Getting it right by playing by the rules

• Applying the three-stage test in Denton v White.
• Should a defendant be allowed to rely on statistical life expectancy expert evidence?
• Carey v Vauxhall Motors Limited—the first English court decision in a secondary exposure case.
  

So far this year we have seen the courts addressing a variety of issues. Starting with procedure, an issue that keeps coming back to the courts for consideration is the sanctions that ought to be applied when a party fails to comply with court orders, rules or practice directions.

Denton v TH White Ltd [2014] EWCA Civ 906, [2015] 1 All ER 880 sets out the three-stage test for considering when such a party should be granted relief from sanctions. This test requires consideration of the following: the ‘seriousness or significance’ of the breach; whether a ‘good reason’ has been demonstrated for this; and ‘all the circumstances of the case’, which in particular