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18 July 2019 / Richard Samuel
Issue: 7849 / Categories: Features , Procedure & practice , Damages
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Reflective loss reconsidered (Pt 2)

In a special two-part series Richard Samuel considers Lord Millett’s taste for Marmite: two policy needs & a single response

  • In the second of a two-part series, Richard Samuel explores the reasoning of Lord Millett in Johnson v Gore Wood and Waddington v Thomas which supports the view that the rule on reflective loss is to be applied strictly...
  • … and explores how a third policy requirement behind the rule might be better achieved if the rule is applied flexibly on the facts of each case.

In Part 1, readers were introduced to an alternative reading of Johnson v Gore Wood & Co [2002] 2 AC 1, in which the rule against reflective loss is properly to be seen as a flexible rule of procedure rather than an inflexible rule of law (see NLJ, 5 July 2019, p17).

Readers also tasted the fruits of Lord Millett’s speech in Waddington Ltd v Thomas [2009] 2 BCLC 82, recording how the courts developed flexible procedural rules permitting a shareholder to bring a derivative action (Wallersteiner v Moir (No

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MOVERS & SHAKERS

Jurit LLP—Caroline Williams

Jurit LLP—Caroline Williams

Private wealth and tax team welcomes cross-border specialist as consultant

Freeths—Michelle Kirkland Elias

Freeths—Michelle Kirkland Elias

International hospitality and leisure specialist joins corporate team as partner

Flint Bishop—Deborah Niven

Flint Bishop—Deborah Niven

Firm appoints head of intellectual property to drive northern growth

NEWS
Talk of a reserved ‘Welsh seat’ on the Supreme Court is misplaced. In NLJ this week, Professor Graham Zellick KC explains that the Constitutional Reform Act treats ‘England and Wales’ as one jurisdiction, with no statutory Welsh slot
The government’s plan to curb jury trials has sparked ‘jury furore’. Writing in NLJ this week, David Locke, partner at Hill Dickinson, says the rationale is ‘grossly inadequate’
A year after the $1.5bn Bybit heist, crypto fraud is booming—but so is recovery. Writing in NLJ this week, Neil Holloway, founder and CEO of M2 Recovery, warns that scams hit at least $14bn in 2025, fuelled by ‘pig butchering’ cons and AI deepfakes
After Woodcock confirmed no general duty to warn, debate turns to the criminal law. Writing in NLJ this week, Charles Davey of The Barrister Group urges revival of misprision or a modern equivalent
Family courts are tightening control of expert evidence. Writing in NLJ this week, Dr Chris Pamplin says there is ‘no automatic right’ to call experts; attendance must be ‘necessary in the interests of justice’ under FPR Pt 25
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