Personal Injury

The High Court of Northern Ireland has awarded more than £250,000 to the estate of a deceased victim of military brutality on Bloody Sunday. The victim, Ms Margaret Deery, was shot through her thigh with a high-calibre bullet, resulting in massive damage to her leg and serious medical complica

New personal injury guidelines providing for reduced payouts in most cases will come into effect next week. Justice Minister Helen McEntee today confirmed that the personal injury guidelines drawn up and agreed by the Judicial Council will apply from Saturday 24 April.

The personal injury discount rate will be dramatically lowered from 2.5 per cent to -1.75 per cent, Justice Minister Naomi Long has announced. The rate will be changed from 31 May through secondary legislation owing to delays in steering the Damages (Return on Investment) Bill through Stormont.

The High Court has determined that an accident report form compiled by a defendant to a personal injuries claim was not discoverable due to litigation privilege. In reaching the decision, the court accepted that a personal injuries claim is usually brought against an employer following an accident a

Plans to bring more cases within the ambit of an enhanced Personal Injuries Assessment Board (PIAB) have gone out for consultation. As part of its strategy to bring down insurance costs, the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment (DETE) is seeking observations from the public and interested

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