Terence Connelly suffered a serious injury to his arm. He fell while playing tennis on a carpeted court at a leisure centre in Renfrew. One of his feet got stuck in the surface and he fell heavily. It appears that he had on the wrong kind of tennis shoes. It turned out there was a special type of shoes he should have been wearing, though he did not know that at the time. Mr Connelly made a personal injury claim against the leisure centre. He pointed to the fact that, following the accident, signs were put up at the centre stating: “Non-marking smooth-soled tennis shoes on carpet courts”. His action was unsuccessful in the Sheriff Court before first the Sheriff and then on appeal to the Sheriff Principal. He further appealed to the Court of Session but that appeal also failed. He conducted all three hearings in the case himself. In essence, the claim was unsuccessful because the various judges did not feel able to say that, on the available evidence at the date of the Continue Reading
Your future accident at work claim at risk
In a press release on 13 November 2012, the Association of Personal Injury Lawyers has highlighted a proposed change to Health and Safety at Work that threatens to return Scotland to Victorian times. The amendment of Section 47 of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 would alter laws that have been in place since the end of the 19th century. As the law stands, if a worker is injured and he or she can show the employer is in breach of health and safety regulations, there is a right to claim compensation. The proposed changes will mean an injured person would no longer be able to rely on this right but would have to start from square one and prove that negligence had occurred. It seems inevitable that this change will mean employers’ liability cases becoming more complex - and so more expensive to run. Many legitimate claims could be denied redress in future, leaving people injured at work having to rely on their families and the State to support them rather than the insurers of Continue Reading
Negative comments about lawyers in songs
Here’s an example from the first verse of “Nothin' But A Woman” by The Robert Cray Band. You can give me an hour alone in a bank Pay all my tickets, wipe the slate blank You could buy me a car, fill up the tank Tell me a boat full of lawyers just sank But it ain't nothin' but a woman Nothin' but a woman, no, no Don't need nothin' but a woman Any time I'm feelin' low Do you have any others we could add to our playlist? Continue Reading
When a court action may not be necessary in order to win your claim …
It can often be a frustrating game for consumers with possible claims against large organisations or corporations. If liability is denied by the company (or if they don’t even engage in negotiations) you generally face the prospect of having to raise a court action to press your claim. Expenses or costs tend to follow success in court actions so, even where you have what seems to be a strong claim, the economic imbalance between the parties can make the prospect of a court action quite daunting for you as the consumer: if you lose, you may have a large bill to pay. Canadian Musician, Dave Carroll, found a perfect way round this problem when United Airlines allegedly caused significant damage to his expensive guitar at Chicago Airport. He wrote and recorded a song and uploaded the video to YouTube. This reportedly knocked around $180 million off the share value of the company in the aftermath of its release. We don’t suggest you try this if you want to complain about Continue Reading