Lawford Kidd's Blog

The Institution of Occupational Safety and Health (IOSH) has suggested that tougher sentences should be imposed upon those who breach health and safety laws across the UK.

IOSH's belief is that harsher sentences, which would reflect both culpability and disapproval within society, may improve health and safety standards and remedy defects, but may also deter future offending.

New compensation rules are now in place that will enable asbestos-related cancer sufferers to receive up to £54,000.

Under new rules for the Government’s Diffuse Mesothelioma Payment Scheme, compensation will rise to match 100% of average civil claims, up from the current 80% – which could mean an increase of up to £54,000 a person.

Diffuse mesothelioma is a cancer of the lining of internal organs, such as the lungs, and almost always arises from exposure to asbestos. It takes a long time to develop - typically 15 to 40 years – but life expectancy from diagnosis is only between eight and nine months on average.

The Scottish Government has recently published details of its plans to introduce legislation that it says will create a more accessible, affordable and equitable civil justice system for Scotland.

The proposals, which the Government is now consulting on, contain primary legislation on the expenses and funding of civil litigation. In particular, the Government is seeking views on its plans to:

• Introduce a capping mechanism for speculative fee agreements;
• Allow damages based agreements to be offered to clients by solicitors in Scotland and to be capped to the same extent as speculative fee agreements;
• Introduce a system of qualified one-way costs shifting in personal injury cases;
• Introduce technical powers to enable the Scottish Civil Justice Council to implement some aspects of the Sheriff Principal Taylor’s review;
• To make provision for legal aid in relation to “funder of last resort” (which will ensure that legal aid is targeted at those who need it most) and the availability of legal aid for legal persons in certain circumstances.

It also seeks views on:

Now that the virtual dust has settled from Black Friday and Cyber Monday and the feelings of buyer’s remorse are beginning to take hold while our orders are steadily processed, it is perhaps prudent to examine the process of online sales and exactly what our online purchasing rights are in relation to them.

UK citizens are among the biggest online shoppers, with an estimated £810m spent online by British shoppers on Friday, according to internet retail experts IMRG. The results showed that 59.8% of all UK web traffic on Black Friday came from mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets. The figures also show that the UK experienced a record year for the two days, with online sales increasing by 91% on Black Friday and 22% on Cyber Monday compared with last year. Interestingly, IMB analytics found that over half of the UK's entire online traffic on Black Friday came from mobile devices, meaning that shoppers were committing to record amounts of sales on small, difficult to read in detail, mobile platforms.

Where did this commercial phenomenon come from?

More than £15 million has been paid out so far in the first seven months of a new compensation scheme for victims of diffuse mesothelioma.

However, the Department for Work and Pensions says there are hundreds more victims who may be eligible for compensation and is calling for them to come forward, estimating that £32 million could be paid out by the end of March 2015.

Diffuse mesothelioma is a cancer of the lining of internal organs, such as the lungs, and almost always arises from exposure to asbestos. Life expectancy from diagnosis is eight to nine months on average.