News & Events
News & Events
Carin Hunt published in the Journal of Personal Injury Law. An article by Carin Hunt titled ‘The Cost of Special Accommodation’ has been published in the Journal of Personal Injury Law in June 2020 (J.P.I. Law 2020, 2, 127-134). In her article, Carin discusses the shortcomings of the method for calculating the special accommodation damages payable in serious personal injury claims, which was formulated in Roberts v Johnstone (CA), and which produces a negative figure when a negative discount rate applies. Carin reviews the justification for the formula, its practical application and the scope of the problems it presents. She then presents an alternative starting point for calculating such awards, based on the property’s rental value, and notes mitigation issues.…
External Publications 5 Jun, 2020
Outer Temple’s recent lunch-time briefing update on abuse claims is now available online, presented by James Counsell QC, Patrick Sadd and Paul Livingston. James Counsell QC, Patrick Sadd and Paul Livingston recently hosted a lunch-time briefing update and practice points review on the subject of abuse claims. Topics included: Reviewing two High Court decisions: DSN v Blackpool Football Club and BXB v Watchtower Costs: the impact of the Defendants’ approach before and during trial Limitation climate: is it possible to forecast? Consequence for vicarious liability following Supreme Court decisions in Barclays and Morrisons Watch the full webinar here: The Speakers James specialises in acting for claimants in historical and more recent sex abuse claims against religious organisations, schools, the scouts…
Webinars & Recordings 4 Jun, 2020
Outer Temple Chambers would like to invite you to a lunch-time briefing update on Abuse Claims on Wednesday 27th May 2020. James Counsell QC, Patrick Sadd and Paul Livingston will be conducting a lunch-time briefing update and practice points review on the subject of abuse claims. Topics will include: Reviewing two High Court decisions: DSN v Blackpool Football Club and BXB v Watchtower Costs: the impact of the Defendants’ approach before and during trial Limitation climate: is it possible to forecast? Consequence for vicarious liability following Supreme Court decisions in Barclays and Morrisons The Speakers James specialises in acting for claimants in historical and more recent sex abuse claims against religious organisations, schools, the scouts and against football clubs and…
Events 20 May, 2020
Tom Gibson acted for the successful defendant in Purchase v Ahmed in striking out the claimant’s ‘secondary victim’ claim for psychiatric injury following the death of her daughter. However, the law on ‘secondary victim’ claims may soon change… The law might develop further in this area soon as the appeal in Paul v The Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust [2019] EWHC 2893 (QB) is due to be heard this week, on 13-15 May 2020. Tom Gibson of our Clinical Negligence Team has successfully struck out the claimant’s ‘secondary victim’ claim in the case of Purchase v Ahmed (Birmingham County Court, 6 May 2020) and analyses the case and what the future may hold for ‘secondary victim’ claims below. The Facts The defendant,…
News 12 May, 2020
“Football club vicariously liable for historical sex abuse but a girls’ boarding school is not.” LexisNexis PSL invited James Counsell QC to analyse his recent high profile sexual abuse cases. Following on from the judgment in BXB v Watch Tower (handed down on 30 January) come two more historical abuse judgments in claims brought against institutions—one against Blackpool Football Club and the other against a girls’ boarding school. Both claims raised very similar issues and were tried by the same Judge (Griffiths J) but they ended with diametrically opposite results. James Counsell QC acted for the claimants in all three cases and examined their implications for other cases in the pipeline, for Lexis Nexis PSL. Excerpt from article DSN v…
External Publications 30 Mar, 2020
This week the High Court approved a negotiated settlement of just over £2 million in a serious head injury case. Alison McCormick, instructed by Ed Myers of Barratts solicitors, acted for the Claimant, a 25 year old single man, who suffered multiple injuries, including a traumatic brain injury, when he was a passenger in vehicle involved in a road traffic accident in 2015. Primary liability was conceded from the outset; however, the Claimant was not wearing a seat belt, and, on the evidence, had he been restrained, then he would not have sustained such a significant head injury. By consent, in October 2018 judgment was entered for the Claimant for 75% of his damages, to reflect contributory negligence for failing…
News 24 Jan, 2020
James Counsell QC has successfully defended Yeovil District Hospital NHS Foundation Trust in a complex spinal injury case, involving a young woman who suffered a serious spinal injury in a road traffic accident in October 2011, after which she was taken to the Trust’s hospital. She subsequently brought successful proceedings against the negligent driver of the car which collided with the car in which she was a back seat passenger, wearing a lap seat belt, and claimed damages for her injuries which included paraplegia. That claim was settled by the motorist’s insurers in March 2015 for a lump sum payment of £3 million, together with a very substantial periodical payment, making a total claim, capitalised at current rates, given her…
News 10 Jul, 2019
Ben Bradley spoke at the recent Pan European Organisation of Personal Injury Lawyers (PEOPIL) Young Lawyers Conference in Manchester, on 29 March 2019. Ben contributed to a lively panel discussion with young lawyers from across Europe, focusing on the interrelationship between criminal proceedings and personal injury law. Outer Temple has close ties with Clifford Law Offices of Chicago, Illinois, with members of Chambers joined at the Conference by US attorney, Jack J. Casciato. Jack presented on aviation claims brought under the Montreal Convention. The Conference, held at the Manchester offices of Irwin Mitchell, was also attended by Outer Temple International Illness and Travel law team members Ian Denham, Dan Clarke, Tom Gibson and Olinga Tahzib together with Business Development Director, Paul…
News 15 Apr, 2019
We are delighted to announce the successful recruitment of four new barristers to our ranks. As of Monday, 8th April 2019 we extend a warm welcome to: Louis Weston Louis Weston, top-ranked sports law specialist and regulatory law barrister joins us from 3 Paper Buildings as a full Member of Chambers. Louis was the recipient of the 2017 International Advisory Experts Award: Sports Law Lawyer of the Year in England and has a thriving Sports Law practice. He prosecutes before the British Horseracing Authority, the Greyhound Board of Great Britain, the Turf Club, the World Professional Snooker and Billiards Association and before other arbitral bodies. He acts before both courts and regulators in disputes arising from sports contracts and doping…
News 5 Apr, 2019
Rachel Vickers recently represented a Claimant who suffered a spinal injury in February 2013. Upon admission to Hospital the Claimant was correctly suspected as suffering a spinal abscess. The need for an urgent MRI scan was recognised. The Hospital did not have 24 hour MRI scanning available and a decision was made to undertake the scan the following day, which the Defendant Trust asserted was reasonable. By the time the Claimant was transferred to a tertiary unit she had sustained irreversible neurological injury. The case, contested through to a full liability trial, was listed for six days on January 28th 2019. On day two of the trial, in the middle of Rachel cross-examining one of the Defendant’s clinicians, the Defendant…
News 21 Feb, 2019
Eliot Woolf QC ran an engaging webinar on the difficult issues of wrongful birth in conjunction with MBL Seminars and Ian Christian at Irwin Mitchell Solicitors. The webinar, which aims to help and support any claimant or defendant solicitor who has a wrongful birth claim, is available to download here. Wrongful birth claims are still a highly contentious and emotive area of clinical negligence litigation with many fundamental issues still unresolved by the courts. Key issues for careful consideration are whether a distinction should be drawn in principle between ‘wrongful conception’ cases and cases of ‘wrongful antenatal diagnosis/wrongful birth’; whether these claims should be categorised as claims for personal injury or economic loss; the duration of the claims; who should be parties…
News 30 Jan, 2019
We are delighted that Gerard McDermott QC is shortlisted by the Legal 500 in the Personal Injury / Clinical Negligence Silk of the Year category. Currently ranked as a Leading Silk in Tier 1, Gerard is described by Legal 500 as: “First class, superb on his feet, great at analysing problems” and “Renowned for personal injury work.” Gerard McDermott QC practises from Outer Temple Chambers in London and Manchester, with associated offices in Abu Dhabi and New York. His main areas of practice are Personal Injury, Medical Malpractice and Employment Law at all levels, acting for both Claimants and Defendants. The majority of his caseload involves catastrophic personal injury such as spinal cord injury and brain injury, and he has over thirty years’…
News 4 Dec, 2018
