Witness statements and expert reports submitted to court in civil cases may need to be accompanied by declarations that they are not generated with the help of AI, according to new rules proposed by the Civil Justice Council. Requiring 'enhanced statements of truth' is among the proposals floated by the council's consulttation on the use of AI for preparing court documents. In an interim report published this month , the council's AI working group examines the need for rules

It comes after a test case involving an 11 year old child, whose family sued Sheffield Teaching Hospitals. Children can receive damages for the years of their life that will be lost because of medical negligence, the Supreme Court has ruled, overturning a more than 40-year-old legal ruling. The UK's highest court found on Wednesday that a 1981 Court of Appeal judgment, which stated children cannot receive damages despite adults and teenagers being allowed to do so under the l

A judge has given an excoriating assessment of experts instructed in a personal injury case which was described as having failed ‘by a long way’. His Honour Judge Gallagher, sitting at Canterbury County Court in Clark v Skyfire Insurance Company Limited , said the claimant had ‘not come within a country mile’ of establishing her claim. The judge did not suggest that claimant had been fundamentally dishonest, but instead blamed two experts instructed to prove her case as well

In 2025, Stewart House received 2% of it’s work in relation to Accident and Emergency negligence. Sepsis was the largest occurrence closely followed by misdiagnosed fractures. Interestingly, delayed diagnosis of a stroke is one of the fewest types of cases we have been asked to provide evidence on. Lets take a look at the two highest ranking areas of negligence that we have been asked to report on: SEPSIS In a joint study between Negligence Claimline and Stewart House

The number of law firms in England and Wales has dropped below 9,000 for the first time in recent history amid continuing consolidation, a long-running regular market study has revealed. However the consolidation came amid continued growth in the market for legal services, which rose by 6.1% in 2025 at current prices. According to the 16th edition of the UK Legal Services Market Trends Report, published by IRN Legal Reports, turnover of all businesses engaged in legal activit

MPs have told the government that it cannot wait any longer to address the issues of legal costs and damages costing the NHS millions every year. In a wide-ranging report published today, the Public Accounts Committee states that a failure to tackle the underlying causes of harm to patients was a key factor behind the government’s liability for clinical negligence quadrupling in the last 20 years to £60bn. But it also highlights ways in which savings can be made in claimant

cross-party parliamentary watchdog has warned that spiralling legal costs and systemic failures in how patient harm is addressed are compounding the NHS’s clinical negligence crisis. It urged the government to set out concrete plans — with deadlines — to tackle these problems. In a new report , the House of Commons Public Accounts Committee (PAC) said the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) could not demonstrate that it had taken “any meaningful action” to address cl

Ambulance-chasing lawyers were paid half a billion pounds from NHS budgets last year as clinical negligence claims spiralled out of control, a damning report by MPs reveals. Legal teams typically pocketed almost four-times more in fees than harmed patients received in compensation, the Commons Public Accounts Committee said. Costs in clinical negligence claims have risen sharply in recent years, with claimant legal fees more than tripling in real terms from £148 million in 2

A mum is taking legal action against the NHS after spending six years undergoing gruelling chemotherapy she didn’t need. Samantha Smith, 45, was diagnosed with a brain tumour and told she needed surgery, radiotherapy and long-term chemo under the care of University Hospital Coventry. Despite guidelines saying patients should receive just six months of the drug, Samantha was kept on it for six-and-a-half years. On the advice of her consultant oncologist, Professor Ian Brown, s

The number of RTA personal injury claims has fallen dramatically in the past year to continue the trend of a long-term decline. Figures obtained by the claimant-facing Association of Consumer Support Organisations (ACSO) following a freedom of information request show that motor injury claims in the fourth quarter of 2025 fell by 24% to 63,833. This was comfortably the lowest quarterly figures on record. On an annual basis, motor claims reduced by 14% to 282,428 while the tot

Bosses at a scandal-hit NHS “super hospital” have admitted that its water system probably caused infections in child cancer patients. Two children died and at least 84 fell ill with infections while being treated at the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital campus in Glasgow. For several years, officials at QEUH have denied any link between the hospital’s water supply and infections in patients . But NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde, the health board overseeing the hospital, has

NHS doctors operated on the wrong body part of nearly 100 patients during a six-month period last year, it has been revealed. They were among 237 catastrophic mistakes – known as ‘never events’ – admitted by hospitals from April to September. One man who walked in for a chat with his consultant was given an internal bladder examination called a cystoscopy – where a camera is inserted into the tube which carries urine out of the body. It was only when a man of the same name a

The continued push for fixed costs has resulted in more deductions from clients’ damages and raises questions about whether justice is being achieved, according to the Association of Costs Lawyers (ACL). Further, the process introduced as part of the extension of fixed recoverable costs (FRC) in October 2023 to resolve disputes about the level of those costs has proven “entirely inadequate”. Responding to the Civil Procedure Rule Committee’s FRC interim implementation stockta

The team at Stewart House have been busy writing an article regarding the cases received in relation to claims involving A&E departments. Please take a look at it here:

Reforms to personal injury whiplash claims introduced under the previous government have resulted in significant consequences for access to justice and claimant compensation, the Law Society said today. Responding to the Ministry of Justice’s call for evidence as part of its post-implementation review of the changes, the Society said it is concerned that the reforms: Have not enabled claimants to pursue claims independently. An unexpectedly high number (89%) of claimants have

A former Premier League footballer has successfully challenged a leading surgeon in the High Court, claiming an "unnecessary procedure" prematurely ended his career. Sylvan Ebanks-Blake, 39, sustained a broken left leg in April 2013. The Wolverhampton Wanderers striker was injured during a match against Birmingham City. During the subsequent operation to repair the injury, Professor James Calder, the surgeon, reportedly cleaned out the joint and removed cartilage. Mr Ebanks-B

A government taskforce scrutinising motor premiums has largely opted to leave the market alone – despite lobbying from the insurance industry. The taskforce, made up of the transport, business, justice and treasury departments, was formed just over a year ago to consider how to stabilise and reduce insurance premiums. A supporting cast of stakeholders included consumer groups and motor and insurance representative bodies, but notably no claimant lawyers. The taskforce publish

A recent High Court decision highlights the critical importance of expert witnesses in clinical negligence cases having a sound understanding of the “Bolam” test. While the test is not strictly determinative, a lack of familiarity can significantly undermine the credibility of their evidence. 1. What is this new pilot scheme? In Tarrant v Monkhouse [2025] EWHC 2576 (KB) the claimant brought a negligence claim following complications from bariatric surgery. Shortly before tri

A musician tragically died from a traumatic brain injury after a fall in hospital following a 30-hour A&E wait, an inquest has heard. An inquest in Truro heard yesterday that Luke Raggatt's girlfriend pleaded with medical staff at the NHS Royal Cornwall Hospital in Treliske for a brain scan following the fall in October last year, but was told it wasn't necessary. Speaking before the inquest, an emergency department consultant described not prescribing medication to preven

A solicitor was “quite wrong” to advise his personal injury client to make a covert recording of testing undertaken by their opponent’s medical expert, the High Court has ruled. This was particularly the case as the parties had agreed not to record each side’s testing, which the solicitor said he had forgotten. His Honour Judge Shanks, sitting as a High Court judge, was ruling on an application in a £3.25m claim by a passenger in a road traffic accident. There was no issue t