LPC Law Notes Personal Injury and Clinical Negligence Notes
A collection of the best LPC Personal Injury and Clinical Negligence notes the director of Oxbridge Notes (an Oxford law graduate) could find after combing through dozens of LPC samples from outstanding students with the highest results in England and carefully evaluating each on accuracy, formatting, logical structure, spelling/grammar, conciseness and "wow-factor". In short these are what we believe to be the strongest set of Personal Injury and Clinical Negligence notes available in the UK thi...
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FATAL ACCIDENTS
INQUESTS
Inquest procedure
Opens at death
Under s. 8(1) Coroners Act 1988, an inquest is required where there is a
Violent/unnatural death
Sudden death with unknown cause
Death in prison
Death in such place/circumstances as to require an inquest in pursuance of an Act
Evidence is mostly oral
Pathologist usually starts – up to coroner
Own representative asks him questions last
R. 22 Inquest Rules – no self-incrimination
Coroner summation of evidence, determination and reports to prevent future deaths
Aim/purpose of inquest
Strictly limited to establishing:
The identity of the deceased
How, when and where the deceased died
The particulars required by the Registrations Act to be registered concerning death
Inquests are NOT to establish responsibility, blame or liability for the death
Value to litigants
Documents
Witnesses
Lawyers attend and can follow up on evidence emerging
Lawyers should attend inquests on behalf of their clients
Value of inquests
Spotlight of public concern
Families get closure
Coroner
He is usually a qualified doctor AND barrister, although this is not a requirement
The coroner is responsible for the inquest procedure and decides:
Post-mortem
Coroner will usually direct when a post-mortem takes place
The post-mortem report is vital evidence and immediate request should be made to the coroner for a copy
Documents
Coroner chooses which documents go before the court (no right to disclosure like in civil litigation)
Witnesses
Decides who will appear
Witnesses NOT obliged to answer questions which would incriminate them
If they do answer, they will waive this privilege
Evidence
What documents will be needed
Sometimes coroner is joined by a jury (if the death occurred in prison/police custody)
Criminal prosecutions
Where an accident results in a fatality, a criminal prosecution of those thought to be responsible will often follow
If such a prosecution occurs, the claimant’s solicitor should attend court to obtain details of the circumstances of the accident and take notes of the evidence
Verdicts
Industrial disease
Want of attention at birth
Accident/misadventure
Unlawful killing
Open verdict (i.e. insufficient evidence to reach a conclusion)
Suicide
Natural causes
Neglect
Steps to take after the inquest
Obtain transcript
Letter of claim to council
Obtain police accident report/plan/photos
Interview witnesses and prepare statements
Obtain documents from council
Works notes
Risk assessment
Requests for equipment e.g. road signs
Instructions as to placing of signage
Consider accident reconstruction expert
Calculate damages
Questions that may be asked of witnesses to a fatality
Would you be able to confirm the exact location of the accident?
Could you confirm the condition of the road surface/area that caused the accident?
Do you think the (road) signs were reasonably brought to the attention of the drivers/people using the location?
How are the reinstatements likely to affect the passage of motor vehicles?
Given your experience, where do you believe the signs should have been placed?
Based on your expert opinion, what is the likely cause of the accident?
Based on damage, in your expert opinion how fast do you think vehicle was travelling?
Do you remember seeing any warning signs?
Did you see the brake lights come on? If so, how far away were you?
Was the driver’s airbag inflated? Had it already been?
Could you clarify the speed you believe the driver was travelling at?
What gave you the impression that [THE DECEASED] was dead?
How many signs did you see? Where were the signs?
What would you estimate the speed of the car damaged?
Can you confirm the driver was wearing his seatbelt?
How many signs did you see?
Can you confirm the speed the car was driving at?
Would you describe [THE DECEASED] as a responsible driver?
Has [THE DECEASED] been involved in previous accidents? If so, what?
CLAIM FOR COMPENSATION BY DEPENDANTS
Fatal Accidents Act 1976
Created new cause of action – allows dependants to sue for the death of a person on whom they were dependant
Claim usually commenced by deceased’s personal representatives
Can ONLY claim for pecuniary loss
Claimants must be able to show that, had the deceased been alive, he could have brought a claim in tort
There are 3 possible claims under the act
A claim under the FAA 1976 is exempt from the benefits recovery scheme operated by the CRU
Loss of dependency
To claim, a person must satisfy 2 conditions:
Must fall within the class of ‘dependants’ in s. 1(2)
wife/husband or former wife/husband – (aa) civil partner/former civil partner of the deceased
any person
was living with the deceased in the same household immediately before the date of the death AND
had been living with the deceased in the same household for at least 2 years before that date AND
was living during the whole of that period as husband/wife or civil partner of the deceased
any parent or other ascendant of the deceased
any person who was treated by the deceased as his parent
any child or other descendant of the deceased
any person (not being a child of the deceased) who, in the case of any marriage to which the deceased was at any time a party, was treated by the deceased as a child of the family in relation to that marriage – (fa) – any person (NOT being a child of the deceased), who, in the case of any civil partnership in which the deceased was at any time a civil partner, was treated by the deceased as a child of the family in relation to that civil partnership
any person who is/is issue of, a brother, sister, uncle or aunt of deceased
Stepchildren, adopted children, illegitimate children all treated as children
Must be a reasonable likelihood that the claimant has or will suffer financial loss as a result of the death
The loss must stem from a personal relationship and NOT a business one
E.g. person was a wage earner or home maker – need evidence
Only 1 claim...
Buy the full version of these notes or essay plans and more in our Personal Injury and Clinical Negligence Notes.
A collection of the best LPC Personal Injury and Clinical Negligence notes the director of Oxbridge Notes (an Oxford law graduate) could find after combing through dozens of LPC samples from outstanding students with the highest results in England and carefully evaluating each on accuracy, formatting, logical structure, spelling/grammar, conciseness and "wow-factor". In short these are what we believe to be the strongest set of Personal Injury and Clinical Negligence notes available in the UK thi...
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