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No cover for donkey racer
A donkey derby business has been forced to close because of the lack of available insurance cover for professional liability. The business, one of only two donkey-race operators in the country, had been insured by Lloyd’s, paying £1,600 a..
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01 July 2003
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156 - 01 July 2003
Equitas increases asbestos reserves
Equitas has strengthened its asbestos reserves by £399mn. The move follows a review of its asbestos liabilities. Equitas now has gross undiscounted asbestos reserves of £5.3bn. The company recently reported investment losses of £72mn..
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01 July 2003
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156 - 01 July 2003
MDU policies from Converium
The Medical Defence Union is to provide its members with an insurance policy underwritten by Converium Insurance (UK) Ltd. The Converium policy will be issued to members from 1 July 2003 and will replace the current Zurich policy.
Converium was..
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01 July 2003
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156 - 01 July 2003
Cover for domestic staff
Chubb is offering its Masterpiece Employment Practices Liability Coverage to its homeowners policyholders in Colorado, Illinois, New Jersey and Utah. This policy covers the costs associated with certain lawsuits from a housekeeper, nanny, cook or..
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01 July 2003
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156 - 01 July 2003
Punitive damage award to be reconsidered
The $290mn punitive damage award in the product liability case Ford Motor Co v Romo
, is to be reconsidered by the Supreme Court of California. The move, ordered by the High Court, follows the decision in State Farm v Campbell
when a $145mn..
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01 July 2003
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156 - 01 July 2003
Watch out for the tea cosy
It was with great sadness that LRI
read that the DTI is no longer to publish the annual Home and Leisure Accident Report from the Home Accident Surveillance System (HASS). This provided statistics gathered from hospital emergency wards about..
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01 July 2003
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156 - 01 July 2003
Events
Liability Insurance: The History of the Future
9–11 September 2003 • Queens’ College, Cambridge • The Tenth Liability Underwriters Group Conference
The programme includes Master Classes; Legal developments in Psychiatric..
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01 July 2003
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156 - 01 July 2003
CFA decision welcomed
The Court of Appeal’s decision to give the defendant sight of the claimant’s conditional fee arrangement (CFA) when negotiating on the claimant’s costs, has been welcomed by the Forum of Insurance Lawyers (FOIL).
According to FOIL,..
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01 July 2003
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156 - 01 July 2003
CFAs should enhance not impede
The Court of Appeal has ruled in favour of conditional fee agreements (CFAs) in a long running case involving technical challenges by insurers to the deals. Insurers had claimed that lawyers were not complying with the Access to Justice Act 1999 by..
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01 July 2003
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156 - 01 July 2003
Policy enhancements for the Wrap
Travelers Bond, a division of Travelers Property Casualty has expanded the coverage offered in its executive liability package policy, The Wrap, as well as the addition of miscellaneous professional liability coverage.
Enhancements to the policy..
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01 July 2003
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156 - 01 July 2003
Personal injury firms not trusted
A survey has revealed that nearly half the people questioned don’t believe that companies who operate personal injury claims services are always honest. And more than half believe that personal injury companies can mislead customers, often at..
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01 July 2003
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156 - 01 July 2003
Where there’s blame, there’s a bust company
The collapse of the UK’s largest personal injury claims firm Accident Group was reportedly due to its inability to sustain its ‘continual battles with the insurance industry.’ However, the BBC reported that the administrators..
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01 July 2003
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156 - 01 July 2003
FERMA warning on health of market
The Federation of European Risk Management Associations (FERMA) has warned that European businesses are increasingly concerned about the health of the insurance market for commercial risks. The concerns include insurer solvency, lack of choice,..
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01 July 2003
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156 - 01 July 2003
AA to offer EL
AA Insurance Services is to offer employers’ liability to small businesses. The move, reported in Insurance Times magazine, was apparently prompted by customers asking for commercial business products following the launch of a commercial..
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01 July 2003
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156 - 01 July 2003
ABI says reports are positive
The Association of British Insurers (ABI) says that the Government reports on the future of liability insurance ‘are a positive start in the search for long-term solutions.’ But it has renewed its call for long-term fundamental reform,..
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01 July 2003
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156 - 01 July 2003
US dentists sue insurers for abuses
A number of US insurers are being sued by the American Dental Association (ADA) and two of its member dentists, under the federal Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organization Act (RICO) for insurance abuses against dentists contracted under the..
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01 July 2003
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156 - 01 July 2003
Government review of employers’ liability
The government’s report on employers’ liability insurance has concluded that more evidence is needed to assess whether a radical separation of accident from long-tail disease is justified. However, it has also recommended some short term..
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01 July 2003
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156 - 01 July 2003
Liability market could work better says OFT
The Office of Fair Trading (OFT) study into UK liability insurance markets has concluded that the markets could work better. The five-month OFT study found that in 2002 average premiums for employers’ liability insurance rose by 50%, public..
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01 July 2003
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156 - 01 July 2003
Irish personal injury move
The Irish government is planning to set up a Personal Injuries Assessment Board (PIAB) and has already set out draft legislation. The move was prompted by the Irish Motor Insurance Advisory Board which recommended the formation of the PIAB in order..
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01 July 2003
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156 - 01 July 2003
Call for improved child safety seats
The AA, in conjunction with Which?, are calling for improved European testing standards on child safety seats, after crash tests carried out on 52 child safety seats revealed that many provide poor protection in a 40mph accident. To pass current..
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01 July 2003
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156 - 01 July 2003
Road traffic accidents analysis
A study examining road traffic accident fatalities and injuries in the UK during the last 20 years has found that improvements in medical technology and medical care made a significant contribution to the 45% fall in fatalities during the..
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01 July 2003
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156 - 01 July 2003
PI Direct forms IFA mutual
PI Direct has acquired professional indemnity provider Magian Underwriting Agency and together have formed Magian Mutual to provide new professional indemnity capacity exclusively for independent financial advisers (IFAs). The move is said to be in..
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01 July 2003
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156 - 01 July 2003
Top D&O broker in US
The largest directors and officers broker in the US, according to the latest Tillinghast-Towers Perrin Survey, is Woodruff-Sawyer & Co with 18.8% of the industry’s market share. The company is one of the largest employee-owned,..
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01 July 2003
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156 - 01 July 2003
No personal indemnity for non-execs
A survey by accountants and business advisers, PKF has found that only 43% of non-executive directors had personal indemnity insurance. According to PFK non-executive directors could soon take on further responsibilities and be held accountable for..
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01 July 2003
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156 - 01 July 2003
Discrimination at work report
A new study by the International Labour Office (ILO), entitled ‘Time for Equality at Work’, has concluded that discrimination is still a common problem in the workplace, pointing out that while some of the more blatant forms of..
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01 July 2003
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156 - 01 July 2003
Stress causes productivity drop
Over 50% of British businesses are reporting a drop in productivity as a result of workplace stress, according to a survey by business information provider Croner.
The company carried out a survey of businesses using its 24-hour Business Support..
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01 July 2003
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156 - 01 July 2003
FRC delays Higgs’ recommendations
The Financial Reporting Council (FRC) is to delay the introduction of the Higgs recommendations into the Combined Code on Corporate Governance. The FRC is to set up a working group of FRC members to produce a revised draft of the Combined Code in..
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01 July 2003
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156 - 01 July 2003
No non-economic loss awards
The Employment Appeal Tribunal has ruled that tribunals should not award non-economic loss, either in unfair dismissal or wrongful dismissal cases. According to Berwin Leighton Paisner, the Employment Appeal Tribunal considered the issue of..
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01 July 2003
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156 - 01 July 2003
Progressive conditions discrimination
The Disability Rights Commission (DRC) has urged the Government to urgently introduce legislation to cover people with progressive conditions to ensure they are protected against discrimination from the point at which they are diagnosed. The DRC is..
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01 July 2003
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156 - 01 July 2003
Sunscreen for builders
A construction firm in Scotland has issued its workers with factor 25 sunscreen to protect them from skin cancer. The move was apparently in response to figures that show that cases of skin cancer in Scotland have more than tripled in the last 30..
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01 July 2003
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156 - 01 July 2003
Damages agreement on New York aircrash
American Airlines and Airbus have agreed jointly to pay damage claims in connection with the crash of an aircraft at the end of 2001, when the plane lost its tail after take off from New York. Reports suggest that this will mean that lawyers of..
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01 July 2003
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156 - 01 July 2003
Liability not contested in air crash
Boeing will not contest liability claims relating to the Alaska Airlines crash in California at the start of 2000, but it stressed it was not admitting liability. It was reported that Alaska Air Group has accepted full liability and has reached an..
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01 July 2003
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156 - 01 July 2003
Cruise ship in boiler explosion
A boiler explosion aboard a cruise ship, SS Norway, has killed six crew members, and injured 18 others. It is the deadliest cruise ship incident in US waters. The explosion happened in Miami port, while the ship had 2,000 passengers aboard. The SS..
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01 July 2003
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156 - 01 July 2003
Mulheim breaking up
All the pollutants and the vast majority of the cargo of the ‘RMS Mulheim’, which went aground four months ago, have now been removed, but the vessel is now starting to break up. The Maritime and Coastguard Agency says that the majority..
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01 July 2003
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156 - 01 July 2003
More compensation from oil pollution
Victims of oil pollution from oil tanker accidents will see increased levels of compensation in the future, following the adoption of a Protocol establishing an International Oil Pollution Compensation Supplementary Fund.
According to the..
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01 July 2003
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156 - 01 July 2003
Current GM foods safe to eat
A new report by The International Council for Science has concluded that currently available genetically modified foods are safe to eat. However, it adds that, ‘this does not guarantee that no risks will be encountered as more foods are..
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01 July 2003
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156 - 01 July 2003
CEA on the draft Directive on Environmental Liability
The European Parliament vote in the first reading of the draft Directive on Environmental Liability represents a step backwards for the setting up of a practicable scheme, according to the Comitée Européen des Assurances (CEA). It said..
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01 July 2003
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156 - 01 July 2003
Wall Street in biased research
Wall Street analysts have been accused of often providing biased research in response to investment banking pressures, according to a new study by the University of Michigan Business School. Analysts routinely hype the stock of firms raising new..
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01 July 2003
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156 - 01 July 2003
$12.5mn online settlement
A $12.5mn lawsuit has been resolved through the double-blind bid system of leading online settlement company Cybersettle, Inc. The settlement is the largest of its kind on Cybersettle and possibly the largest ever facilitated by a web-based..
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01 July 2003
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156 - 01 July 2003
On the other hand…
Tough words from the Physician Insurers Association of America (PIAA) which has slammed the Weiss report into caps on non-economic damages, calling it fatally flawed. The PIAA says that ‘While the use of median payment data shows that cap..
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01 July 2003
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156 - 01 July 2003
Caps do not stop malpractice premium increases
Caps on non-economic damages have not prevented major increases in medical malpractice insurance premiums, despite the fact that insurers have enjoyed a slowdown in their payouts, according to a white paper released today by Weiss Ratings in the..
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01 July 2003
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156 - 01 July 2003
US asbestos litigation fund
Legislation has been introduced into the US senate designed to create a $108bn asbestos litigation fund in order to tackle the asbestos litigation crisis. The insurance industry and defendant industrial companies would each contribute around $45bn..
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01 July 2003
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156 - 01 July 2003
Work-related mesothelioma up
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has published statistics which show that the total number of male work-related mesothelioma cases in Great Britain tripled over the period covered by the statistics, from 2,317 in 1980–85 (excluding 1981)..
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01 July 2003
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156 - 01 July 2003
WHO gets tough on tobacco
The first ever treaty entirely devoted to health, the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC), had been adopted by almost all the countries in the world (all 192 World Health Organization (WHO) member states).
According to the WHO, the FCTC..
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01 July 2003
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156 - 01 July 2003
$145bn smoking award dismissed
The $145bn compensation award won by smokers in Florida has been dismissed by the state’s Court of Appeals. The jury award was made in July 2000, and was the largest trial damage award in US history. It was brought by about 500,000 smokers in..
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01 July 2003
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156 - 01 July 2003
No cancer risk from passive smoking
Passive smoking does not result in an increased risk of heart disease or lung cancer. This is the conclusion of a controversial new long-term study from California which examined the health of around 120,000 adults over a period of nearly 40..
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01 July 2003
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156 - 01 July 2003
French health fund sues tobacco firms
The Caisse Primaire d’Assurance Maladie, France’s national health insurance fund, is suing a number of tobacco companies. The move, by a regional branch of the fund in Saint-Nazaire, is designed to recoup the costs of caring for smokers..
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01 July 2003
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156 - 01 July 2003
No cancer link for EMFs
New research has concluded that electro magnetic fields from overhead power lines do not affect human chromosomes, and therefore are unlikely to cause childhood leukaemia.
Scientists at the National Radiological Protection Board (NRPB) and Brunel..
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01 July 2003
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156 - 01 July 2003
vCJD on the decline
Researchers from Imperial College London are suggesting that the worst of the vCJD problem could be over. They say that just 40 people could die from vCJD in the UK over the next 80 years. Since 1995, 129 people have died from vCJD in the UK. The..
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01 July 2003
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156 - 01 July 2003
BSE in Canada – but don’t panic
BSE has been discovered in a cow in Canada, but experts say it is not a cause for panic. The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) said that it proves that active surveillance and diagnosis programmes are working.
The FAO..
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01 July 2003
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156 - 01 July 2003
Possible vaccine for BSE
Canadian researchers at the University of Toronto are reported to be testing a new vaccine which may be effective in preventing scrapie, BSE and Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease. A study has been published in the journal Nature Medicine. The vaccine is..
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01 July 2003
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156 - 01 July 2003
Warning: fish in beer
The brewing industry is breathing a sigh of relief after a proposed EC requirement that UK beer be served with the statement: ‘warning: contains fish products’ has been reconsidered.
According to Berwin Leighton Paisner, the aim of the..
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01 July 2003
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156 - 01 July 2003
Danger to drivers from drug labelling
The Department for Transport has warned that the labelling of some over-the-counter medicines is inconsistent, inaccurate and could be a danger to drivers. Research into the impairment effects of drugs and driving by the Department for Transport,..
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01 July 2003
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156 - 01 July 2003
Diet drug class action opt-outs
US pharmaceutical group Wyeth has said that the number of patients who have submitted claims that allege significant heart valve disease from use of its diet drugs, Redux and Pondimin is higher than anticipated. A nationwide class action settlement..
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01 July 2003
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156 - 01 July 2003
Teflon warning from environmental group
A US environmental research organisation is urging the federal government to put warning labels on cookware coated with Teflon and similar non-stick coatings. A study by the Environmental Working Group (EWG) reportedly found that this cookware..
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01 July 2003
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156 - 01 July 2003
Product liability study from European Commission
The European Commission has issued a study into product liability throughout the European Community, which examined the need for reform of product liability laws in the EU, and in particular, whether a uniform product liability system should be..
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01 July 2003
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156 - 01 July 2003
Carpal Tunnel Syndrome not computer linked
A study by Danish researchers has come to the surprising conclusion that computer use does not pose a severe occupational hazard for developing symptoms of carpal tunnel syndrome.
The researchers examined the use of computers on around 5,000 people,..
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01 July 2003
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156 - 01 July 2003
NAO reports on NHS trust accidents
The number of reported accidents in NHS trusts is increasing, the gap between the best and worst performing trusts is widening and more NHS trusts need to learn from and implement good practice. This is the conclusion of Sir John Bourn, the head of..
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01 July 2003
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156 - 01 July 2003
Study highlights MMR risk
The MMR vaccine may increase the risk of neurological problems, according to a US study. It found that the MMR vaccine was associated with a major increase in the incidence of serious neurological disorders compared to a vaccine for diphtheria,..
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01 July 2003
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156 - 01 July 2003
Media bias in MMR autism story
Despite the vast majority of scientific experts rejecting the claim of a link between MMR and autism, 53% of the British public assumed that because both sides of the debate received equal media coverage, there must be equal evidence for each,..
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01 July 2003
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156 - 01 July 2003
Chlorine in pools link to asthma
Regular attendance at chlorinated pools by young children is associated with an increase in the risk of developing asthma, according to a new study, though it stressed that this was ‘especially in association with other risk..
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01 July 2003
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156 - 01 July 2003
Lawyers blamed for crisis
Nearly 70% of consumers in the US blame attorneys and the legal system for surging medical malpractice rates, according to a survey conducted by Weiss Ratings. While 68.6% of respondents found lawyers and the court system to be primarily..
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01 July 2003
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156 - 01 July 2003
New inquiry into antidepressant drugs
The Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) is to carry out a new inquiry into the safety of widely prescribed antidepressant drugs, including Seroxat and Prozac and others of their class, in response to growing public..
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01 July 2003
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156 - 01 July 2003
No jurisdiction for doctors
Employment tribunals do not have jurisdiction over alleged racial discrimination made against the Special Training Authority of the Medical Royal Colleges as it has its own procedures for dealing with such complaints. The Court of Appeal pointed to..
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01 July 2003
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156 - 01 July 2003
Delay in claim allowed
The Court of Appeal dismissed an appeal by a council against a decision to strike out its limitation defence in a claim for personal injuries. The claim was based on an alleged failure by the council to diagnose the claimant’s dyslexia while..
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01 July 2003
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156 - 01 July 2003
Breach of duty gives civil action right
The Court of Appeal ruled that the failure to comply with statutory regulations for the lowering of lifeboats gave rise to a civil action for damages by seamen injured by that failure. The original judge had ruled that the breach of duty did not..
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01 July 2003
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156 - 01 July 2003
Threshold test still applies for stress claims
Professor at a university suffered a nervous breakdown caused by the stress of a restructuring, to which he was opposed. In the initial ruling, the judge said that the senior management at the university were not motivated by an intention to cause..
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01 July 2003
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156 - 01 July 2003
Re-hearing orders must be clear
The Court of Appeal held that it must be made clear by appeal courts on the face of their orders whether they are ordering a re-hearing of the original appeal at first instance, or whether they are ordering a re-hearing at appeal court level. If the..
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01 July 2003
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156 - 01 July 2003
No recovery for non-economic loss
In claims of unfair dismissal in employment tribunals, there is no recovery for non-economic loss. Employment Appeal Tribunal considered three unrelated unfair dismissal cases, in the light of the House of Lords decision in Johnson v Unisys Ltd
...
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01 July 2003
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156 - 01 July 2003
No duty of care in combat
There is no duty for the Ministry of Defence to maintain a safe system of work for service personnel when they are in combat situations. The court therefore dismissed the claims for damages by former service personnel, who had alleged that they..
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01 July 2003
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156 - 01 July 2003
Auctioneers not liable if no sale
An auctioneer who put up goods for sale, and when they did not sell, returned them to the prospective seller, was not liable in conversion or bailment to the true owner of stolen goods. This was provided that the auctioneer acted in good faith..
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01 July 2003
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156 - 01 July 2003
All or nothing appeals
The Employment Appeal Tribunal must be cautious before allowing the appeal to proceed on one of the grounds of appeal, but not allowing the appeal to proceed on another. This was especially so when the compass of a case was a narrow one, and where..
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01 July 2003
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156 - 01 July 2003
Professional or personal conduct
A doctor who was alleged to have deliberately misled a patient, her general practitioner and the hospital authorities over an operation, should have been investigated under disciplinary procedures relating to professional conduct rather than..
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01 July 2003
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156 - 01 July 2003
Insurers fail in apportionment case
Insurers withheld 27.5% of a judgment entered by consent for £205,000, on the basis that they were not on risk for that proportion of the period of culpable exposure. Insurers sought to rely upon a standard ‘rateable proportion’..
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01 July 2003
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156 - 01 July 2003
Payment-in means liable to costs
The acceptance of a payment into court which exceeded a settlement offer did not absolve the defendant from its liability to costs. The court dismissed an application from an airline for an order that it did not have to pay costs. At issue was a..
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01 July 2003
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156 - 01 July 2003
No unfair dismissal for director
The Court of Appeal held that a former chief executive of a company who ceased to be a director following a takeover, and under the express terms of his written contract ceased to be chief executive, could not be said to have been unfairly..
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01 July 2003
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156 - 01 July 2003
Mother not told of Down’s syndrome risk
A woman who gave birth to a baby with Down’s syndrome and a defective heart was entitled to sue for damages, because she had not been told about the increased risk of having a child with Down’s syndrome as a result of her age. The 37..
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01 July 2003
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156 - 01 July 2003
Disclosure of conditional fee agreements
Conditional fee agreements should be disclosed to the paying party in costs proceedings where costs were claimed, and where the paying party objected to an order made against them on the basis that the arrangement was unenforceable.
The Court of..
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01 July 2003
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156 - 01 July 2003
Compensation for demoted role
A human resources manager has received £19,000 compensation from her employer in an out-of-court settlement after claiming that her job was worth the same as the male financial controller’s.
According to the Equal Opportunities Commission..
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01 July 2003
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156 - 01 July 2003
Aetna settles with doctors
Aetna, the US health insurer, is to settle a class action involving more than 700,000 US doctors. The action was based on allegations that Aetna had wrongly cut reimbursements and undermined doctors’ care of patients. Aetna has agreed to pay..
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01 July 2003
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156 - 01 July 2003
Damages for school accident
..
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01 July 2003
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156 - 01 July 2003
Luxury holiday not up to standard
A woman whose millennium holiday in Barbados was ruined has been awarded £25,000 damages. The woman rented a luxury holiday villa in Barbados for friends and family over the millennium celebrations.
The four-bedroomed villa was described by the..
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01 July 2003
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156 - 01 July 2003
Child Support Agency to be sued
A woman has won the right to sue the Child Support Agency for damages under human rights laws. A judge ruled that damages could be sought if the Agency unreasonably fails to act against a parent who is refusing to pay child maintenance. But the..
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01 July 2003
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156 - 01 July 2003
Top banks sued over apartheid
A large number of leading international banks and companies are being sued for their role in supporting apartheid. The New York lawsuit is seeking punitive damages of around $100bn on behalf of thousands of black people who were discriminated..
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01 July 2003
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156 - 01 July 2003
Accident victim to sue legal team
A road accident victim is to sue her lawyers after missing out on compensation. The victim was hit by a car when she was aged eight and is now permanently disabled. An offer was made by the driver’s insurers of £400,000, but her lawyers..
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01 July 2003
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156 - 01 July 2003
Traditional riding hats unsafe
A study by the charity Mark Davies Injured Riders’ Fund into the safety of riding hats has found that virtually all traditional riding hats fail to give proper protection against brain damage.
The survey was carried out on behalf of the..
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01 July 2003
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156 - 01 July 2003
Man settles over lost film
Tesco and Kodak have made an out-of-court settlement over a case involving a lost roll of film. A man sued the companies over the film which contained pictures of his holiday in the US. Media reports suggested the settlement was in the region of..
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01 July 2003
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156 - 01 July 2003
Family to sue over rape death
The family of a woman who committed suicide in hospital after she had been raped are looking to sue the NHS trust for not giving her the help that she required. The family allege that the woman killed herself after being told that the hospital was..
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01 July 2003
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156 - 01 July 2003
Personal use, not smuggling
Customs and Excise is expected to be sued by three women who were accused of commercial smuggling. The women had over £2,300 worth of cigarettes, cigars and tobacco after a day trip to Calais. The goods were seized by Customs, together with the..
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01 July 2003
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156 - 01 July 2003
Barings’s auditors negligent (just)
The High Court has found that Deloitte & Touche was negligent in auditing the Singapore operations of Barings Bank. However, the management of the bank were also found to be guilty of a high level of fault.
Deloitte & Touche said it was..
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01 July 2003
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156 - 01 July 2003
Race case doctor settles
A racial discrimination and victimisation case brought by a doctor against an NHS Trust has been settled, with the Trust apologising for any stress caused to him or his family. The case was supported by the Commission for Racial Equality. The Trust..
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01 July 2003
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156 - 01 July 2003
Security industry must give breaks
A security guard has won his claim that he was not allowed to go to the toilet at work, or have any other breaks during a 12-hour shift at an office block. The employment tribunal denied his argument that the security industry should come under the..
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01 July 2003
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156 - 01 July 2003
Army veterans fail in stress claim
The High Court has rejected claims for damages from nearly 2,000 war veterans over post-traumatic stress disorder. The court ruled that there had been no ‘systemic failure on the part of the Ministry of Defence’, and that the claimants..
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01 July 2003
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156 - 01 July 2003
Burglar to sue jailed farmer
The burglar who was shot by Tony Martin has won the right to sue him for damages. It was reported that the burglar plans to sue the jailed farmer for around £15,000, claiming that his injuries had impaired his sex life and martial arts. The..
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01 July 2003
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156 - 01 July 2003
Coal Authority sued over flooding
Families whose houses were badly damaged by heavy flooding in 1998 are suing the local council and the Coal Authority for compensation. The 30 families in south Wales claim that the removal of old colliery tips and disposal of the spoil on nearby..
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01 July 2003
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156 - 01 July 2003
Direct evidence not needed for bias
The US Supreme Court has ruled that it is not necessary for a plaintiff to have direct evidence of discrimination in order to bring a bias law suit under the Civil Rights Act.
The case involved a woman who had a string of disciplinary sanctions..
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01 July 2003
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156 - 01 July 2003
Good news for Ford
The US Supreme Court has set aside a $290mn punitive damages award against Ford Motor Co. The award was in connection with a rollover accident in 1993 in California. The move is in light of a ruling that punitive damages must be reasonable and..
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01 July 2003
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156 - 01 July 2003
Insurers sued over claims software
A woman in the US is suing her insurer for cheating customers by fraudulently using a computer software programme that processes claims. She claims she did not receive adequate pain and suffering damages after a motor accident because of the..
Online Published Date:
01 July 2003
Appeared in issue:
156 - 01 July 2003
Partial recognition for Gulf War Syndrome
The High Court has ruled that a former soldier is suffering from a syndrome caused by his time in the 1991 Gulf War, but the judge stressed that the ruling does not mean official recognition of Gulf War Syndrome.
‘This court is not in a..
Online Published Date:
01 July 2003
Appeared in issue:
156 - 01 July 2003
Finally, corporate killing legislation is here
It has taken years of discussion, argument and debate, but after numerous delays, the UK government has finally announced that it is to bring in a new law on corporate manslaughter. The law will basically make a company liable for any death caused..
Online Published Date:
01 July 2003
Appeared in issue:
156 - 01 July 2003