Law Bulletin - May 2007

The perils of horse riding [Liability]

The claimant was a fairly experienced although nervous horse rider.

And another asbestos claim succeeds [Liability]

The claimant was the widow of a man who suffered from mesothelioma and died.

Whole body vibration syndrome [Thompsons’ cases]

Those of us who have heard of the phrase “whole body vibration syndrome” will be pleased to know that we have recently recovered compensation in such a case.

Don’t take the easy option and concede contributory negligence [Thompsons’ cases]

The claimant was working with a very large sleeper grab that could move 56 sleepers in one go.

Child climbing over locked gates wins claim [Thompsons’ cases]

The claimant was 10 years old. Together with other friends of the same age, he arrived at the school gates to go swimming.

Aggressive pupils [Thompsons’ cases]

The claimant was a special support assistant at a school for children with educational and behavioural difficulties.

Carrying heavy legal files is not dangerous [Thompsons’ cases]

The claimant was employed as an administrative assistant by the CPS. She was asked to perform the manual transfer of files from her office to the local court, a transfer that was known as the “walk over” and required her to carry the files in handheld packs provided.

Down in the flood [Thompsons’ cases]

This happened at a Ministry of Defence driving school of transport. It had been raining heavily. The claimant walked into a large hangar carrying something.

Dependency claim survives [Practice and Procedure]

A motorist was injured in an accident and brought a personal injury claim. He later died and his action was wrongly discontinued by his solicitors.

A case to use when requesting an interim payment [Practice and Procedure]

The applicant applied for an interim payment of £850,000. He had been a passenger in a car and suffered severe brain injury in an accident.

Should death in service payments and employee benefit payments be deductible from damages? [Damages]

A widow brought a claim for damages against a defendant company pursuant to the death of her husband.

Damages for high flyer with brain injury [Damages]

The claimant suffered a brain injury of moderate severity in an RTA, at the age of 34.

Neck injury: battle of the experts [Damages]

The claimant suffered a neck injury. The GP records recorded “no trauma”.