header-logo header-logo

Doc Brief

22 May 2008 / B. Mahendra
Issue: 7322 / Categories: Features , Professional negligence , Mental health
printer mail-detail

News

How far a tortfeasor can be held responsible for his actions or omissions in causing an injury was the issue exercising the House of Lords in Corr v IBC Vehicles Ltd (2008) UKHL 13, [2008] All ER (D) 386 (Feb).

 

The facts were straightforward. Thomas Corr had suffered a serious accident at work. The defendants had admitted liability. As a result of the accident and ensuing physical injuries, he had developed a severe depressive illness which responded poorly to treatment and got worse. One day, in despair, he jumped from the top of a multi-storey car park and killed himself. His widow claimed damages for the physical and psychiatric injuries he had suffered. While the principles applicable to her claim were clear enough, the claim for recovery of financial loss due to her husband’s suicide was in issue.

The defendants asserted that his suicide was outside their duty of care, that it was too remote, that it could not have been reasonably foreseen and that the fatal act had

If you are not a subscriber, subscribe now to read this content
If you are already a subscriber sign in
...or Register for two weeks' free access to subscriber content

MOVERS & SHAKERS

DWF—19 appointments

DWF—19 appointments

Belfast team bolstered by three senior hires and 16 further appointments

Cadwalader—Andro Atlaga

Cadwalader—Andro Atlaga

Firm strengthens leveraged finance team with London partner hire

Knights—Ella Dodgson & Rebecca Laffan

Knights—Ella Dodgson & Rebecca Laffan

Double hire marks launch of family team in Leeds

NEWS
The Supreme Court issued a landmark judgment in July that overturned the convictions of Tom Hayes and Carlo Palombo, once poster boys of the Libor and Euribor scandal. In NLJ this week, Neil Swift of Peters & Peters considers what the ruling means for financial law enforcement
Bea Rossetto of the National Pro Bono Centre makes the case for ‘General Practice Pro Bono’—using core legal skills to deliver life-changing support, without the need for niche expertise—in this week's NLJ
In this week's NLJ, Steven Ball of Red Lion Chambers unpacks how advances in forensic science finally unmasked Ryland Headley, jailed in 2025 for the 1967 rape and murder of 75-year-old Louisa Dunne. Preserved swabs and palm prints lay dormant for decades until DNA-17 profiling produced a billion-to-one match
Small law firms want to embrace technology but feel lost in a maze of jargon, costs and compliance fears, writes Aisling O’Connell of the Solicitors Regulation Authority in this week's NLJ
Charlie Mercer and Astrid Gillam of Stewarts crunch the numbers on civil fraud claims in the English courts, in this week's NLJ. New data shows civil fraud claims rising steadily since 2014, with the King’s Bench Division overtaking the Commercial Court as the forum of choice for lower-value disputes
back-to-top-scroll