7KBW has 3 cases listed in The Lawyer’s Top Appeals of 2020.
Manchester Building Society v Grant Thornton LLP. Rebecca Sabben-Clare QC, Benjamin Parkerand Harry Wright, instructed by Squire Patton Boggs partner Anthony Taylor for Manchester Building Society. The case is a two day Supreme Court Appeal in May 2020.
Manchester Building Society is headed to the Supreme Court after it was given permission to appeal a decision in its case against auditor Grant Thornton. The long-running case dates to 2013, when the building society had issues over hedge accounting and was forced to shore up its finances with an emergency £18m capital injection in 2013. It then launched a £49m negligence claim against former auditors Grant Thornton over its advice in relation to hedge accounting in early 2015.
Elicia Henderson v Dorset Healthcare University NHS Foundation Trust. James Goudkamp is instructed by DAC Beachcroft legal director Mark Ashley (led by Angus Moon QC of Serjeants’ Inn Chambers) for the Dorset Healthcare University Foundation Trust. The case is a two day Supreme Court Appeal in May 2020.
Elicia Henderson killed her mother whilst experiencing a serious psychotic episode. She brought negligence claims against the defendant, a Dorset NHS trust, which was dismissed at first instance based on the illegality doctrine. Her appeal from that decision was dismissed by the Court of Appeal in 2018. Henderson brought a £62,000 claim against the Dorset Healthcare University NHS Foundation Trust, arguing that the trust should pay substantial damages for negligence in her care. The appeal judges said that following the mother’s death in 2010, an independent investigation found failings by the NHS trust in Ms Henderson’s care and treatment and that a “serious untoward incident” was foreseeable. The NHS trust accepted liability but argued that the entirety of the claim should be defeated on the illegality or public policy grounds. The Supreme Court will now hear arguments over May.
Municipal Mutual Insurance Company Limited v Equitas Insurance Limited. Alistair Schaff QCand Timothy Kenefick, instructed by Cooley partner Mark Everiss for the Appellant. Keir Howie (led by Colin Edelman QC) instructed by Norton Rose Fulbright partner Jon Ogle for the Respondent. The case is a two day Supreme Court Appeal in July 2020.
This appeal in the Supreme Court concerns the treatment of mesothelioma cancer claims against employers, employer liability insurance and excess of loss reinsurers. In 2015, the Supreme Court held in IEG v Zurich that in cases in which an employer is liable for a mesothelioma claim as a result of having exposed the victim to asbestos over a period of time, the employer is contractually entitled to recover 100 per cent of its loss from any insurer.
The full list of appeals can be found here.
