Content by Jack McCracken

The High Court has handed down judgment in an important case dealing with the data protection obligations of NHS Trusts in respect of the collection and retention of patient medical records. The Claimant (anonymised as ‘YSL’ to protect privacy) brought a wide-ranging claim against the Defendant Foundation NHS Trust, seeking damages and erasure orders in…

On 17 July 2023, the Industrial Injuries Advisory Council (IIAC) published two important papers in relation to hand-arm vibration syndrome (HAVS). HAVS, then known as Vibration White Finger, was first prescribed as an industrial disease by the IIAC over 40 years ago following the publication of its Command Paper Cm 8350 in 1981. The background…

Since the late 1990s, the courts have approached the issues of diagnosis and causation of Hand-Arm Vibration Syndrome (“HAVS”), and quantification of general damages, by reference to HAVS’s two constituent components: vascular HAVS and sensorineural HAVS. There is also evidence, however, that hand-transmitted vibration can damage the musculoskeletal system. Vascular HAVS involves damage to the…

In Jenkinson v Hertfordshire County Council [2023] EWHC 872 (KB) (judgment here), Andrew Baker J has thrown the cat amongst the pigeons on the question of when medical treatment following a tort can break the chain of causation.  The orthodox approach to this issue had been to follow the guidance of the Court of Appeal in Webb v…

Litkraft Ltd v (1) Cottrell (2) Williams (3) Goldsmith [2023] EWHC 465 (Comm) has touched upon, but not decided, whether certain fee sharing arrangements could amount to a probited referral fee under section 56 of the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012 (“LASPO”). The court did however decide that a contractual claim for unpaid…

Both s. 13 of the Data Protection Act 1998 (“DPA 98”) and Art. 82 of the General Data Protection Regulation (“GDPR”) provide an individual with a right to compensation where she suffers material or non-material damage (including distress) – see Google Inc v Vidal-Hall [2015] EWCA Civ 311 and s. 168 of the Data Protection Act 2018…

On 19 November 2021 the Court of Appeal handed down judgment in an important decision on an employer’s liability claim for damages for personal injury suffered by an Assistant Head Teacher who was assaulted by a pupil. Dingemans LJ gave the sole reasoned judgment, with which Andrews and Arnold LJJ agreed, dismissing the Claimant’s appeal…

Anyone practising in employer’s liability personal injury litigation will be familiar with the strict approach to liability for work equipment imposed by the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998 (“PUWER”). Regulation 5 of PUWER imposed strict liability in relation to defective equipment, arising from the extremely well-known decision in Stark v Post Office…

Jack McCracken and Sarah Hopkinson revisit the question of liability for COVID-19 infections, this time from an American perspective. In May 2020, we published a series of five articles exploring the potential liability of employers arising from exposure of employees to COVID-19. Whilst it is unlikely that any claims arising out of exposure to COVID-19 have yet been…

Jack McCracken and Sarah Hopkinson have published a series of five articles addressing possible liabilities on the part of employers for outbreaks of COVID-19 amongst their workforce. Please click here to access all five articles, or click on the link for a specific article below. Introduction. Liability at Common Law. Liability for Breach of Statutory Duty. Liability Under…

Jack McCracken and Sarah Hopkinson’s series of articles ‘Coronavirus and Employers’ Liability’ concludes with the final article ‘Liability of Employers to Family Members of Employees’. Click here to read the full article. Links to all the articles in this series are below: To read ‘Part 1: Introduction’, click here. To read ‘Part 2: Liability at Common…

Our series on employers’ liability for PPE by Jack McCracken and Sarah Hopkinson continues with the fourth article ‘Liability Under EU Directives’. Click here to read the full article. Links to all the articles in this series are below: To read ‘Part 1: Introduction’, click here. To read ‘Part 2: Liability at Common Law’, click here. To read…

Jack McCracken and Sarah Hopkinson’s series on the employers’ liability for PPE continues with ‘Breach of Statutory Duty’. Click here to read the full article. Links to all the articles in this series are below: To read ‘Part 1: Introduction’, click here. To read ‘Part 2: Liability at Common Law’, click here. To read ‘Part 4: Liability Under EU…

In the second article of Jack McCracken and Sarah Hopkinson’s series on the employers’ liability for PPE delves into ‘Liability at Common Law’. Click here to read the full article. Links to all the articles in this series are below: To read ‘Part 1: Introduction’, click here. To read ‘Part 3: Liability for Breach of Statutory Duty’,…

In the first of five articles, our barristers Jack McCracken and Sarah Hopkinson consider the liability of employers for alleged failings relating to providing PPE to employees. Click here to read the full article. Links to all the articles in this series are below: To read ‘Part 2: Liability at Common Law’, click here. To read ‘Part 3:…

In the first of a series of data protection articles, Jack McCracken gives an overview of the future of data protection litigation under the GDPR and Data Protection Act 2018. Please click here for the full article.