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11 February 2010 / Lucy Wyles
Issue: 7404 / Categories: Features , Professional negligence
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Striking the right balance

Lucy Wyles reports on three cases which revisit the fundamental principles of the law of negligence

One of the most rewarding aspects of the common law is the rich and varied diet of factual and legal situations that it provides for our delectation. This article examines three of this winter’s decisions on liability issues, in which fundamental principles were considered against particularly colourful or unusual backgrounds.

In Parker v TUI UK Ltd [2009] EWCA Civ 1261, [2009] All ER (D) 305 (Nov) Mrs Parker was injured when taking part in an evening tobogganing event in Austria. She had completed the toboggan run, but then remounted her toboggan, lost control of it on an icy road and careered into a barrier of frozen straw bales. She and the other participants had been told that at the end of the run they had to get off the toboggans and walk down to the place where they were to return the toboggans. Mrs Parker said that she had got back on to the toboggan because the road

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MOVERS & SHAKERS

Clarke Willmott—Matthew Roach

Clarke Willmott—Matthew Roach

Partner joins commercial property team in Taunton office

Farrer & Co—Richard Lane

Farrer & Co—Richard Lane

Londstanding London firm appoints new senior partner

Bird & Bird—Sue McLean

Bird & Bird—Sue McLean

Commercial team in London welcomes technology specialist as partner

NEWS
The legal profession’s claim to be a ‘guardian of fairness’ is under scrutiny after stark findings on gender imbalance and opaque progression. Writing in NLJ this week, Joshua Purser of No5 Barristers’ Chambers and Govindi Deerasinghe of Global 50/50 warn that leadership remains dominated by a narrow elite, with men holding 71% of top court roles
A legal challenge to police disclosure rules has failed, reinforcing a push for transparency in policing. In NLJ this week, Neil Parpworth examines a case where the Metropolitan Police required officers to declare membership of groups like the Freemasons
Bereavement leave is undergoing a quiet but profound transformation. Writing in NLJ this week, Robert Hargreaves of York St John University explains how the Employment Rights Act 2025 introduces a day-one right to leave for a wider range of losses, alongside new provisions for pregnancy loss and bereaved partners
Courts are beginning to grapple with whether AI-generated material is legally privileged—and the answers are mixed. In this week's issue of NLJ, Stacie Bourton, Tom Whittaker & Beata Kolodziej of Burges Salmon examine US rulings showing how easily privilege can be lost
New guidance seeks to bring order to the growing use of artificial intelligence (AI) in expert evidence. Writing in NLJ this week, Minesh Tanna and David Bridge of Simmons & Simmons set out a framework stressing ‘transparency’, ‘explainability’ and ‘reliability’
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