21 January Case Updates Rebecca Lochrie v Matthew Edwards Judgment G48YJ355 14. Giving Oral Evidence, Laser Eye Surgery, LASIK The Claimant alleged that the Defendant acted negligently in obtaining her consent for laser eye surgery including failing to adequately investigate her ophthalmic condition prior to the surgery.
16 January Case Updates NMC Health PLC v Ernst & Young LLP [2024] EWHC 3021 (Comm) CPR, 05. Rules and Regulations, Adjournment The defendant made an application for adjournment on the proposition that it could not be ready for trial because its experts required additional time to complete their reports. However, it was unable to demonstrate that it would be unfair to proceed with the existing trial.
14 January Case Updates Justice for people with a hearing impairment Capacity, 05. Rules and Regulations, 10. Report Writing, 07. Working with Instructing Parties, Hearing impairment A psychiatrist whose evidence had often been admitted in capacity cases was assisted in this case of a hearing-impaired person by an interpreter who had British Sign Language (BSL) Level 1 training. Her assessment was subsequently criticised as she conducted the assessment without ‘suitable specialist learning support’. For psychiatrists and psychologists, the case illustrates the importance, in the case of some hearing-impaired subjects, of being assisted, or of the assessment being carried out, by a psychologist or psychiatrist who has experience of the assessment and treatment of hearing-disabled people. Oldham Metropolitan Borough Council v KZ (Rev1) [2024] EWCOP 72 (T3)
9 January Case Updates Judicial analysis of written expert healthcare evidence 06. Receiving Instructions This is an important judgment for experts who prepare personal injury reports in the Republic of Ireland but also for all experts, in all of the jurisdictions in the British Isles, for its description of the judicial analysis of expert evidence. It deals with procedure in Ireland for the instruction of specialist medical experts through plaintiffs’ general practitioners. Lynch v Motor Insurers' Bureau of Ireland [2024] IEHC 587
7 January Case Updates Alan Prescott-Brann v Chelsea and Westminster’s Hospital NHS Foundation Trust & Anor [2024] EWHC 3314 (KB) 05. Rules and Regulations, 10. Report Writing, 13. Changing your opinion The Appellant was given permission to change neurology experts after the judge found that the application was not so late as to be prejudicial to the Respondents, and that the Appellant was not engaging in expert shopping.
19 December Case Updates When expert evidence falls well below the standard of a competent expert witness Psychology, Psychiatry, 05. Rules and Regulations, 10. Report Writing, 13. Changing your opinion, 12. Experts Discussions and Joint Statements, 14. Giving Oral Evidence, 15. Criticism and Complaints, 09. Records Assessments and Site Visits The judge found that the evidence of the claimants' psychological expert fell well below the standard to be expected of a competent expert witness, both as to form and as to substance. Rashpal Samrai & Ors v Rajinder Kalia [2024] EWHC 3143 (KB)
18 December Case Updates A fundamentally dishonest claimant This case concerns a fundamentally dishonest claimant. The judge held that the experts in the case were reliant on self-reporting by the claimant, who the judge found to be wholly unreliable, as to the extent to which the alleged injuries suffered had impacted her life. Scully -v- Atherton (& others) E13YX311
13 December Case Updates An unsafe conviction with flawed DNA evidence 05. Rules and Regulations, 10. Report Writing, 14. Giving Oral Evidence, 15. Criticism and Complaints, Bermuda, DNA Evidence, Privy Council In this Bermudan case, the appellant successfully appealed to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council to have his convictions quashed because of errors in the collection, examination and interpretation of the DNA expert evidence used in the trial. Julian Washington (Appellant) v The King (Respondent) (Bermuda) [2024] UKPC 34