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Civil way: 3 May 2024

PI damages up; Tribunal responses; Family dress; Luba got it right

AVOID DAMAGE

The 17th edition of the Judicial College’s guidelines on the assessment of general damages in personal injury cases is about to hit those bookstalls that litigators frequent. But avoid a negligence claim by NOW revisiting the guidelines of two years ago. This latest edition uplifts figures by reference, as usual, to the retail prices index (RPI) and the index figure of 376.6 for August 2023. Claimant negotiators should avoid a negligence claim by increasing guidelines further for inflation between August 2023 and assessment, as defendant negotiators may curse. Last time a new sub-category of psychiatric injury to cover awards made to victims of sexual abuse was included. Adjustments have now been made to the brackets for these injuries as well as the figures within the range. It is made clear that any challenge to use of the RPI as against the consumer prices index must be made in the courts. Over to you.

The

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MOVERS & SHAKERS

Carey Olsen—Kim Paiva

Carey Olsen—Kim Paiva

Group partner joins Guernsey banking and finance practice

Morgan Lewis—Kat Gibson

Morgan Lewis—Kat Gibson

London labour and employment team announces partner hire

Foot Anstey McKees—Chris Milligan & Michael Kelly

Foot Anstey McKees—Chris Milligan & Michael Kelly

Double partner appointment marks Belfast expansion

NEWS
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Boris Johnson’s 2019 attempt to shut down Parliament remains a constitutional cautionary tale. The move, framed as a routine exercise of the royal prerogative, was in truth an extraordinary effort to sideline Parliament at the height of the Brexit crisis. Writing in NLJ this week, Professor Graham Zellick KC dissects how prorogation was wrongly assumed to be beyond judicial scrutiny, only for the Supreme Court to intervene unanimously
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