header-logo header-logo

Force Majeure?

14 January 2010 / Mark Bowman
Issue: 7400 / Categories: Features , Personal injury
printer mail-detail

Mark Bowman suggests when to see beyond an Act of God

The 18 January 2007 was one of the windiest days in Britain for years. Planes, trains and ferry services were cancelled, motorways closed and hundreds of trees fell as winds of in excess of 90 miles per hour were reported.

Mr M, a lecturer at Southgate College in London, had completed his classes for the morning and was walking along the main driveway of part of the college campus when a sudden gust of wind blew over a mature copper beech tree, adjacent to a car park (where hundreds of students/lecturers would pass each day). The tree landed on Mr M and he suffered severe spinal and psychiatric injuries as a result. He was subsequently medically retired on the grounds of ill health.

Act of God?

At first glance it appeared as though this was a typical “Act of God” scenario—where the defendant in this case, presumably Southgate College, would reasonably point to the high winds, the number of trees falling throughout Britain, and

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