News & Events
News & Events
James Counsell reports on a successful claim based on lack of consent, in which a patient was told on the day of the operation that her spinal surgery was not to be performed by the expected clinician.
News 5 Jan, 2016
A v The Trustees of the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society [2015] was the first historic sex abuse case to be brought against the Jehovah’s Witnesses. In an article that first appeared in the Personal Injury Law Journal (141, December 2015/January 2016 edition), James Counsell and Ben Bradley discuss the legal implications of the decision in the case, and some learning points arising from their involvement.
News 15 Dec, 2015
John recently appeared before the Court of Appeal in two different cases, instructed, on both occasions, on behalf of the UK Government. In TY (Sri Lanka) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2015] EWCA 1233, John succeeded in having the appeal dismissed. The Court held that in the absence of a ‘one stop notice’ pursuant to the Nationality Immigration and Asylum Act 2002, the First Tier and Upper Tribunals were correct to limit the jurisdiction of the Tribunal hearing the appellant’s appeal to EEA decisions and not wider human rights matters, which were sought to be raised. The judgment can be found here. John also appeared in Secretary of State for the Home Department v ZP (India) [2015]…
News 7 Dec, 2015
Sarah Crowther has recently successfully acted in a multi-vehicle road accident case in which a man died and another has been injured after an uninsured driver crashed into them in Thais, France. The men were waiting at the side of the road for a wheel on their car to be changed by a local recovery truck driver when the accident took place. The claim has been made by the wife of the man who died in the accident and a judgment was handed down on Friday, 27 November 2015. Dingemans J found that, according to the connecting factors of the accident under article 4(3) of the Rome II Regulation, the correct law for that claim was French law. Applying principles…
News 4 Dec, 2015
In Ministry of Justice v Burton & Anor, the EAT has upheld the decision of an employment tribunal that two part-time judges of the Residential Property Tribunal had been treated less favourably than their full-time equivalents in the First-tier Tribunal Tax Chamber. The case can be found on Westlaw here.
News 3 Dec, 2015
The Court of Appeal has handed down judgment in Reaney v University Hospital of North Staffordshire NHS Trust. The Court allowed the Defendant’s appeal against a finding of Foskett J that the Trust should be liable to pay the Claimant’s full damages because they negligently worsened the Claimant’s pre-existing condition. David Westcott QC was instructed for the successful Defendant for the appeal alongside Charles Feeny, who had represented the Defendant at first instance. Please click here to find out more from a case commentary written by Gus Baker, Outer Temple Chambers pupil.
News 2 Dec, 2015
James Counsell represented the Bar Standards Board (BSB) in disciplinary proceedings brought against a Bahamas based barrister for dishonestly declaring he had a degree from the University of London when he did not. After a two-day hearing on 2 and 3 November 2015, an independent disciplinary tribunal ordered that the barrister, Mr Shavon Bethel, should be disbarred from the Bar of England and Wales. This decision followed the BSB taking enforcement action against Mr Bethel after it had emerged that he had falsely claimed to have been awarded an LLB law degree by the University of London. To back up this claim, Mr Bethel produced fake degree certificates dated March and July 2005. Mr Bethel made the false claim in…
News 27 Nov, 2015
John McKendrick has been instructed in a Court of Protection case where King’s College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust made an application to provide life-saving treatment against a patient’s will. The patient’s daughter, John’s client, argued that her mother was able and entitled to make the decision to refuse the treatment, despite it being a difficult decision. The Hospital Trust attempted to show that the patient lacked capacity to decide on ending her own life. Following a ten hour hearing, the Judge dismissed the Trust’s application, as he was not persuaded by the hospital’s arguments, although he noted that it was right to make the application. Press coverage of the case can be viewed here. The court’s judgment can be viewed here.
News 20 Nov, 2015
Outer Temple Chambers and the FSLA hosted a seminar, Global Investigations and Judicial Oversight Seminar, on Tuesday 17 November. Richard Lissack QC chaired a panel of influential legal figures within the financial service sector including: Judge Timothy Herrington, Judge in the Upper Tribunal Mark Steward, FCA, Executive Director of Enforcement and Market Oversight Stephanie Pagni, Global Head of Litigation, Barclays Bank Dorian Drew, Partner, Clifford Chance Richard Hitchcock QC, Barrister, Outer Temple Chambers Before an audience of over 150 specialist lawyers in Inner Temple Hall the panel discussed their experience of major global investigations over the last few years (such as the LIBOR and FOREX investigations). The debate considered how regulators and prosecutors, and firms, might work together more efficiently when faced…
News 19 Nov, 2015
John acted for the Secretary of State defending a challenge to the purported failure of the Secretary of State’s officials to provide the claimant with access to rehabilitative resources to permit his release from prison. Mr Justice Kerr dismissed all four grounds of challenge in the claim for judicial review (R ota Tait v SSJD [2015] EWHC 2952 (Admin)), applying the Supreme Court’s decision of R. (on the application of Kaiyam) v Secretary of State for Justice [2014] UKSC 66, [2015] A.C. 1344. The case can be found on Westlaw here (subscribers only).
News 4 Nov, 2015
Ben Compton QC has been awarded the accolade of Health & Safety Silk of the Year 2015 at yesterday’s Chambers & Partners Bar Awards. He was nominated in this category last year so this year’s success is a tribute to his expertise and commitment to the field of Health & Safety.
News 28 Oct, 2015
Described by some as a “force of nature”, Christopher Wilson-Smith QC yesterday won the Lifetime Achievement Award at the Chambers & Partners 2015 Bar Awards. After 50 years of practice, his dedication, energy and expertise remain undiminished.
News 28 Oct, 2015
