This book undertakes an analysis of academic and judicial responses to the problem of evidential uncertainty in causation in negligence. It seeks to bring clarity to what has become a notoriously complex area by adopting a clear approach to the function of the doctrine of causation within a corrective justice-based account of negligence liability. It first explores basic causal models and issues of proof, including the role of statistical and epidemiological evidence, in order to isolate the problem of evidential uncertainty more precisely. Application of Richard Wright's NESS test to a range of English case law shows it to be more comprehensive than the 'but for' test that currently dominates, thereby reducing the need to resort to additional tests, such as the Wardlaw test of material contribution to harm, the scope and meaning of which are uncertain. The book builds on this foundation to explore the solution to a range of problems of evidential uncertainty, focusing on the Fairchild principle and the idea of risk as damage, as well as the notion of loss of a chance in medical negligence which is often seen as analogous with 'increase in risk', in an attempt to bring coherence to this area of the law.

Mediating Clinical Claims is a timely and detailed look at the growing practice of mediating clinical negligence claims in England, written by one of the UK's most experienced mediators of clinical claims. The book is aimed at all those with an interest in understanding why and how mediation is such an effective process in resolving such claims - claimants, healthcare professional and managers, lawyers, judges, policy-makers and mediators. It reviews research on what claimants and clinicians really want from healthcare complaints and claims. It offers help on how best to prepare for and conduct such mediations, giving numerous anonymised examples based on real mediations. This new title looks at: - How mediation of clinical claims has developed - How mediation differs from other processes - Practical guidance for all participants - The legal framework in which such mediation operates - The law and practice of clinical claims - Process design and the special problems of multi-party claims - Future developments. Mediating Clinical Claims provides mediators, claimants, healthcare professionals and their legal representatives with all the guidance they need to ensure that a successful and fair outcome is achieved for all those involved in such mediations.

This book is a study of doctrinal and methodological divergence in the common law of obligations. It explores particular departures from the common law mainstream and the causes and effects of those departures. Some divergences can be justified on the basis of a need to adapt the common law of contract, torts, equity and restitution to local circumstances, or to bring them into conformity with local values. More commonly, however, doctrinal or methodological divergence simply reflects different approaches to common problems, or different views as to what justice or policy requires in particular circumstances. In some instances divergent methodologies lead to substantially the same results, while in others particular causes of action, defences, immunities or remedies recognised in one jurisdiction but not another undoubtedly produce different outcomes. Such cases raise interesting questions as to whether ultimate appellate courts should be slow to abandon principles that remain well accepted throughout the common law world, or cautious about taking a uniquely divergent path. The chapters in this book were originally presented at the Seventh Biennial Conference on the Law of Obligations held in Hong Kong in July 2014. A separate collection, entitled The Common Law of Obligations: Divergence and Unity (ISBN: 9781782256564), is also being published.

Personal Injury Schedules: Calculating Damages covers in one single volume all that the PI practitioner needs in order to calculate damages in a personal injury case. It provides a guide to the assessment of damages and presentation of schedules. The emphasis remains on the practical application of the rules and principles involved, covering a variety of claims ranging from the small to the catastrophic. Defendants are also catered for, with a substantial chapter on Counter-Schedules. The book contains comprehensive and up-to-date analysis of the relevant principles and case law in a practical handbook style with valuable advice on presentation and strategy, complimented by a raft of precedents. Its key strengths are its clear and structured presentation and calculation of difficult items of loss with checklists, bullet points and tables offering immediate solutions for the busy practitioner, who needs accurate information on a daily basis in the courtroom or the office. This new edition is fully updated to take account of the following developments resulting from case law since the last edition: Fatal Accident Act multipliers: Knauer v MOJ [2016] UKSC 9; Pre-existing conditions: Reaney v University Hospital of North Staffordshire [2015] EWCA Civ 1119; Residual earnings discount factors: Billett v MOD[2015] EWCA Civ 773; Review of the highest court award ever made: Robshaw v United Lincolnshire Hospitals NSH Trust [2015] EWHC 923 (QB); Developments in the approach to interim payment applications: Smith v Bailey [2014] EWHC 2569 (QB); Recoverability of credit hire claims: Brent v Highways & Utilities Construction & others [2011] EWCA Civ 1384; Opuku v Tintas [2013] EWCA Civ 1299; Zurich Insurance v Umerji [2014] EWCA Civ 357; Sobrany v UAB Transtira [2016] EWCA Civ 28; Fatal accidents and incompatibility with the ECHR: Swift v Secretary of State for Justice [2013] EWCA Civ 193; Periodical payment orders: RH v University Hospitals Bristol Foundation Trust [2013] EWHC 299 (QB); Wallace v Follett [2013] EWCA Civ 146; Striking out dishonest claims: Fairclough Homes Ltd v Summers [2012] UKSC 26; Assessment of multipliers when not constrained by the Damages Act 1996: Simon v Helmot [2012] UKPC 5; Assessment of life expectancy: Whiten v St George's Healthcare NHS Trust [2011] EWHC 2066 (QB).

The principal objective of this book is simple: to provide a timely and effective means of navigating the current maze of case law on causation, in order that the solutions to causal problems might more easily be reached and the law relating to them more easily understood. The need for this has been increasingly evident in recent judgments dealing with causal issues: in particular, it seems to be ever harder to distinguish between the different 'categories' of causation and, consequently, to identify the legal test to be applied on any given set of facts. Causation in Negligence will make such identification easier, both by clarifying the parameters of each category and mapping the current key cases accordingly, and by providing one basic means of analysis which will make the resolution of even the thorniest of causal issues a straightforward process. The causal inquiry in negligence seems to have become a highly complicated and confused area of the law. As this book demonstrates, this is unnecessary and easily remedied.