Personal Injury

Recent Articles

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  22/04/2025

  England and Wales

  Risky business: Navigating materiality, in­sig­ni­fic­ance and the pitfalls of absolute risk in mesothelioma claims

  BackgroundThe judgment in Johnstone v Fawcett Garage [2025] EWCA Civ 467 provides a comprehensive analysis of the principles of materiality, the meaning of "insignificant risk” and the "absolute risk" approach in the context of mesothelioma claims.The claim was brought by Alexander Johnstone (Personal Representative of the Estate of Elaine Johnstone) in respect of the Mrs Johnstone’s death due to mesothelioma. The claim was issued against Fawcett's Garage, where Mrs Johnstone had worked and allegedly been exposed to asbestos. Mrs Johnstone worked at Fawcett's Garage between...

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  02/04/2025

  England and Wales

  The silicosis scare: disease concerns from working with artificial stone

  BackgroundIn recent years there has been a significant increase in the popularity of using artificial stone in kitchens and bathroom worktop fittings with many retailers and trade suppliers emphasising its benefits for durable, low maintenance and aesthetic qualities. The material is made from a crushed natural stone bound with resins and colourings to create a hard surface. This is often sold as quartz worktops but may also have the terms ‘artificial marble’ or ‘granite composite’.Recent studies have found the artificially manufactured material contains up to 90-95% crystalline...

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  19/02/2025

  United Kingdom

  Reflections on the Third Parties (Rights against Insurers) Act 2010, 8 years later

  The Third Parties (Rights against Insurers) Act 2010 (the “2010 Act”) came into force on 1 August 2016 and replaced the Third Parties (Rights against Insurers) Act 1930 (the “1930 Act”).  Details of the 2010 Act itself can be found in our Insurance Legislation Zone – here. In summary, the 2010 Act enables a third party that has suffered loss caused by an insured who has gone insolvent to bring proceedings directly against the insured’s liability insurers. This avoids the need for the third party to litigate against the insolvent insured before it is able...

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  14/01/2025

  United Kingdom

  No epidemic of Covid-19 Employers Liability claims - Edwards & Others v 2 Sisters Food Group Ltd [2024] EWCC 21 considered

  In Edwards & Others v 2 Sisters Food Group Ltd [2024] EWCC 21, the defendant successfully applied for summary judgment against all claimants on the basis that their claims had no realistic prospect of success.The claimants worked at 2 Sisters Food Group’s chicken factory in Llangefni, Anglesey. All claimed that they had developed symptoms of Covid-19 in or around June 2020. It was alleged that 2 Sisters had breached its duty of care towards them, failing to take all reasonable steps to manage the risk of transmission within the factory, and that their Covid-19 disease had been caused...

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  27/11/2024

  United Kingdom

  The CJC Review of Pre-Action Protocols – Phase Two Report (Final) now published

  On 15 November 2021, the UK's Civil Justice Council (CJC) published an Interim Report initiating a consultation on pre-action protocols (PAPs).  The consultation closed in January 2022. CMS responded to the consultation with interest, given the potential impact on the legal industry and insurers/insureds alike.It is the responsibility of the CJC, through its designated Working Group (WG), to make recommendations to the Civil Procedure Rules Committee (CPRC). It is for the CPRC to accept or reject those recommendations and draft the revised PAPs.The CJC's response was published in two parts....

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  22/10/2024

  United Kingdom

  Navigating Wasted Costs Orders: Insights from Wil­li­ams-Henry v Associated British Ports Holdings Ltd

  When might it be appropriate to fix the solicitors of a fundamentally dishonest Claimant with an obligation to pay the Defendant’s costs?We previously reported on the striking case of Kirsty Williams-Henry v Associated British Ports Holdings Ltd [2024] EWHC 806 (KB) (see here), in which the Claimant in a personal injury claim was found to have been fundamentally dishonest, the court concluding that she had been “thoroughly dishonest” in the presentation of her symptoms, lying to “clinicians, medico-legal experts and this Court about [her] health, functioning, activities...

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