News & Events
News & Events
The UK Covid-19 Public Inquiry has now officially opened, headed by Baroness Heather Hallett who has appointed 50 junior Counsel to the legal team including OTC’s Paul Livingston and Joshua Cainer. Baroness Hallett launched the UK Covid-19 Inquiry on 21st July 2022 and opened its first investigation into the preparedness of the UK for a pandemic. Baroness Hallett also set out the timetable for the first 12 months of the Inquiry saying, “It’s time for facts, not opinions – and I will be resolute in my quest for the truth. The Inquiry is already gathering evidence and I will be holding public hearings next year.” The next 12 months sees Module 1 looking into the UK’s preparedness for a pandemic.…
News 29 Jul, 2022
The case of Brownlie II highlighted a number of jurisdiction questions. Joshua Cainer acted as a Junior on the case and takes a look at the implications of the decision on commercial law. Joshua Cainer considers some of the outstanding questions about jurisdiction in commercial cases relying on claims in tort following the Supreme Court’s decision in FS Cairo (Nile Plaza) LLC v Lady Brownlie [2021] UKSC 45, [2021] 3 WLR 1011 (‘Brownlie II’). Whilst that case concerned a claim for personal injury, it is likely to have effects on cases involving questions of private international law in a far broader range of practice areas, particularly commercial law. This is a case brought by Lady Christine Brownlie, both in her…
Insights 8 Apr, 2022
The Supreme Court has this morning dismissed the appeal of the Four Seasons hotel group, meaning that Lady Brownlie’s claims for personal injury and wrongful death arising out of the accident which killed her husband, Sir Ian Brownlie, in Egypt over 10 years ago, can proceed before the courts of England and Wales. The Court held by a majority (Lords Reed, Lloyd-Jones, Briggs and Burrows JJSC), that the jurisdictional gateway in tort claims pursuant to the civil procedure rules applies where a significant part of the damage is or will be sustained in England and Wales, notwithstanding initial or other damage also sustained outside the jurisdiction. It also held unanimously (Lord Leggatt JSC giving the main judgment on this issue)…
News 20 Oct, 2021
You are invited to join the juniors at Outer Temple Chambers for the first of a brand new series of events; ‘Juniors to Associates’. The first event on 22nd July will focus on limitation and concealment issues. Outer Temple Chambers is delighted to inform you of a new programme of events specifically tailored to associate level legal practitioners. Juniors to Associates This new programmes, ‘Juniors to Associates’ (J2A), will consist of a range of lunchtime forums for Junior Barristers and Associate Solicitors. Juniors from Outer Temple will discuss topical issues and recent judgments likely to impact future litigation. Guests will then be invited to ask questions and share views and opinions on these topics in an open forum. Each event will be…
Events 19 Jul, 2021
In a casenote for the Journal of Professional Negligence, Joshua Cainer analyses Chell v Tarmac Cement and Lime Ltd (QBD) on the extent of application of the second limb of the two-limb test for vicarious liability in cases of intentional wrongdoing, in the context of a personal injury claim resulting from a co-worker’s practical joke. Vicarious liability requires courts to apply a now well-established two-limb test and consider whether: (1) the relationship between the defendant and the primary wrongdoer was so close that it was capable of giving rise to vicarious liability; and (2) the connection between that relationship and the primary wrongdoing was close enough to impose liability on the defendant. Despite hopes to the contrary, following the Supreme Court’s recent decision in…
News 16 Jul, 2021
Joshua Cainer compares Manchester Building Society v Grant Thornton UK LLP and Hughes-Holland v BPE Solicitors and considers the state of the law in this area going forward, as well as the key conceptual and practical differences that are likely to generate debate in future cases. The concept of ‘scope of duty’ in the tort of negligence, especially its application following Lord Hoffmann’s judgment in SAAMCO, has generated both controversy and confusion over recent years. Many had thought that Lord Sumption’s judgment in Hughes-Holland v BPE Solicitors was to be the definitive statement on the topic. However, the starting point in this area now lies in two very recent Supreme Court decisions in two different factual contexts: Manchester Building Society v Grant Thornton UK LLP [2021] UKSC 20 in the…
Insights 24 Jun, 2021
In this case note, Sarah Crowther QC, Dan Clarke and Joshua Cainer consider the recent appeal in Covea Insurance Plc v Greenaway and Rocks [2021] 3 WLUK 379. This was an appeal from a case management decision in which a motor insurer sought permission to obtain factual expert evidence as to the meaning of the word ‘stolen’ in other language versions of the Sixth Motor Insurance Directive (Directive 2009/103/EC). They consider that the Court was wrong, as a matter of legal principle, to entertain the introduction to the proceedings of factual evidence as to the interpretation of EU law in other Member States (four experts on each side). Such an approach was not justified under EU law interpretative principles even…
Insights 26 Mar, 2021
James Counsell QC and Joshua Cainer have been published in the latest issue of the Journal of Personal Injury Law. James and Joshua consider the ever moving sphere of vicarious liability and the impact of the recent Supreme Court decision on historical sexual abuse cases. This article discusses the latest Supreme Court decisions on vicarious liability, Barclays Bank Plc v Various Claimants and WM Morrisons Supermarkets Plc v Various Claimants, and their likely effect on the substantive outcomes in personal injury claims arising out of historical and more recent sexual abuse. It considers this by reference to some recent High Court cases on historical sexual abuse which pre-date the Supreme Court’s decisions, as well as one High Court case which…
External Publications 4 Mar, 2021
Joshua Cainer looks in detail at the recent developments in English courts on the applicable law to awards of interest in cross-border tort cases. In Troke v Amgen Seguros Generales Compania de Seguros Y Reaseguros SAU, the claimants suffered personal injury from a road traffic accident in Spain, for which the defendant insurers admitted both liability and quantum. In this article, Joshua Cainer explores the legal point in dispute, which concerned what law governed the award of interest in relation to the tort: the lex causae (the law of the jurisdiction in which the cause of action arose), which in this case was Spanish law; or the lex fori (the law of the forum in which the claim was being…
Insights 17 Feb, 2021
In this second blog on the particular challenges posed by limitation periods in historical sexual abuse claims, James Counsell QC and Joshua Cainer focus on the second key live issue under section 33(3)(b), namely the extent to which, having regard to the delay, the evidence adduced or likely to be adduced by the parties is or is likely to be less cogent than if the action had been brought in time. The first blog can be found here. In the first of two recent blogs on the particular challenges posed by limitation periods in historical sexual abuse claims, James Counsell QC and Joshua Cainer considered how historical sexual abuse claims are often brought long after primary limitation has expired, in which…
Insights 20 Jan, 2021
In the first of two blogs, James Counsell QC and Joshua Cainer discuss the particular challenges posed by limitation periods in historical sexual abuse claims, and seek to identify, by reference to four very recent historical sexual abuse High Court judgments, the key considerations which courts take into account when determining whether such claims are barred by reason of expired limitation. The second blog can be found here. Key elements to success in historical sexual abuse claims Sexual abuse claims often rely on vicarious liability as a cause of action. Whilst all claims relying upon vicarious liability have their difficulties, claimants in historical sexual abuse claims have unique challenges to overcome. To succeed, a claimant usually must overcome three hurdles:…
Insights 12 Jan, 2021
The Supreme Court, next week, will hear the appeal in FS Cairo (Nile Plaza) LLC v Brownlie which you can watch live here. The appeal has been expedited from the Court of Appeal’s judgment in July 2020 and raises important issues of private international law in cross-border tort claims. When a claimant wishes to have a claim heard in the courts of England and Wales against a defendant who is located in a foreign country, they must apply to the courts for permission to serve their claim form out of the jurisdiction. Sarah Crowther QC, Daniel Clarke and Joshua Cainer of Outer Temple Chambers are instructed by Kingsley Napley LLP on behalf of Lady Brownlie in the appeal. The Supreme…
News 8 Jan, 2021
