The Personal Injury and Clinical Negligence Pod from St John’s Chambers

This edition of the Personal Injury Pod features a discussion between barristers Matthew White and Rachel Segal about Life Expectancy in Personal Injury claims: the nature of life expectancy data, how and why that affects approaches to calculation of future losses, and the impact of negative and positive discount rates.

In this podcast, Deputy Head of Clinical Negligence, Louise Asprey and Beatrice Baskett of St John's Chambers Inquests team consider the coronial concept ‘neglect’: its development, what needs to be proven for a finding of neglect to be returned and examples from their own practices where the issue has been raised.

In this episode Sophie Howard and Beatrice Baskett will discuss approval hearings, covering the basics, some practical tips on preparing for hearings and what to look out for, together with a look at claims on behalf of child dependants in Fatal Accident Act claims.

Our Personal Injury team have created a compelling channel for personal injury lawyers which will provide news, insights, and some personality to complex legal cases.

Our podcasts will convey thought leadership throughout our episodes as well as simplify and discuss implications of key cases in personal injury law. We will also aim to save solicitors some time in summarising and explaining developments.

Episode 18 - Sepsis and Clinical Negligence. What is sepsis and how should it be litigated?

In this podcast Justin Valentine and Rhodri Jones, clinical negligence practitioners, provide an overview of sepsis in clinical negligence.  They outline what sepsis is, discuss the relevant clinical tools and provide practical guidance, with a focus on expert evidence, as how best to litigate sepsis claims

Our Personal Injury team have created a compelling channel for personal injury lawyers which will provide news, insights, and some personality to complex legal cases.

Our podcasts will convey thought leadership throughout our episodes as well as simplify and discuss implications of key cases in personal injury law. We will also aim to save solicitors some time in summarising and explaining developments.

Episode 18: Relief from sanctions

Listen in to a discussion around Relief From Sanctions between two of our barristers with a particular interest in this area: Head of Personal Injury Andrew McLaughlin (who appeared before the Court of Appeal in the leading case of Denton v White) and Rachel Segal, the author of the last six editions of The Denton Resource.  Insights shared include those arising from the Court of Appeal’s recent guidance in Warren v Yesss (A) Electrical Limited as to the circumstances in which CPR 3.9applies, and thoughts about the application in practice of the Denton criteria more generally.

On the approach to his fiftieth anniversary at the Bar, St John’s founder Christopher Sharp KC talks to Ben Handy about his distinguished career, reflecting on life as a pupil in the 70s, the changes and developments he has seen over the decades, the cases he has won (and lost!), what St John’s means to him, and his plans for the next 50 years.

In this podcast, Richard Stead and Jonathan Lindfield provide a road map for those dealing with claims brought under the Animals Act 1971. A notoriously difficult piece of legislation, Jonathan and Richard focus on the structure and meaning of the Act, breaking it down into its constituent parts, with the aim of de-mystifying the process of how best to run or defend these claims. In considering the Act, which has plagued personal injury practitioners for decades, they consider practical examples, reflect on their experiences and the case law, and offer insight into the best way to approach claims of this nature.

In this podcast, James Marwick and Justin Valentine discuss the Supreme Court decision in Paul v Royal Wolverhampton which has definitively closed the door on secondary victim claims in clinical negligence in the context of delayed diagnosis where the breach in duty was many weeks or months before, in each case, the tragic death of the family member.  The Supreme Court has followed Taylor v Novo in finding that in order to recover, a family member must be present at the "accident".  Doubt remains whether a secondary victim claim could be advanced where the family member is present at the breach of duty if that breach can be couched in terms of an accident.

Christopher Sharp KC and Ben Handy of St John's Chambers Personal Injury team discuss the latest developments in lost years claims for children, reflecting on their history, their relationship to dependency claims under the Fatal Accidents Act, and the disconnect between the quantification of claims brought during and after a claimants’ lifetime. They consider the practical impact of that on advice and strategy and offer some thoughts on how to mitigate the problems that can arise as a result. 

Links to the related articles mentioned in this episode:

• The lost years

We hear the term Galbraith plus used all the time in the Coroner’s Court but when was the last time you looked into what the test really requires a Coroner to do and what threshold it puts into place? Off the back of the case of Officer B50, Louise Asprey and Lauren Karmel of our Inquests & Public Inquiries team answer these questions in this podcast.