Content by Jessica Woodliffe

On 9 May 2023, Ritchie J sitting in the High Court handed down judgment in Woodcock v Chief Constable of Northamptonshire Police [2023] EWHC 1062 (KB) which addressed the question of whether the police had a duty to warn the Claimant that her violent ex-partner was lurking outside her home. A link to the judgment…

On 14 January 2022, the Court of Appeal handed down judgment in Aviva Insurance Ltd & Anor v Secretary of State for Work and Pensions [2022] EWCA Civ 15 which concerns the compatibility of certain aspects of the Compensation Recovery Unit (“CRU”) scheme and the rights of the claimant insurance companies under Article 1 of the First…

The High Court recently considered the meaning of ‘trespassers’ and the relevance of a person’s state of mind and intention for the purposes of the Occupiers’ Liability Act 1984 in the case of Ovu v London Underground Ltd [2021] EWHC 2733 (QB). Judgment was handed down on 13 October 2021. Factual Background On a freezing cold night…

On 27 November 2020, the High Court handed down judgment in James West v Joseph Olakanpo [2020] EWHC 3830 (QB) which concerns both dishonesty and the ‘exceptional circumstances’ test for costs exceeding fixed costs in low value personal injury claims under rule 45.29J of the Civil Procedure Rules. Rule 45.29J Section IIIA of Part 45 applies…

In December 2020, HM Assistant Coroner for Inner South London, Philip Barlow, concluded that air pollution contributed to nine-year-old Ella Adoo Kissi-Debrah’s death in 2013. Thomas Herbert’s blog on that decision can be read here. The Assistant Coroner has now issued a Prevention of Future Deaths report dated 20 April 2021, which can be read…

On 4 March 2021, the Court of Justice of the European Union (“the CJEU”) handed down judgment in Commission v UK (Limit Values – Nitrogen Dioxide) [2021] EUECJ C-664/18. The CJEU declared that the UK had breached certain of its obligations under Directive 2008/50 on ambient air quality and cleaner air for Europe, which entered…

Presented by Alex Denton, Jessica Woodliffe and Abigail Scott, this webinar provides a whistle-stop tour of the most significant and interesting cases in 2020 on liability in the personal injury practice area. Our presenters will be covered everything from Chell v Tarmac Cement and Lime Limited (liability for practical jokes) to Barlow v Wigan MBC (highways maintainable at public expense); from Barclays Bank v…

In R (on the application of (1) Aviva Insurance Ltd (2) Swiss Reinsurance Company Ltd) v The Secretary of State for Work and Pensions [2021] EWHC 30 (Admin), Henshaw J dealt with certain consequential matters arising from his earlier judgment dated 20 November 2020 which arose from the Claimants’ challenge to the onerous consequences of the Compensation Recovery…

In R (on the application of (1) Aviva Insurance Ltd (2) Swiss Reinsurance Company Ltd) v The Secretary of State for Work and Pensions [2020] EWHC 3118 (Admin), the Claimants challenged the unintended and onerous consequences of the Compensation Recovery Unit scheme, particularly in respect of the Claimants’ liabilities for long-tail asbestos-related diseases. The High…

The coronavirus pandemic has transformed the way many of us work. This blog post primarily considers the potential implications of home working on occupational stress claims by looking closely at the key case law in this area. Some observations are also offered as to the impact of the pandemic on occupational stress claims where an…

In Needle v Swallowfield plc [2020] EWHC 2759 (QB), the High Court considered the Manual Handling Operations Regulations 1992 and reiterated that risk of injury is a context-specific question. The Court must have regard to the particular place of employment and the particular employees involved, including their training and experience, in deciding whether a workplace…

In Hinson v Hare Realizations Ltd [2020] EWHC 2386 (QB), the High Court reaffirmed the factors relevant to an application to abandon a single joint expert report and rely on one’s own expert evidence. To read the judgment, please click here. Background The Claimant claimed that in the 1970s and 1980s, while working in a…