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04 September 2015 / Angela Williams
Issue: 7666 / Categories: Features , Personal injury
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Calmer waters

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The decision in South West Strategic Health Authority v Bay Island Voyages clarifies the liability of sea carriers & gives certainty to practitioners, says Angela Williams

The eagerly-awaited decision in the case of South West Strategic Health Authority v Bay Island Voyages [2015] EWCA Civ 708, [2015] All ER (D) 165 (Jul) has now been handed down by the Court of Appeal.

The action related to a claim by Dr Kathleen Feest who was seriously injured while on an away-day boat trip on 26 August 2008. At the time of the boat trip, which was part of a corporate team building exercise, she was on secondment. She boarded a RIB at Cardiff Bay with the intention of participating in a one-hour trip in the Bristol Channel. During the trip she sustained a crush fracture to her spine.

Initially, Dr Feest held the boat company responsible for this injury. She sought to bring proceedings against the company but her former solicitors issued proceedings outside of the two year limitation for accidents at sea. Consequently, she brought proceedings against her

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Switalskis—Naila Arif, Harriet Findlay & Ellie Thompson

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NEWS
Freezing orders in divorce proceedings can unexpectedly ensnare third parties and disrupt businesses. In NLJ this week, Lucy James of Trowers & Hamlins explains how these orders—dubbed a ‘nuclear weapon’—preserve assets but can extend far beyond spouses to companies and business partners 
A Court of Appeal ruling has clarified that ‘rent’ must be monetary—excluding tenants paid in labour from statutory protection. In this week's NLJ, James Naylor explains Garraway v Phillips, where a tenant worked two days a week instead of paying rent
Three men wrongly imprisoned for a combined 77 years have been released—yet received ‘not a penny’ in compensation, exposing deep flaws in the justice system. Writing in NLJ this week, Dr Jon Robins reports on Justin Plummer, Oliver Campbell and Peter Sullivan, whose convictions collapsed amid discredited forensics, ‘oppressive’ police interviews and unreliable ‘cell confessions’
A quiet month for employment cases still delivers key legal clarifications. In his latest Employment Law Brief for NLJ, Ian Smith reports that whistleblowing protection remains intact even where disclosures are partly self-serving, provided the worker reasonably believes they serve the ‘public interest’ 
Family law must shift from conflict-driven litigation to child-centred problem-solving, according to a major new report. Writing in NLJ this week, Caroline Bowden of Anthony Gold outlines findings showing overwhelming support for reform, with 92% agreeing lawyers owe duties to children as well as clients
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