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Opinion

More reason to worry about living with damp: Dampness and Mould Hypersensitivity Syndrome (DMHS)

Anybody who has had to live with chronic damp problems will know how upsetting it can be. Dampness, like the fungal growths it encourages, behaves in peculiar and insidious ways.…

October 27, 2017
Opinion

The use of asbestos – deadly white lies

There were 2542 recorded deaths in the UK from mesothelioma in 2015. The increase is largely due to an increase in deaths among those aged 75 or above. This is...

October 27, 2017
Opinion

Bach commission calls for the abolition of the Legal Aid Agency and a new right to justice

In a long-awaited report examining access to justice and legal aid, the Bach Commission led by the former Justice Minister and Labour Peer Lord Bach has called for major reform...

October 25, 2017
Opinion

“A rate rise this year” and the impact on divorce

Reading the Economist I noted the headline “A rate rise this year?” Upon reading the article the Monetary Policy Committee felt that the “moment was approaching” for such a rise....

October 24, 2017
Opinion

Rehabilitation for personal injury victims – forty years on

Back when the firm was first opened in 1977, there was very little by way of rehabilitation offered to clients who had sustained injuries through no fault of their own....

October 23, 2017
Opinion

Personal injury … “nothing but the TRUTH”

It is becoming increasingly common for a defendant to plead fundamental dishonesty against a claimant. A claimant as part of his or her case may think a small white lie…

October 23, 2017
Opinion

Whose ‘file’ is it anyway?

When I get approached by clients who wish to bring a claim for professional negligence against their solicitors, the first thing I advise them is to get hold off their…

October 23, 2017
Opinion

The formalities of making a will – is a change of law on the horizon?

The BBC recently reported on a rather bizarre story coming out of Australia. A court decided that an unsent text message found within a deceased man’s mobile phone was enough...

October 19, 2017
Opinion

Policing and Crime Act 2017 – Six Months On Is Police Bail Any Better?

In a blog written by a colleague (Jennifer Siddorn posted on 17th March 2017) the proposed new provisions for police bail were heralded by the government as “the end to...

October 19, 2017
Blog

Supreme Court rejects judicial review application in Belfast ‘supergrass’ case

The Supreme Court has dismissed an application for judicial review by an acquitted defendant in a trial brought about as a result of two brothers, former Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF)...

October 19, 2017
Opinion

Service of a Claim Form – Tension between the Civil Procedure Rules?

I have previously discussed the importance of bringing a claim for personal injury within the time limits prescribed under Section 11(4) of the Limitation Act 1980. An issue of equal…

October 17, 2017
Blog

Euston HS2 Housing Disruption – Know Your Rights

High Speed 2 (“HS2”), the high speed railway link between London and the West Midlands, received royal assent on 23 February 2017. The railway will accommodate trains with 1,100 seats…

October 16, 2017
Opinion

The use of video link in civil proceedings

With the drive to use technology to make litigation more efficient, it is surprising that we do not make more use of permitted technological aids, such as video link for...

October 12, 2017
Opinion

Possible remedies for the disinherited

The case of a son, who is suing his mother and sisters after he was cut out of his dementia suffering father’s will is widely reported in the press this...

October 12, 2017
Opinion

Lasting Powers of Attorney – could recent FCA proposals leave the system completely open to abuse and fraud?

In a paper published recently City watchdogs the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) have proposed changing the way in which applications for a Lasting Power of Attorney (LPA) are made. Currently,…

October 9, 2017
Opinion

IVF Hammersmith and wrongful birth claims

The Guardian last week featured the worrying story of how an IVF clinic, IVF Hammersmith was duped into enabling a woman to conceive a child by IVF after forging her…

October 9, 2017
Opinion

Homemade Wills – do they work?

In the recent case of Vucicevic v Aleksic, the High Court has managed to interpret a homemade, handwritten will, made by a testator with poor written English, which had a...

October 9, 2017
Opinion

The NAO does not understand clinical negligence

The recent publication of the National Audit Office’s (NAO) Managing the costs of clinical negligence in trusts report, was beyond disappointing and brought a plethora of misinformed comment from the…

October 6, 2017
Opinion

“Lend me your ears”

Jeremy Corbyn’s keynote speech at the Labour Conference in Brighton last week placed housing at the heart of his proposed reforms. This is encouraging indeed, but so too was the...

October 4, 2017
Opinion

Should Sonia Fowler look a gift horse in the mouth?

So last night I watched Eastenders with interest as the mystery around Sonia Fowler’s time in Kettering was revealed. It transpired that having cared for an elderly Mrs Waters she…

October 3, 2017
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