Gary Matthews Solicitors

Decision to award some €83,000 in damages to a woman over an accident at a Dublin store in 2013 is upheld

Dunnes Stores has lost an appeal against an €83,000 award of damages to a woman who slipped and fell in one of its stores.

The High Court had made the award to 60-year-old Doris Whelan who sued for injuries she claims she suffered after a fall on June 27th, 2013, at the chain’s outlet at the Ashleaf Shopping Centre in Walkinstown, Dublin 12.

In a judgment delivered on Wednesday, Mr Justice Seamus Noonan dismissed the retail chain’s appeal in its entirety.

To read the full story please visit:
https://www.irishtimes.com/crime-law/courts/2022/06/15/court-dimisses-dunnes-stores-appeal-over-slip-and-fall-payout/

The Government and the Personal Injuries Assessment Board (PIAB) have welcomed a High Court judgment that rejected a legal challenge to the Personal Injuries Guidelines.

The case was taken by Bridget Delaney, who was awarded €3,000 by PIAB for injuries sustained after a fall in Dungarvan, Co Waterford in 2019.

She had been advised that, based on the Book of Quantum, her injuries would attract general damages of €18,000 to €34,000.

The reduction in the value of her claim was due to the fact that the new guidelines, rather than the Book of Quantum, applied.

To read the full story please visit:
https://www.lawsociety.ie/gazette/top-stories/2022/high-court-rejects-challenge-to-pi-guidelines

Nearly 300 barristers have signed a letter to the justice minister, Helen McEntee, calling for an urgent review of “unsustainable” and “uneconomic” fees for criminal work in the District Court.

The petition seeks the “immediate full and long overdue unwinding of cuts to rates of pay for criminal legal aid services”, as well as direct payments to barristers rather than payments being made through solicitors.

“The rule of law and the due administration of justice benefit from people of all ages and with different experiences and backgrounds becoming barristers and working in criminal law,” the letter states.

“Now it is evident that only those with independent resources can survive in the profession. This is enormously damaging to the profession and to society.

“The fact that only well-resourced barristers can survive must have a corrosive effect on society in any democracy. The State by its inaction condones this undesirable development.”

To read the full story please visit:
https://www.irishlegal.com/articles/nearly-300-barristers-petition-justice-minister-over-unsustainable-district-court-fees