Symes v St George's Healthcare NHS Trust

Symes v St George's Healthcare NHS Trust

A defendant is not precluded from contesting causation of particular heads of loss at the assessment of damages stage following a default judgment on liability in a negligence claim, provided the defendant does not dispute that some damage was caused by the negligence. The default judgment does not establish that all the damage alleged by the claimant was caused by the defendant’s negligence. The defendant’s conduct in this case was not contrary to the Civil Procedure Rules or the Overriding Objective.

Parties
Claimant/respondent: Timothy Symes; Defendant/appellant: St George’s Healthcare NHS Trust
Jurisdiction
England and Wales
Judgment Date
23 July 2014
Procedural Posture
Clinical Negligence / Appeal From Order on Default Judgment and Directions
Outcome
Appeal allowed
Legal Topics
Default Judgment, Causation in Negligence, Assessment of Damages, Case Management, Civil Procedure Rules
Tort Law Civil Procedure Default Judgment Causation in Negligence Assessment of Damages Case Management Civil Procedure Rules

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Parties

Timothy Symes

Claimant/respondent

St George’s Healthcare NHS Trust

Defendant/appellant

Procedural Posture

Clinical Negligence / Appeal From Order on Default Judgment and Directions

Legal Issues

  1. 1 Whether a defendant is precluded from contesting causation at the assessment of damages stage after a default judgment on liability in a clinical negligence claim
  2. 2 Whether the defendant's conduct was contrary to the Civil Procedure Rules and the Overriding Objective

Ratio Decidendi

A defendant is not precluded from contesting causation of particular heads of loss at the assessment of damages stage following a default judgment on liability in a negligence claim, provided the defendant does not dispute that some damage was caused by the negligence. The default judgment does not establish that all the damage alleged by the claimant was caused by the defendant’s negligence. The defendant’s conduct in this case was not contrary to the Civil Procedure Rules or the Overriding Objective.

Court Disposition

Appeal allowed

Orders

  • The Defendant is not precluded from advancing the causation arguments set out in the Defendant’s Counter-Schedule.