appeared in issue:
134 - 01 September 2001
Claims Direct
‘There should, after all, be a market for this kind of claims management business, after removal of legal aid for most personal injury claims. The huge unknown is whether Claims Direct’s management can resuscitate its business and..
Online Published Date:
01 September 2001
Appeared in issue:
134 - 01 September 2001
Royal London faces fine and expense
Following investigation by the Personal Investment Authority (PIA) of misselling of endowment and life insurance by Royal London staff, the Financial Services Authority (FSA) has imposed one of the highest fines, £400,000.
But this is peanuts..
Online Published Date:
01 September 2001
Appeared in issue:
134 - 01 September 2001
Bad news for retired professionals
As a result of a £10,000 claim arising from failure to notice cracks in a wall while conducting a £70 mortgage survey, and a decision of the County Court in Truro, a new class of professionals will be seeking professional indemnity (PI)..
Online Published Date:
01 September 2001
Appeared in issue:
134 - 01 September 2001
Compensation for misselling
Supporting the original view of the Personal Investment Authority’s (PIA) ombudsman, the High Court has ruled that any windfalls, due to demutualisation or merger, received by victims of pension misselling are not to be set against..
Online Published Date:
01 September 2001
Appeared in issue:
134 - 01 September 2001
Foreseeability hurdle to stress claims
A note from Beachcroft Wansbroughs (whose Patricia Baxter represented the successful employer-defendant) confirms that courts are still seeking evidence of foreseeability of injury in stress-related claims.
In Lynn Jarrett v Aegis Security..
Online Published Date:
01 September 2001
Appeared in issue:
134 - 01 September 2001
Industrial Injuries Advisory Council
The report of the IIAC for 2000 shows ongoing review of the schedule of prescribed diseases and consideration of a number of potential categories of disablement. Discussions have also been held on the future of the industrial injuries scheme.
Work..
Online Published Date:
01 September 2001
Appeared in issue:
134 - 01 September 2001
MoD payouts
The Ministry of Defence (MoD) paid out £97mn to injured service personnel during 2000 (£83.4mn in 1999). The largest individual award was £3.67mn to a soldier now needing constant nursing care following shock from overhead power..
Online Published Date:
01 September 2001
Appeared in issue:
134 - 01 September 2001
Accidents not investigated
New research from the Health & Safety Executive (Accident Investigation – the Drivers, Methods and Outcomes, CRR 344/2001) indicates many employers are failing to properly investigate and assess accidents at work. Aspects include:
There..
Online Published Date:
01 September 2001
Appeared in issue:
134 - 01 September 2001
Cancer suit by tyre workers
A suit has been launched by two sick workers and two widows against Uniroyal Goodrich tyre plant in Tuscaloosa, Alabama alleging workplace exposure to chemicals led to various types of cancer. Four other workers have recently filed similar suits..
Online Published Date:
01 September 2001
Appeared in issue:
134 - 01 September 2001
OP injury claim rejected
A claim by a farmer alleging neurological damage from exposure to organophosphates (OPs) in sheep dip has been rejected by the High Court.
Mr Justice Morland is as yet to give reasons but a recent report by the government’s Committee on..
Online Published Date:
01 September 2001
Appeared in issue:
134 - 01 September 2001
Child labour in Camberley
Two McDonald’s fast-food franchise outlets in Camberley have been fined for repeatedly, and after warnings, employing children late at night on school days without permits. One child worked from 5pm until 2am on a school day and another..
Online Published Date:
01 September 2001
Appeared in issue:
134 - 01 September 2001
Part-time working rights
A government taskforce is due to report in November on replacement of the existing right to part-time work (under the Sex Discrimination Act) with a new right for parents to request flexible working hours. The need for clarity is illustrated in two..
Online Published Date:
01 September 2001
Appeared in issue:
134 - 01 September 2001
Minimum pay arrears
Arrears of pay totalling almost £5mn have been paid since the introduction of the minimum wage two years ago, £3mn of this in the year ending April 2001.
Figures from the Department of Trade & Industry (DTI) show that despite less..
Online Published Date:
01 September 2001
Appeared in issue:
134 - 01 September 2001
Claims of sexual orientation
Following the same line as the Scottish Court of Session, in the recent MacDonald
claim the Court of Appeal has confirmed that discrimination against a lesbian teacher, based on sexual orientation, is not covered by the Sex Discrimination Act. In..
Online Published Date:
01 September 2001
Appeared in issue:
134 - 01 September 2001
Irish accident rate too high
The first study of its kind suggests the accident toll in Ireland could be reduced so as to save 1,500 lives a year, and many times more injuries.
Injury in Ireland
, by Elaine Scallan and colleagues at the Public Health Department of University..
Online Published Date:
01 September 2001
Appeared in issue:
134 - 01 September 2001
Rail safety
The report for the three months April to June of this year from industry safety body Railway Safety shows a further increase in SPADs (signals passed at danger) to an average of two per day. Recently the Rail Inspectorate warned that initiatives to..
Online Published Date:
01 September 2001
Appeared in issue:
134 - 01 September 2001
Guidance for directors
New guidance notes from the Health & Safety Commission address the health and safety responsibilities of directors and board members of public sector and voluntary organisations relating to employees, contractors’ employees and members of..
Online Published Date:
01 September 2001
Appeared in issue:
134 - 01 September 2001
Workplace deaths rise 34%
Figures from the Health & Safety Commission show a 34% increase in workplace deaths in 2000. The 295 fatalities pushed levels up from 0.8 to 1.1 per 100,000 employees.
The number of deaths in the construction industry were the highest for 10..
Online Published Date:
01 September 2001
Appeared in issue:
134 - 01 September 2001
Dry ice in the hold
Following an incident in which a crew of a Douglas DC-8 cargo aircraft almost suffocated, the US National Transportation Safety Board is pressing the Federal Aviation Administration to carry out tests on safety aspects of widely used refrigerant dry..
Online Published Date:
01 September 2001
Appeared in issue:
134 - 01 September 2001
Concorde to fly, some claims still lie
With broad upgrades completed and confirmation from the official inquiry that last year’s crash was caused by a burst tyre rather than poor maintenance, Concorde is due to fly again soon.
The families of the 97 passengers who died appear to..
Online Published Date:
01 September 2001
Appeared in issue:
134 - 01 September 2001
…and Britain
A letter of claim has been sent to American Airways, British Airways (BA) and other leading names by Watford-based transport litigation specialist Collins Solicitors.
It has been approached by many people believing they have suffered deep vein..
Online Published Date:
01 September 2001
Appeared in issue:
134 - 01 September 2001
DVT claims launched in Australia…
Australian law firm Slater & Gordon has filed suits in the Victoria Supreme Court against three international airlines – KLM, Qantas and British Airways – and the Australian air safety body CASA. The airlines are targeted under..
Online Published Date:
01 September 2001
Appeared in issue:
134 - 01 September 2001
Dirty dining
Sir John Krebs, head of the Food Standards Agency, has ordered detailed analysis of last year’s findings of environmental health officers’ inspections of restaurants and other food outlets. Of 235,969 inspected almost 120,000 were found..
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01 September 2001
Appeared in issue:
134 - 01 September 2001
Law Society issues green warning card
The Law Society has sent a ‘green warning card’ to all solicitors, reminding them that in ‘every transaction [they] must consider whether contamination is an issue.’
This is not only in relation to household mortgages but all..
Online Published Date:
01 September 2001
Appeared in issue:
134 - 01 September 2001
Pesticide safety report
The annual report of the Pesticides Safety Directorate claims all but one of its targets were met, and exceeded for completion of pesticide approvals.
Responsible for the registration of agricultural pesticides on behalf of DEFRA and so on, its..
Online Published Date:
01 September 2001
Appeared in issue:
134 - 01 September 2001
Integrated environmental protection in 1999
A research report Environmental Protection Expenditure by Industry, 1999
, now published by DEFRA, shows an increase in company spending on integrating environmental protection rather than waiting to clean up at the end of a process.
In 1999 UK..
Online Published Date:
01 September 2001
Appeared in issue:
134 - 01 September 2001
New Camelford inquiry
Some 13 years after chemicals were accidentally dumped into the water supply of the Cornish town of Camelford, environment minister Michael Meacher has ordered a further (but not public, as the cause is already known and improved system in place)..
Online Published Date:
01 September 2001
Appeared in issue:
134 - 01 September 2001
ICI purchases homes
ICI’s offer to purchase their homes has been accepted by more than 200 families in Weston, Cheshire. Others will benefit by a 20-year guarantee of property prices. The homes are located near ICI’s Runcorn works and two quarries used as..
Online Published Date:
01 September 2001
Appeared in issue:
134 - 01 September 2001
Byker ash on allotments
Newcastle City Council has pleaded guilty to two charges of knowingly using toxic ash from the Byker incinerator for making paths on allotments between 1995 and 1998.
The incinerator operator, Contract Heat & Power of Sawtry in Cambridgeshire,..
Online Published Date:
01 September 2001
Appeared in issue:
134 - 01 September 2001
Multisource PCBs in foods
Research on behalf of the Belgian government, following the inclusion of 50kg of old transformer oil containing polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) to 500 tonnes of animal feed in 1999, has brought disturbing factors to light.
Up to 4% of samples of..
Online Published Date:
01 September 2001
Appeared in issue:
134 - 01 September 2001
Punitive myths
An examination of punitive awards carried out by Cornell University professors Theodore Eisenberg and Martin Wells and analysts from the National Centre for State Courts finds that – contrary to popular belief – judges make comparable..
Online Published Date:
01 September 2001
Appeared in issue:
134 - 01 September 2001
DuPont to pay nurseries
A Miami-Dade County Circuit Court jury has awarded two Costa Rican plant nurseries US$29.5mn in respect of damage caused by their use of Benlate DF (a fungicide no longer on the market).
But DuPont will have to pay US$88.5mn, an automatic tripling..
Online Published Date:
01 September 2001
Appeared in issue:
134 - 01 September 2001
Automatic tyre pressure warnings
..
Online Published Date:
01 September 2001
Appeared in issue:
134 - 01 September 2001
First Firestone case in court
More than 150 compensation claims, arising from 203 deaths and many more injuries to which Firestone tyres have been linked by the National Highways Transportation Safety Association (NHTSA) implicated, settled, the first case gets court..
Online Published Date:
01 September 2001
Appeared in issue:
134 - 01 September 2001
Artwork coated with asbestos
Discovery that a massive 120-foot-long Raoul Dufy painting celebrating electricity is coated with asbestos has led to closure of a gallery in the Museum of Modern Art in Paris. It is believed to have been sprayed onto the back of the 250 wooden..
Online Published Date:
01 September 2001
Appeared in issue:
134 - 01 September 2001
Halliburton reveals asbestos liabilities
10-Q filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission led to a 4.5% stock fall for Halliburton, the world’s largest oilfield services firm. This through the greater detail provided of asbestos-related claims dating back to the 1970s.
A..
Online Published Date:
01 September 2001
Appeared in issue:
134 - 01 September 2001
Rescue package for Chester Street’s liabilities
The Association of British Insurers has now set in place the insurance industry financed £5mn rescue package. It is designed to cover 90% of the value of those pre-1972 asbestos injuries, unpaid as a result of the insolvency of Chester Street,..
Online Published Date:
01 September 2001
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134 - 01 September 2001
‘Not crippling’
Rating agency Standard & Poor’s (S&P) sees the development of asbestos claims as significant, but not crippling, for the insurance industry. Differing from Tillinghast-Towers Perrin’s expectation that 60% of final costs of..
Online Published Date:
01 September 2001
Appeared in issue:
134 - 01 September 2001
Tobacco update
US$3bn punitive damages jury award reduced
to US$100mn by Los Angeles trial judge Charles McCoy. Philip Morris had sought that the verdict, based on deception of customers regarding the risks of smoking, be set aside and a new trial ordered, or..
Online Published Date:
01 September 2001
Appeared in issue:
134 - 01 September 2001
BSE, CJD and rural risks
Ten government-sponsored inquiries
– none of them a ‘public inquiry’ – are now running on aspects of foot-and-mouth (F&M) disease. Among matters considered will be: how the disease entered Britain and the effectiveness..
Online Published Date:
01 September 2001
Appeared in issue:
134 - 01 September 2001
CCA a risk?
An article in Time
(16 July 2001) discusses the use of chromate copper arsenate (CCA) infused into 98% of wood destined for outdoor use, including children’s playgrounds, in the US. Although there is no hard evidence as yet it is believed..
Online Published Date:
01 September 2001
Appeared in issue:
134 - 01 September 2001
Veterinary residues
The annual report of the Veterinary Medicines Directorate showed less than 0.5% of all meat, fish, eggs and dairy products tested last year showed any detectable residue of veterinary medicines.
The tests, carried through for the Food Standards..
Online Published Date:
01 September 2001
Appeared in issue:
134 - 01 September 2001
Aflatoxin in peanut butter
Besides the well known allergy risks, it appears some peanut butters may contain ‘unacceptable’ levels of aflatoxin, a natural contaminant linked to liver cancer.
This was identified in tests carried out for the consumer magazine..
Online Published Date:
01 September 2001
Appeared in issue:
134 - 01 September 2001
Plastic wrapping contaminates foods
Following up suspicions voiced some years ago of food contamination from plastic wrappers, research carried out by the independent Steins Laboratory has been published in Denmark’s leading business magazine, Borsens Nyhedsmagasin
.
Also..
Online Published Date:
01 September 2001
Appeared in issue:
134 - 01 September 2001
Radionuclides
The government has asked the Committee on Medical Aspects of Radiation in the Environment (COMARE), an independent advisory body, to establish a broad-based working group to review the risks associated with internal radiation emitters..
Online Published Date:
01 September 2001
Appeared in issue:
134 - 01 September 2001
Gulf mediation refused
A request on behalf of more than 700 Gulf War veterans that their claims be investigated by an independent mediator have been rejected in that the Ministry of Defence does not accept legal liability for their complaints.
But a recent event could..
Online Published Date:
01 September 2001
Appeared in issue:
134 - 01 September 2001
More MMR evidence
A study published in the 27 June 2001 issue of the American Medical Association
journal gives some support to theories that the triple measles, mumps and rubella vaccine (MMR) has an association with childhood autism.
Of 15,500 British children..
Online Published Date:
01 September 2001
Appeared in issue:
134 - 01 September 2001
Doctors still working overlong hours
The British Medical Association warns that, despite new rules in force from 31 July 2001, more than half of newly qualified and junior doctors will still be required to work for more than 56 hours a week. The safety of patients, as well as the..
Online Published Date:
01 September 2001
Appeared in issue:
134 - 01 September 2001
Medical Defence Union report
The annual report of the Medical Defence Union (MDU) calls for change to the 1948 Law Reform Act. Under this act severely damaged patients who receive compensation must be given private medical care. The MDU is calling for change, saying this would..
Online Published Date:
01 September 2001
Appeared in issue:
134 - 01 September 2001
Skiing accident damages
A skiing accident led to the quadriplegia of a trainee teacher, and pointed to the negligence of the employer and the field operator. The award was reduced by 20% for contributory negligence as he had already noticed toboggan steering problems...
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01 September 2001
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134 - 01 September 2001
Agency contributed to sexual harassment
An employment agency, continuing to refer staff to a firm having received several complaints about sexual harassment, contributed to the harassment suffered by a person placed in work. It was ordered to contribute A$5,000 to the total award of..
Online Published Date:
01 September 2001
Appeared in issue:
134 - 01 September 2001
Nondelegable duty of care
A school’s duty of care to pupils could not be avoided by claiming it had been delegated to a teacher (in the case at issue having physically and sexually abused students).
Leport v State of New South Wales • New South Wales Court of..
Online Published Date:
01 September 2001
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134 - 01 September 2001
Railtrack ordered to pay
Railtrack was found liable for failure to prevent pigeon mess under a bridge. As owner of the bridge, with knowledge of and means to prevent nuisance caused by feral pigeons to road users underneath, Railtrack was liable to pay cleaning costs...
Online Published Date:
01 September 2001
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134 - 01 September 2001
Pure funders’ liability for costs
While there was no rule exempting one who funded the action of a party (as an act of charity) from an order for costs, it would rarely be just and reasonable to do so.This is part of the Al Fayed saga.
Hamilton v Al Fayed and others (No 3) •..
Online Published Date:
01 September 2001
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134 - 01 September 2001
Extended time for serving particulars
Where a claim form is served within the prescribed time, a court has discretion to grant an extension of time for the service of particulars.
Totty v Snowden;
Hewitt v Wirral and West Cheshire Community NHS Trust • Court of Appeal •
..
Online Published Date:
01 September 2001
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134 - 01 September 2001
Windfalls not caused by misselling
Where compensation is due for loss sustained due to the misselling of a pension, any windfall cash received (due to demutualisation of the insurer in the case at issue) should not be set against that sum.
In reaching his decision, Sir Andrew Morritt..
Online Published Date:
01 September 2001
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134 - 01 September 2001
Liquidator’s power to seek ban on director
The official receiver was not entitled to obtain documents from former solicitors and accountants of a liquidated company for use as evidence in proceedings under the Company Directors Disqualification Act 1986.
In re Pantmaenog Timber Co Ltd..
Online Published Date:
01 September 2001
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134 - 01 September 2001
Shareholder’s recovery of loss
A shareholder cannot individually recover damages for loss from breach of duty, which is merely a reflection of a loss suffered by the company as a whole, even where it was clear the company was either unwilling or unable to pursue such claim.
Giles..
Online Published Date:
01 September 2001
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134 - 01 September 2001
Personal liability of professionals
In refusing leave to appeal the decision of the Court of Appeal, the Lords have confirmed personal liability for advice given by a wide range of professionals, in special circumstances.
See
Professional perils •
Merrett v Babb • House..
Online Published Date:
01 September 2001
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134 - 01 September 2001
‘Witnessing’ event
The claimant heard screams, and sirens, over a mobile phone call from his wife when their daughter was killed by a speeding car. His claim for stress caused by ‘witnessing’ the event over the phone was rejected as he was not physically..
Online Published Date:
01 September 2001
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134 - 01 September 2001
Reliance on ‘whistleblower’ rights
In order to rely on these provisions in the Employment Rights Act of 1996, it was not necessary that all relevant facts occurred after its provisions came into force on 2 July 1999.
In the case at issue, the protected disclosure had been made before..
Online Published Date:
01 September 2001
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134 - 01 September 2001
Harassment by newspaper articles
Unsurprising in any context, the Court of Appeal, in this case, held that the publication of articles calculated to incite racial hatred of an individual was capable of amounting to harassment under the Protection from Harassment Act 1997.
The..
Online Published Date:
01 September 2001
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134 - 01 September 2001
No duty to prevent escape
In a majority decision, the Court of Appeal held that the police had no duty to a potential prisoner to prevent him from escaping and therefore no liability for his injuries in so doing. In the case at issue the claimant jumped (while the police..
Online Published Date:
01 September 2001
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134 - 01 September 2001
Holiday organiser’s liability
Strict liability for injuries suffered by a holidaymaker only applies where there was an improper performance of the contract, a decision that dismissed an appeal, citing the Package Travel, Package Holidays and Package Tours Regulations (SI 1992 No..
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01 September 2001
Appeared in issue:
134 - 01 September 2001
Extent of duty to other sporting contestants
Upholding the High Court decision against a claim for damages arising from injuries sustained from other jockeys during a race, the Court of Appeal has clarified the extent of duty of care between contestants.
Confirming the circumstances of a race..
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01 September 2001
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134 - 01 September 2001
Who pays the lawyers?
Giant law firms Davies Arnold Cooper and Davies Lavery and Berrymans Lace Mawer are owed around £2mn for legal work carried out for Independent Insurance. The law firms claim the commercial policyholders, on whose behalf the work was carried..
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01 September 2001
Appeared in issue:
134 - 01 September 2001
Deafness claims
A claim alleging deafness due to work in a power station has been lodged in Dublin’s High Court. It is likely to be the first of many against the State Electricity Supply Board.
Army deafness compensation has already cost the Irish government..
Online Published Date:
01 September 2001
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134 - 01 September 2001
CICA refuses road rage victim
The Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority (CICA) has refused to pay compensation to the victim of a road rage incident. After her attacker had driven aggressively and then backed into her vehicle, Ann MacDonald stood in front of her..
Online Published Date:
01 September 2001
Appeared in issue:
134 - 01 September 2001
Paddington payments under way
St Paul Insurance has started payments to relatives of victims of the Paddington train crash. The total on offer is around £20mn. Payments in respect of the 31 dead range from £750,000 to the wife and young children of a businessman to..
Online Published Date:
01 September 2001
Appeared in issue:
134 - 01 September 2001
Prison officers’ dilemma
The Court of Appeal has ruled that while the prison service was entitled to have a policy allowing the removal of babies at 18 months, it was not entitled to operate it rigidly where the effects on mother and/or child could be catastrophic.
While..
Online Published Date:
01 September 2001
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134 - 01 September 2001
Bradford police claim for riot injuries
Some of the police officers injured in the Bradford race riots are planning legal action to obtain compensation from their police authority for their injuries. More than 260 officers were hurt and 46 were still on sick leave a month later.
Backed by..
Online Published Date:
01 September 2001
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134 - 01 September 2001
Civil action against bombers
An innovative civil action against five men suspected of involvement in the Omagh bombing by the Real IRA in 1998 has been launched in the Belfast High Court by families of the victims. There were 31 dead and many injured. Funding their own action..
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01 September 2001
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134 - 01 September 2001
C&E not involved in ‘sting’
The High Court has dismissed a £1mn damages claim by businessman Ali Daghir, who was wrongfully jailed in 1991 for exporting nuclear triggers to Iraq.
High Court judge Mr Justice Gray said Mr Daghir had failed to show the case brought against..
Online Published Date:
01 September 2001
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134 - 01 September 2001
Directors file action against FSA
Three directors of collapsed retirement advice firm Knight Williams & Co have lodged claims in the High Court against the Financial Services Authority (FSA) as successor to the Securities & Investment Board (SIB). They seek damages of..
Online Published Date:
01 September 2001
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134 - 01 September 2001
Equitable Life groups target treasury
The four Equitable Life action groups have joined forces to seek £2.6bn from the Treasury to ‘redress the failures of successive regulators’. Publication of the internal inquiry into the Financial Services Authority’s (FSA)..
Online Published Date:
01 September 2001
Appeared in issue:
134 - 01 September 2001
Court of Appeal fails to set precedent for future cases
The Court of Appeal failed to set guidelines for other cases when it ruled that the £350 premium in the whiplash claim of Callery v Gray
(alias the Insurance Industry v Claims Direct
) was reasonable and recoverable. This means it will be left..
Online Published Date:
01 September 2001
Appeared in issue:
134 - 01 September 2001