Local Authority
Paths, highways and occupiers' liability: important Court of Appeal decision
The recent Court of Appeal decision in Barlow v Wigan MBC (2020) held that for a highway to be considered a highway maintainable at public expense, it must be constructed by an authority acting in its…
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Highways: paths through parks and a council's duty
The High Court last year handed down its judgment in respect of the appeal case Barlow v Wigan Council [2019]. Application for permission to appeal to the Court of Appeal has now been granted and the…
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Covert recordings: reprehensible but relevant and probative
Covert recordings made by the claimant of medico legal examinations were deemed "reprehensible" but "relevant and probative" in the context of a "question mark" raised over the neuropsychological…
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Discount Rate: Lord Chancellor sets rate at minus 0.25%
The Lord Chancellor has today announced the outcome of the first discount rate review under the new methodology provided for in the Civil Liability Act 2018.
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CN v Poole Borough Council: unanimous Supreme Court decision changes the landscape for failure to remove claims
Paul Donnelly and David Weir consider the implications of the decision handed down yesterday by the Supreme Court in Poole Borough Council v CN (2019)
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No vicarious liability for Christmas party accident
It was only last year that the Court of Appeal considered the issue of vicarious liability following an assault after a Christmas party in Bellman v Northampton Recruitment Ltd (2018). This month, the…
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Failure to establish fundamental dishonesty shows pitfalls to be avoided
The decision by HHJ Hampton in the Leicester County Court in Spencer Smith v Ashwell Maintenance Limited on 23 January 2019 just over a year after the LOCOG v Sinfield (2018) decision has raised more…
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Claimant limited to portal costs following unreasonable exit from portal
DWF has successfully restricted a claimant to fixed portal costs following a premature decision to remove the claim from the MoJ portal. Sukhjit Dhadwal, who represented the defendant Local Authority…
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Japanese knotweed: actionable claim in private nuisance
In 2018, the Court of Appeal upheld the County Court decision in Network Rail Infrastructure Ltd v Williamsand another, that Network Rail had caused an actionable private nuisance by failing to take…
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Housing disrepair claims on the rise
There has been an unprecedented surge in the number of housing claims where it is alleged the property is in disrepair, resulting in extensive financial exposure to private landlords, local…
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