Personal Injury

Legislative amendments to bring the Judicial Council's new personal injuries guidelines into effect have been agreed by ministers. Justice Minister Helen McEntee yesterday secured approval from his colleagues to make the necessary amendments to the Judicial Council Act 2019 and the Personal Injuries

Plans to change the way damages are calculated in Northern Ireland could leave people with life-changing injuries under-compensated and relying on the state, personal injury lawyers have warned. The Northern Ireland Assembly is now debating the Damages (Return on Investment) Bill, which follows a pu

The Court of Appeal has increased the award of damages for a plaintiff who was hit by a car to €372,000. The plaintiff had appealed the decision of the High Court, which had awarded her with €265,000 after it was determined that she was 45 percent liable for the accident. On Friday, Mr Jus

New personal injury guidelines which will lead to significantly reduced payouts in most cases have been approved by the Judicial Council. The guidelines were drawn up by the personal injuries guidelines committee, chaired by Ms Justice Mary Irvine, and approved by the Judicial Council on Saturday at

The Judicial Council's personal injuries guidelines committee is standing by its recommendations and will not make changes in response to criticism from some judges, according to reports. Draft guidelines were drawn up by the committee last year and are currently being considered by the full Judicia

Legislation to change how the personal injury discount rate is calculated has been introduced to the Northern Ireland Assembly. The Damages (Return on Investment) Bill, which follows a public consultation last year, will change how the personal injury discount rate is set.

Proposals to require courts to approve legal settlements of financial cases involving minors are set to be put to a public consultation after the summer. Personal injury and road traffic specialist firm JMK Solicitors has been calling since 2016 for action to ensure children’s rights are fully

Alistair Kinley of commercial and insurance law specialists BLM considers the latest developments on the personal injury discount rate in Northern Ireland. At last Friday’s meeting of the justice committee of the Northern Ireland Assembly it was reported that the minister had obtained the agre

The High Court has granted an order for post-accident discovery of a plaintiff’s medical records in a personal injuries action and reaffirmed the position that post-accident discovery may be granted in line with the usual rules of discovery. In making the order, the court clarified the decisio

A number of senior judges have circulated memos critical of draft personal injury guidelines currently being considered by the Judicial Council, according to reports. The memos have been seen by The Irish Times, which reports that they come from High Court judges and one Court of Appeal judge. One i

The Court of Appeal has allowed an appeal against a personal injuries award for a man who slipped and fell down set of steps at work. The plaintiff, Mr Terry Morgan, has been awarded €110,000 in the High Court for the accident. However, on Friday, the three-judge panel overturned the decision a

The Judicial Council has adjourned to give further consideration to proposed personal injury guidelines following its meeting on Friday. The council was widely expected to approve the draft guidelines drawn up by its personal injuries guidelines committee, which have not been published but are said

Northern Ireland's county courts will gain jurisdiction over more personal injury and defamation cases under plans put out to consultation today. Justice Minister Naomi Long has launched a 12-week public consultation on increasing the general civil jurisdiction of the county courts.

A high-performance sports player who was injured while working for a construction company has won a five-figure settlement in a case which lawyers say could not have been won a decade ago. Personal injury lawyer Cieran Marshall of JMK Solicitors represented the Gaelic football and Hurling player, wh

The Court of Appeal has overturned a personal injuries award for a woman who was scalded by hot water after trying to make tea in a glass jug from Dunnes Stores. In the High Court, the plaintiff was awarded €56,000 after the trial judge held that the jug should have had a label to warn users no