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Civil Way: 16 October 2020

15 October 2020 / Stephen Gold
Issue: 7906 / Categories: Features , Procedure & practice , Civil way
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Ditching SJE principles; Fast tribunal listing in employment; Oral exam docs not for show; What the Judge ordered

EXPERT ABANDONMENT

Having given permission to appeal in the noise induced hearing loss claim of Hinson v Hare Realizations Ltd [2020] EWHC 2386 (QB), Martin Spencer J disappointed the claimant by throwing the appeal out. The single joint engineering expert had been against the claimant. Three days before the fast track trial which had been twice adjourned, the claimant applied for a further adjournment and permission to rely on his unilaterally instructed expert who would have been for him and for consequential case management directions including a retracking. There was good reason for the lateness but the application was dismissed, as then was the claim on its merits.

What should be the approach to an application to abandon a single joint expert and adduce unilaterally instructed expert evidence? The correct approach, decided the appeal judge, was that set out by Eady J in Bulic v Harwoods [2012] EWHC 3657 who had referred

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MOVERS & SHAKERS

Hugh James—Phil Edwards

Hugh James—Phil Edwards

Serious injury teambolstered by high-profile partner hire

Freeths—Melanie Stancliffe

Freeths—Melanie Stancliffe

Firm strengthens employment team with partner hire

DAC Beachcroft—Tim Barr

DAC Beachcroft—Tim Barr

Lawyers’ liability practice strengthened with partner appointment in London

NEWS
Tech companies will be legally required to prevent material that encourages or assists serious self-harm appearing on their platforms, under Online Safety Act 2023 regulations due to come into force in the autumn
Commercial leasehold, the defence of insanity and ‘consent’ in the criminal law are among the next tranche of projects for the Law Commission
The Bar has a culture of ‘impunity’ and ‘collusive bystanding’ in which making a complaint is deemed career-ending due to a ‘cohort of untouchables’ at the top, Baroness Harriet Harman KC has found

The Serious Fraud Office (SFO) has secured £1.1m in its first use of an Unexplained Wealth Order (UWO)

County court cases are speeding up, with the median time from claim to hearing 62 weeks for fast, intermediate and multi-track claims—5.4 weeks faster than last year
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