An American Litigant in London

The case is Barclay v British Airways.

I wonder how this case would have been decided in the USA. Perhaps, someone will enlighten me.

Similar fact cases could be litigated in any country that is party to the Montreal Convention 1999. There was no dispute as to the facts of the case and everything turned on the construction of Article 17.1 of the Convention:

[British Airways] is liable for damage sustained in case of death or bodily injury of [Beverley Anne Barclay] upon condition only that the accident which caused the death or injury took place on board the aircraft or in the course of any of the operations of embarking or disembarking.

So there was only one question: Did the agreed facts constitute an "accident"?

The Agreed Facts

I summarise the key agreed facts as follows:

1. The aircraft was in normal working condition and all applicable aviation regulations had been complied with.

2. As she lowered herself into her seat, with her body weight towards the right, Ms Barclay's right foot suddenly slipped on a strip embedded in the floor of the aircraft and went to the left.

3. Ms Barclay suffered injury in consequence of 2 above.

4. Ms Barclay had no remedy in contract or negligence but only under the Convention and only if she had suffered an accident.

This is only a brief summary and you should refer to the report for fuller details.

No Win No Fee?

You may by now have formed the opinion that this was a "brave" claim. But it went to the Court of Appeal and I, at least, would not have taken it on a no win no fee basis. Of course, Ms Barclay may be that rare litigant who is rich enough to fund speculative litigation regardless of advice because she is determined to have her day in court as a matter of principle.

Well, someone got it badly wrong.

This is Part 1 of a 2 part post. Look tomorrow for Part 2: The Decision.

MOD Settles At £3M For Iraqi Torture Victims

Well, one of the comments on this Time's story is:

"How much did the lawyers get?"

Another is:

"This beggars belief when you see the paltry sums offered to our servicemen blown to bits by "innocent Iraqis".

The law firm involved found greater rewards looking for Iraqi claimants rather than taking up the labour party & MOD injustices to our own troops.

No wonder half of them want to quit."

These comments seem a bit unfair and I pose the following questions:

1) How much compensation would these claimant's have got without the assistance of Leigh Day & Co?

2) Why should these claimants have been prevented from pursuing lawful claims because others (i.e. soldiers) may not have lawful claims because of their contractual relationship with the MOD?

3) Are there any racist connotations to these and similar comments?

Oh No They Didn't! The Compensation Culture.

The court has not held that Jeanette Cenet (nee McGlennon), the Claimant in this personal injury case, or Mr Maguire, "the alleged eye witness", were complete scam artists as alleged by the defendant, Wirral Metropolitan Borough Council. I emphasise the word "not".

This was despite the judge stating:

"There was a history of involvement by the claimant and her witness in similar claims. Mr Maguire, the alleged eye witness who gave evidence on the claimant's behalf, had himself submitted claims in respect of three highway tripping accidents in 1998, 2001 and 2004. In addition, he claimed to have been an eye witness to a similar accident suffered by Mrs Barry, another resident of Chatham Road, on 12 August 2004. That accident was said to have taken place on Chatham Road within a few yards of where the claimant's accident occurred. Mrs Barry's claim had been due for trial at the same time as that of the claimant (at the direction of the Designated Civil Judge, having regard to the issue of credibility arising from Mr Maguire's involvement as a witness in both claims); however, she discontinued her action the day before trial."

Luckily, some may think, the judge was able to uphold the Council's appeal on a different ground - i.e. the area where this trip and slip occurred was not, in fact, dangerous.

Go to the title link if you think that there is no compensation culture in the UK.

QUIZ QUESTION:

Is there a compenation culture developing in the UK?

NB: I am a claimant lawyer in respect of personal injury work. There are just some cases I would not touch.

The Maypole Hole, the Hole in Mrs Cole's Pocket and the Compensation Culture

Mrs Yvonne Cole stepped in a disused hole designed to accomodate a maypole. Quite how serious her injuries were is not revealed by the Court of Appeal judgment as the value of her claim has not been considered. Proceedings had been confined to liability.

She won in Brighton County Court.

The Royal British Legion appealed to the Court of Appeal and won.

Read their judgments (and weep) by clicking on the title.

The pastoral meanderings worked for Lord Denning but they do not work now. A lot of crap about village greens determined the law on this one.