Law Bulletin - March 2007

Low level heading damage trials [Liability]

There are apparently more than 4,000 claims for damages for noise-induced hearing loss from the textile industry, usually by sewing machine operators.

Court of Appeal uphold stress case [Liability]

We reported this case in the July 2006 Law Bulletin. Briefly, the claimant had suffered a particularly heavy workload and made numerous protests about the amount of work that she was asked to do and her lack of help and was finally found by her manager in tears at her desk.

First breakdown stress claim [Liability]

The claimant was a health visitor. Her workload was not to exceed 200 children in her care. It went up to 230 to 240 children as a result of severe staff shortage.

Mesothelioma cases [Liability]

The claimant had worked at several places where he had come into contact with asbestos.

The defendant company was not negligent in exposing a child to asbestos waste deposited at a local tip in the 1950s [Liability]

Read Thompsons Solicitors' Law Bulletin from March 2007 about exposing a child to asbestos waste and another case about children playing rugby.

Vibration White Finger Symptoms [Thompsons’ cases]

We have had a few cases where Judges have given the benefit of the doubt on ambiguous descriptions of symptoms to the claimant.

Manual Handling Cases [Thompsons’ cases]

This claimant succeeded when injured moving a kerb stone at work

Workplaces and Work Equipment [Thompsons’ cases]

The claimant was employed as a CDT Technician at a school. He had a deep cut to the tip of his thumb when he caught it on the blade of the circular saw that he was using.

Pony and Trap Case [Thompsons’ cases]

The claimant , a firefighter, was driving his pony and trap down a country lane with his wife as a passenger.

Holiday law [Thompsons’ cases]

The claimant went on a package holiday to Corfu based at the Marina Beach Apartments in Kavos. The holiday was supplied by the defendant tour operator.

The Fourth Motor Insurance Directive [Practice and Procedure]

Anyone dealing with an RTA that occurs in the European Community should be aware of the Fourth Motor Insurance Directive, which came into force on 16 May 2000 and which was brought into English law by the European Communities (Rights Against Insurers) Regulations 2002 coming into affect on 19 January 2003.

Can a Costs Judge order that a paying party should only pay a proportion of the costs [Practice and Procedure]

Following the acceptance by the claimant of a payment under Part 36, the defendants applied to the Judge on the detailed assessment of costs for an order that they should be liable to pay only 25 per cent of the assessed costs.

Counsel assessing care needs cannot take damages into account [Damages]

A claimant with severe brain damage was likely to receive payments known as direct payments from the local authority towards his care costs.

Information [Information]

Read a section of Thompsons Solicitors' Law Bulletin from March 2007 about Smoking Legislation and ELI tracing codes