What do you do if you’re sailing and your mast breaks? In the 2013 Atlantic Rally for Cruisers, in which small sailing vessels travel from Gran Canaria to the Carribbean, that happened to one of the participating boats. Pollux, from France, with her 2-man crew was only 140 miles from her final destination of St. Lucia, when she was dismasted in a heavy squall. The crew did not panic. Applying the concept of ‘jury-rigging’ – a term used to describe the actions of makeshift running repairs made with only the tools and materials on board – they rigged a windsurfing sail as a temporary replacement on their remaining “half mast”. It helped that the final stretch was downwind and, in the end, they lost remarkably little time because of the mishap. A few adaptations and they still achieved the desired result – getting “home”. But without the enforced adaptations they would not have made it to their destination. In valuing personal injury claims in Scotland, it can sometimes Continue Reading
Guess the Song with the Lawyer in it
The Elgin Gift Card, is the perfect gift or treat. While a normal gift card can be used only at one business, the Elgin Gift Card can be used at any one of more than 80 participating city centre businesses.Simply look on the Gift Card Map to see the businesses involved and decide what you want to do: have your lunch or dinner,put it towards a holiday,indulge yourself in a bit of luxury,get something for the house,get your hair done, orbuy clothes – it’s that simple and the choice is yours. You can buy your gift cards atiFix Phone Repairs- Batchen Street, Gordon & MacPhail – South Street or online. Soon, you can also have the chance to win a £10 Elgin Gift Card every week through Moray Claims on Facebook. This weekly competition will post a short excerpt of song lyrics which mention the word “lawyer” in them and all you have to do is be the first to correctly identify the name of the song in order to win. The first person to post the Continue Reading
Whiplash Claim in Scotland? Make sure you apply the right rules
In Scotland, we are used to being lumped in with England and other parts of the UK in all sorts of situations where that may be misleading or even wrong. Sometimes the law is the same in Scotland as in the rest of the UK and sometimes it’s not. Personal injury claims are usually based upon negligence of one person causing injury to another. The modern law of negligence for the UK (and much of the world) is based on the Scottish “snail in the ginger beer bottle” case of Donoghue –v- Stevenson. But some areas of personal injury law differ markedly between the jurisdictions. For example, the law relating to claims in cases of fatal accidents and payment of bereavement damages to relatives of deceased persons. Scotland has had a more ‘generous’ compensation scheme in this type of case than the rest of the UK for a long time. But one area where there has been a parting of the ways between Scotland, on the one hand, and England and Wales, on the other, has come as recently as May Continue Reading
What all can you claim for with a personal injury claim?
The style of lettering you use for words can have life and death consequences. Research by the AgeLab at Massachussetts Institute of Technology (MIT) has noted how car dashboard interfaces, if designed correctly, should minimise the amount of time the driver has to spend looking at them. The longer you take to work out what's on the screen, the less time you're looking at the road. Some typefaces are rigid and uniform. Their letters and numbers can look highly similar to each other. But other typefaces have much more open spacing and varied letter shapes. These latter fonts can shave precious milliseconds off the time drivers spend looking away from the road. Getting this form of visual communication right is important because the consequences for vehicle travellers' safety could be serious. With personal injury claims, one thing you need to get right in order to avoid potentially serious consequences is the valuation of the claim. With personal injury claims, your Continue Reading
How personal injury claim funding got to its best-ever position in Scotland
In jokes, lawyers are never portrayed as the cream of society. Musicians like to make jokes about each other. Drummers and viola players are a bit dim; accordionists and banjo players are downright annoying (because their instruments are 'loud' and drown out others nearby). Here are a couple of cartoon-based jokes where lawyers and banjo players are on opposite sides. (A) Lawyer (probably a lawyer rather just a "businessman" - because his discomfort is doubly delicious) in a lift (elevator), talking on his mobile phone: "I'm trapped in an elevator. Wait it gets worse..." (The other occupant of the lift is a banjo player). It works better in the original... (B) Father to young child who is holding a banjo and standing on a chair to be high enough to see the music on their music stand: "Certainly a law degree is a worthwhile endeavour, son, but you need something to fall back on. Now practise your banjo." (Lawyers' response: Ouch). You wouldn't necessarily expect to be Continue Reading
How to instantly increase the value of your personal injury claim by 25%?
The comic strip featuring Calvin and Hobbes has many recurring themes. For example, the opinion poll results showing that Calvin's Dad risks failing to be "re-elected" as Calvin's Dad in upcoming elections (elections which never seem to materialise). Calvin: (e.g.) "You rate especially low among tigers and six-year-old white males." Calvin's Dad: (e.g.) "I take comfort in the fact that not many people would want the job (i.e. the job of being "Calvin's Dad")." Another recurring theme is Calvin's fear of maths problems. It does not help that Hobbes (his pet, stuffed tiger) helps him in class and with homework. For example, Calvin: "What's 7 + 3?" Hobbes: "73." In one class quiz, Calvin considers the following problem: "Jack and Joe leave their homes at the same time and drive toward each other. Jack drives at 60 mph, while Joe drives at 30 mph. They pass each other in 10 minutes. How far apart were Jack and Joe when they started?" Calvin stares helplessly at the Continue Reading
How an “off” petrol lawnmower can still be a powered-blade injury risk
Imagine you've been cutting grass with a self-propelled rotary petrol mower - like the ones shown in various images in this article. (You don't 'push' such lawnmowers. They are propelled along by their engines). You stop the engine to adjust the height of the blade. While you're doing that, completely without warning and unexpectedly, the motor restarts of its own accord. The blade spins into action and you suffer serious injury to your hand as a result. Statistics from the USA show that there was an average of about 85,000 lawnmower-related injuries annually in the period 2005 to 2015. The most commonly injured body parts were the hand/finger (22%) followed by the lower extremities (i.e. toes) (16%). Men were more than 3 times as likely to be injured as women. The annual number of lawnmower-related injuries showed no decrease during the period 2005 to 2015. The purpose of this article is to highlight a particular risk associated with petrol-driven Continue Reading
Pedestrians and cyclists to have more priority over drivers in Highway Code changes
Walking and cycling have become more popular during the pandemic. So-called “active travel” has benefits for personal health as well as the environment. Department for Transport figures show that, over the last year, there’s been a 46% increase in the number of miles cycled on British roads. Tellingly, that’s a larger increase than in all of the previous 20 years combined. To take even one corner of Moray as an example... While the Lossiemouth - Elgin cycle path beside the A941 has been an active travel benefit for many years, the long-mooted track to connect Lossiemouth to Hopeman has only recently gained significant traction, despite years of campaigning. Now that the charitable organisation (SCIO) Laich of Moray Active Travel Routes is in existence, and with help from Sustrans, a connection between Lossiemouth and Covesea is coming. Hopefully, the final link from Covesea to Hopeman - to cover places such as the Green Road, Gordonstoun and Duffus - will not be far Continue Reading
Why it’s worth knowing about Cauda Equina Syndrome
Cauda equina syndrome (“CES”) is a medical emergency. Any delay in diagnosis and treatment of CES can result in life-changing physical disability and psychological injury. What is cauda equina syndrome (CES) exactly? CES is an uncommon but serious neurological condition. It is caused by compression (i.e. squeezing) of a bundle of nerve roots at the base of the spinal column. Cauda is Latin for tail and equina is Latin for horse (ie, the "horse's tail"). The seat of the problem is around where your tail would connect to your body, if you had a tail. The ‘cauda equina’ nerves provide feeling to, and enable control of, the bowel, bladder, anal and genital areas. Also, the legs and feet. So it all sounds quite crucial, doesn't it? Compression of these nerves - say, as a result of a slipped disc or lower back injury - puts the injured person at risk of permanent disability. Someone with suspected cauda equina must be referred for urgent assessment. Typically, this Continue Reading
Why keeping your personal injury claim simple (or as simple as possible) is best
“You’re ignorant. But at least you act on it.” So comments an eye-rolling Hobbes to Calvin in response to his friend’s rant about knowledge only leading to paralysis by analysis. That’s an outcome which, as a “man of action”, Calvin simply cannot afford. In other words, it’s a "simple" explanation for why Calvin will be better off not doing his homework. Calvin’s logic may be flawed but, with a personal injury claim, the simplest approach is usually the best. But can we keep things simple? In this article, we’ll consider, firstly, some of the factors that can complicate a personal injury claim. Secondly, we’ll look at complexity from the injured claimant’s perspective. And finally at “control” issues surrounding complexity: in other words, who has the power to make things simple or not? There are lots of ways a personal injury claim can become complicated. Allegations of contributory negligence - that you were partly to blame for your injuries. Where it appears Continue Reading
Rehabilitation in Personal Injury Claims
Personal injury compensation claims are about money. The purpose of the process is to put you, the injured person, back in the same position you would have been in if the accident had not happened. At least, as far as that is possible through money alone. We know from research that, in many cases, rehabilitation can help injured people recover more quickly, improve their quality of life and get them back to work more quickly. This means that rehabilitation can be a key factor in getting an injured person back to the state they would have been in were it not for the accident. Where rehabilitation has to be paid for, the cost can generally be recovered as part of your compensation, provided it is reasonable. When is rehabilitation appropriate? It can be helpful in relation to both physical and psychological injuries. If you have a whiplash injury, you may benefit from a course of physiotherapy. In more serious cases, for example, involving loss of a limb, rehabilitation may include the Continue Reading
What are the downsides of QOCS for Scottish personal injury claimants?
We've talked about Qualified One-Way Costs Shifting (QOCS) before now because it is an important topic. In Scotland, the "normal rule" whereby an unsuccessful claimant for personal injury compensation will no longer have to pay court costs / expenses if the claim fails will have various exceptions. In these situations, the claimant will lose QOCS protection and have to pay the costs of their opponent. The claimant will only be liable for their opponent's expenses in Scotland where they have: made a fraudulent representation or "otherwise acted fraudulently" in connection with the claim or proceedings;behaved in a manner which is "manifestly unreasonable" in connection with the claim or proceedings; orconducted the proceedings in a manner considered by the court to be an abuse of process. We have waited three years for the QOCS regulations to come in. They were enacted from 30 June 2021. In many respects, the regulations mirror those already in force in England and Continue Reading