Articles

Clinical Negligence

Clinical Negligence: Charlotte Jones and Claire Toogood present recent developments in the field of Clinical Negligence

Clinical Negligence: Current Issues: Limitation Update In this article, prepared for Chambers' Michaelmas term seminars, Gordon Catford provides an update on Clinical Negligence claims, with reference to Limitation.

Clinical Negligence: Multipliers - Dennis Matthews provides an introduction to the calculation of multipliers in clinical negligence cases including instances of reduced life expectancy and dependency claims.

Commercial and Chancery

Commercial and Chancery: Liability for Economic Torts - The recent decision of the House of Lords in OBG Limited v Allan & Ors [2007] 2 WLR 920 has added much needed clarity to the area of economic torts. It has confirmed that there is no unified theory of economic torts and that there are two fundamentally different torts: Inducing Breach of Contract and Causing Loss by Unlawful Means. In this paper, James Maxwell Scott & Anna Laney ask: Are two torts better than one?

Commercial and Chancery: Recent Developments in Commercial Law and Construction Law - In this paper, prepared for the Michaelmas 2007 term seminars, Michael Curtis discusses recent cases within these areas of law.

Commercial and Chancery: Settlement - Current Issues: Simon Howarth considers certain difficult areas of the law relating to settlement of actions. Is settlement the beginning of the end or merely the end of the beginning?

Commercial and Chancery: The Factual Matrix - Do contracts always mean what they say? Jason Evans-Tovey and Andrew Rigney focus here on one of the most important principles involved in the proper interpretation of contracts: the factual matrix.

Commercial and Chancery: Terminating a Commercial Contract for Material Breach - Crispin Winser considers the circumstances in which a party to a commercial contract can terminate it, with reference to three recent cases: Rice v Great Yarmouth, National Power v United Gas and Dalkia v Celtech.

Commercial and Chancery: Damages for breach of statutory duty and the Supply of Machinery (Safety) Regulations 1992 If defective machinery causes property damage and economic losses is there a claim for damages for breach of regulations implementing the Machinery Directive 89/392/EEC? How does a court determine under what statutory powers Regulations are made if there is more than one source of such power?

Construction

Construction: Shutting Pandora's Box: The Prevention Principle after Multiplex v Honeywell: Crispin Winser outlines the implications of the Prevention Principle following this significant case.

Construction: Recent Developments in Commercial Law and Construction Law - In this paper, prepared for the Michaelmas 2007 term seminars, Michael Curtis discusses recent cases within these areas of law.

Construction: Development of Road Transport Systems using International Contractor Joint Ventures - Dr Cyril Chern's paper presented at the recent First Congress on Roads in Sarajevo, and published in its journal Zbornik Radova 1.BH Kongres O Cestama

Construction: Dispute Boards in Maritime Construction: In this article, published in the Transnational Dispute Management journal, Dr Cyril Chern and co-author Christopher Koch discuss efficient dispute resolution within the maritime construction industry.

Construction: Construction Case Notes: Kim Franklin presents three of her recent articles from the Architect's Journal.

Construction: Construction Case Notes: Kim Franklin's most recent articles for The Architect's Journal, entitled 'Crossrail' and 'Time at Large'

Construction: Construction Case Notes: Here, Kim Franklin presents six of her recent articles from The Architect's Journal: ‘The Forensic Rabbit’, ‘Final Score’, ‘Second Time Around’, ‘Demon Terminology’, ‘Tenders’ and ‘The Changing Face of Adjudication’.

Construction: Construction Case Notes: Grouped together here are two articles which deal with the interpretation of statutory provisions that are of interest to construction professionals. The first, Perrin v Ramage, concerns the interpretation of s.198(6)(b) of the Town and Country Planning Act 1980, and the effect of Tree Preservation Orders that has been placed on a tree that is causing nuisance. In the second, Zissis v Lukomski, the court grappled with the Party Wall etc Act 1996, and how a party wall award should be appealed.

Construction: Construction Case Notes: We have collected here four articles about rights to light that Susan has written for her architect readership about recent cases. In Midtown v City of London Real Property Company the judge considered whether the fact that an office building was permanently artificially lit was an issue to be taken into account in assessing the owner’s right to light . The case of Tamares v Fairpoint addressed whether an owner acquired a right to light through windows that were obscured internally by panelling thoughout the 20 year prescription period . The final two articles concern the case of Regan v Paul Properties. The first explains the findings of the judge at first instance that the so called ‘50:50 rule’ is not a rule of law. This finding was not affected by the Court of Appeal’s subsequent decision, which is the subject of the final article. On appeal the Court held that the infringement of Regan’s rights was such that defendant was obliged to demolish part of its development; a rare instance of damages not being ordered in lieu.

Construction: Seeing the Wood for the trees - Loftus-Brigham and Apportionment of Damage. Can the court apportion damage between competing causes in tree root encroachment cases? Published at (2005) 21 Const.L.J.431, (c) Sweet & Maxwell Ltd and Contributors.

Construction: Blowing Hot and Cold

Construction: Setting Out

Construction: Adjudication - No going back?

Construction: Is the law an 'undomesticated animal'?

Construction: Causes of Action

Construction: Letters of Intent - Case Summaries

Construction: Letters of Intent Michael Curtis analyses the recent cases and suggests some guidelines to assist in predicting how the courts will approach the task of deciding the effect of any particular letter of intent. The relevant cases are summarized in the 'Case Summaries' article.

Construction: Dispute Boards –What Architects Need to Know Cyril Chern explains in a short note the major change in delay and disruption disputes following the utilization of new rules relating to Dispute Boards and Procedures.

Construction: Construction Case Notes Kim Franklin considers three areas, being: latent defects in the case of Pearson v The Charter Partnership Limited; economic duress in building cases and Carillion Construction v Felix (UK) Ltd; and costs in adjudication after John Roberts Architects Limited v Parkcare Homes (No.2) Ltd (9.2.06).

Construction: Construction Case Notes Kim Franklin considers three areas, being: construction mangers and the recent case of Scheldebouw BV v St James Homes (Grosvenor Dock) Ltd (Judgment 16.1.2006); Limitation as considered in Aer Lingus v Gildacroft Ltd & Sentinel Ltd (Judgment 17.1.2006); and the problems quantifying landlords losses in Green v Alexander Johnson (28.6.2005).

Construction: Construction Case Notes Susan Lindsey addresses the diverse topics of omission of work from construction contracts, the decision in John Roberts v Parkcare Homes about the adjudication provisions in the RIBA's standard form of appointment, the Privy Council's recent judgment in Horsfold v Bird dealing with assessment of damages in lieu of a mandatory injunction, and the present position on foreseeability in tree root claims.

Health & Safety and Regulatory

Health & Safety and Regulatory: R v HTM: The Blame Game. John Cooper and Simon Antrobus present an analysis of the litigation surrounding the renowned HTM case.

Health & Safety and Regulatory: The Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act 2007: Worth the Wait? After a lengthy stand-off between the Houses of Commons and Lords, the Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act 2007 finally received royal assent on 26th July 2007. The dust having settled, practitioners are starting to ask ‘was it worth the wait?’. Here, Dominic Kay offers a brief consideration of some of the main features of the new Act.

Health & Safety and Regulatory: Inquests: Current Developments - The most significant current development remains the Government’s plans to reform the coronial system. This article will therefore primarily focus on the Government’s current plans for reform. It will also outline some significant recent cases.

Health & Safety and Regulatory: Reforms to the Coroners System; The Draft Bill: Dominic Kay discusses the recent developments in law and procedure relating to inquests.

Health & Safety and Regulatory: Regulation: The Healthcare Commission and the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000 Michael Curtis analyses the provisions of RIPA 2000 and considers the practical effect of the Healthcare Commission's new powers.

Insurance & Reinsurance

Insurance & Reinsurance: Insurance Intermediaries: Key Practical Issues.

Mediation

Mediation:

When is a refusal to mediate unreasonable? Accredited Mediator Toby Gee discusses Nigel Witham Ltd v Smith and Isaacs (No.2).

Personal Injury

Personal Injury: Carver v BAA [2008] EWCA Civ 412 - A "more advantageous" approach to Part 36? - Steven Snowden discusses the recent case of Carver v BAA in which he appeared.

Personal Injury: Cases & Trends in 2007: Liability. In this article, following a lecture given in October 2007, Margaret Bickford-Smith QC reviews some significant personal injury decisions on liability from 2007.  The article first appeared in Personal Injury Law Journal (December 2007/January 2008 issue).

Personal Injury: Bouncers, Bollards and Bunk Beds - Patrick Blakesley steers a course through some recent personal injury liability decisions.

Personal Injury: Fatal Accident Claims - Christopher Purchas QC discusses recent cases and developments in this paper prepared for Chambers' Michaelmas term Personal Injury seminars.

Personal Injury: The Court of Protection Relating to Catastrophic Injury Cases: This paper was presented as a seminar looking at the circumstances in which a Litigation Friend is required and the operation of the Court of Protection pending the introduction of the Mental Capacity Act 2005

Personal Injury: Costs & CFAs - Traps and Opportunities: A review of current issues in costs and Conditional Fee Agreements, including the new CFA arrangements, the Courts’ approach to uplifts and ATE premiums, and issues remaining under the old CFA arrangements.

Personal Injury: Hutchinson v. Brigham & Cowan. David Platt obtained the settlement of a mesothelioma claim for just £47,000 before Eady J. in circumstances where the central issue was the account which had to be taken by the claimant of previous U.S. asbestos proceedings in Massachusetts. David has written an associated article entitled “The Multi-National Asbestos Claimant”, in which he discusses the principles applicable to set offs involving concurrent tortfeasors in a multi-jurisdictional context.”

Personal Injury: Textile Industry Deafness Claims: Michael Kent QC and John Williams represented Guy Warwick Limited and Christopher Purchas QC and Catherine Foster represented the Courtaulds Defendants before HH Judge Inglis (sitting as a Judge of the High Court). Judgment was handed down on 14th February in 7 test cases in which former textile workers claimed damages for noise induced hearing loss. The test claims (brought by former employees of Courtaulds; Coats, Pretty Polly & Guy Warwick Limited) raised important questions of breach of duty, diagnosis & causation where there was long term exposure to noise levels below 90 dB(A). Each of the test claims was dismissed.

Personal Injury: Pre-Action Admissions: the Legacy of Sowerby v Charlton. In a Paper recently delivered to the PIBA Autumn Conference, Victoria Woodbridge provides a comprehensive review of the latest case law in this area, with a summary of the likely future developments following a recent consultation exercise by the Department for Constitutional Affairs.

Professional Negligence

Professional Negligence: The Companies Act; Directors' Duties: Ben Quiney explains the complex area of directors’ duties. In particular he will deal with the effect of the Companies Bill which came into effect last autumn.

Professional Negligence: Limitation in Commercial Litigation: Simon Howarth discusses the essential subject of limitation and the particular pitfalls that exist in Professional Negligence and Commercial Litigation. He will review recent case law including the decision of the House of Lords in Haward v Fawcetts.

Professional Negligence: Conflicts of Interest: Practice and Dangers Ben Quiney deals with the complex issues involved in conflicts of interest, including how far the principles reach and the relationship with principles of equity and fiduciary duties. In particular he explains the effect of the new Solicitors’ Practice (Conflict) Amendment Rule 2004 (effective from April 2006). He considers numerous cases, including: Bolkiah v KPMG [1999] 2 A.C. 222, HL; Hilton v Barker Booth & Eastwood [2005] 1 W.L.R. 567, HL; Koch Shipping Inc v Richards Butler [2002] Lloyd's Rep PN 604; Marks & Spencer Plc v Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer [2005] P.N.L.R. 4; and Item Software v Fassihi [2004] BCLC 994, CA.

Professional Negligence: Chances Lost Jason Evans-Tovey explains the legacy of the decision in Allied Maples v. Simmons and Simmons and the difficulties associated with calculating “loss of a chance claims”. He considers recent cases including: Hanif v. Middleweeks; Sharpe v. Addision; Dixon v. Clement Jones Solicitors; Sharif v. Garret & Co; and Browning v. Brachers.

Professional Negligence: Passing The Buck: Contribution Between Professionals Simon Howarth considers the difficult issues surrounding the application of the Civil Liability (Contribution) Act 1978. He discusses the effect of recent cases including: Royal Brompton v Hammond [2002] 1 WLR 1397; Co-operative Retail v Taylor Young [2002] 1 WLR 1419; Resource America v Platt Site Services [2004] 95 Con LR 1; Brian Warwicker Partnership v HOK International [2005] EWCA Civ 962; and Aer Lingus v Gildacroft Limited [2006] EWCA Civ 4. In particular he addresses the difficult issue of contribution between lawyers and the recent decision in Moy v Pettman Smith & another

Professional Negligence: Solicitors’ Negligence: When and Why is the Measure of Damages Limited to Difference in Value Suzanne Chalmers discusses how to value solicitor negligence cases. This focuses on the question: How is the quantification of loss approached in cases of solicitors’ negligence where there has been negligence in the course of a transaction for the acquisition of property? She considers recent cases including: Greymalkin v Copleys (A Firm) [2005] PNLR 20 and Powell v Whitman Breed Abbott & Morgan (A Firm) [2005] PNLR 1.