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28 January 2022 / Vijay Ganapathy , Walker Syachalinga
Issue: 7964 / Categories: Features , Personal injury
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Personal injury in the spotlight

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Vijay Ganapathy & Walker Syachalinga examine some key issues raised in the latest rulings on personal injury
  • The Fatal Accidents Act 1976: calculating dependency claims.
  • Duty of care in competitive sports.
  • Application for interim payments in a case involving multiple defendants.

The last few months have seen the courts ruling on a variety of issues which will provide useful guidance for future cases.

Steve Hill Ltd v Witham (as widow and executrix of the estate of Neil Witham (deceased)) [2021] EWCA Civ 1312, [2021] All ER (D) 21 (Sep) is one of two significant recent Court of Appeal rulings (the other being Paramount Shopfitting Company Ltd v Rix (widow and executrix of the estate of Rix (deceased)) [2021] EWCA Civ 1172, [2021] All ER (D) 07 (Aug)) which have provided some much needed clarity for dependency claims.

Mrs Witham (‘W’) sued the defendant (‘S’) after her husband’s sad death following his diagnosis of mesothelioma caused by asbestos exposure. W and her husband had looked after two foster

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Carey Olsen—Patrick Ormond

Carey Olsen—Patrick Ormond

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Dawson Cornwell—Naomi Angell

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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
Thousands more magistrates are to be recruited, under a major shake-up to speed up and expand the hiring process
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’ 
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