Reform coming

The recently established Personal Injuries Commission is set to publish its second report later in 2018, benchmarking personal injury claims in Ireland with other similar jurisdictions. Writing in the Gazette, David Mulligan argues that the current political and media climate makes reduced awards for ‘pain and suffering’ inevitable.

Developments down under

Australian jurisdictions enacted similar reforms in the early 2000s. While each Australian state enacted these reforms differently, each legislature sought to reduce the number, value, and legal cost of personal injury claims, restricting judicial discretion in awarding damages for pain and suffering. In response, writes Mulligan (an Irish qualified solicitor and senior associate with Turner Freeman Lawyers in Brisbane), judges widened their discretion regarding other heads of damages, particularly future economic loss.

Future economic loss

Irish courts are receptive to claims for future economic loss, but some recent cases show that substantial awards of this kind will not be considered without convincing evidence to assist the court in its decision-making process. The Australian experience shows the benefits to a plaintiff of gathering additional evidence (beyond the usual medical reports) when an award for future economic loss is sought.

Writing in the Gazette, Mulligan explores recent cases where Irish and Australian courts have considered future economic loss, and provides practical information for solicitors seeking to gather effective evidence.

• Read the full article in the March 2018 Gazette

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