Now in force - floodgates opened? Implied term of reasonable expedition in paying out under insurance contracts 10 May 2017 Thomas-Crockett General, insurance (0) Section 28 of the Enterprise Act 2016 amends the Insurance Act 2015 so as to insert a section 13A. T [More]
Sustainable conclusions: the consequences of failing to foresee material matters until trial 16 March 2017 Thomas-Crockett Appeals, case report, court of appeal, General, liability, professional negligence (0) In the second of my two short articles reviewing some recent Court of Appeal authorities in the fiel [More]
Establishing loss in professional negligence claims 15 March 2017 Thomas-Crockett case report, Causation, court of appeal, evidence, professional negligence (0) In this short article, I review three decisions of the Court of Appeal from the last five months or [More]
The "new approach" to applications for extensions of time to appeal 28 January 2015 Thomas-Crockett case report, court of appeal, cpr, Jackson reforms, procedure, Appeals (0) A recent judgment of the Court of Appeal has extended the spectre of the robustness of the 'Jackson Reforms' yet further. Although the approach courts now take is somewhat softer following the Court of Appeal's judgment in Denton, there is no doubting that the earlier decision in Mitchell has changed the landscape of litigation, at least in cases where concession or relief is sought and where defa... [More]
Warning against overly long bundles and skeleton arguments 15 July 2014 Thomas-Crockett (0) Caldero Trading Ltd v Leibson Corporation Ltd & Ors [2014] EWCA Civ 935 was a commercial law appeal. It was listed for three days. The Court was presented with no less than 17 lever arch files of documents and authorities. The appellant’s skeleton argument (including a schedule and four appendices) was 72 pages long; the respondent’s (including also four appendices) ran to 67 pages... [More]
Interest on Costs paid to Negligent Legal Representatives 09 January 2014 Thomas-Crockett (0) The High Court recently provided litigants with some guidance as to the principle of a party claiming interest on costs paid to legal representatives in actions which are subsequently held to have been negligently conducted. Surely, the principle that such a party should recover interest on the returned fees is sound in law, corresponding with such judgments as Lord Denning in Jeffor... [More]
The Determination of Consequential Issues after Trial and the Apparently Biased Judge 19 August 2013 Thomas-Crockett case report, General, procedure, Bias (0) Who should determine any questions as to costs at the conclusion of a trial? The standard – and it seems almost always correct – answer, would be the trial judge himself. The rationale is obvious and entirely sensible – that such ancillary issues should be determined by the tribunal which heard the case from which the such issues arise. However, the Court of Appeal last week sug... [More]
Limitation Periods and Solicitor Negligence 26 June 2013 Thomas-Crockett case report, court of appeal, General, limitation, professional negligence, solicitors (0) In the case of Susan Berney v Thomas Saul (T/A Thomas Saul & Co) [2013] EWCA Civ 640, the Court of Appeal has provided further guidance as to the date of the accrual of a cause of action in a solicitor’s negligence case. Ms Berney (“MB”) instructed Thomas Saul & Co (“TS”) in 1999 to act for her in a personal injury claim following a road traffi... [More]
Skeletons in the Courtroom 08 May 2013 Thomas-Crockett (0) When I was at law school we only allowed to produce skeleton arguments for moots if they did not exceed four sentences in length. It was no easy task, but it really forced one to be as lexically economical and phraseologically elegant as possible. However since, I have been encouraged to be far more expansive. I have thence been lead to believe that a skeleton argument is a powerful means o... [More]
Claims against solicitors and the “new” CPR 3.9 27 March 2013 Thomas-Crockett (0) CPR 3.9 ‘Relief from Sanctions’ is being entirely reformed. From the 1st April 2013, gone will be the checklist which is to be replaced by a much broader discretion as to whether to grant relief, with the judge specifically referred to the need for litigation to be conducted efficiently, at proportionate cost, and with a need to enforce compliance with rules, practice directions and or... [More]