Nov 30th 2016, 20:57

CALCULATING DAMAGES?
THE LATEST EDITION OF ‘FACTS & FIGURES’ FOR 2016-2017 IS OUT NOW

An appreciation by Phillip Taylor MBE and Elizabeth Taylor of Richmond Green Chambers

At or near the culmination of many a case where quantum is not agreed, the question of damages looms large. How then, do you calculate damages? However extensive and complicated, there must be a set of guidelines somewhere out there – and praise be, there is.

We refer to the latest annual edition of ‘Facts & Figures 2016-17’ published by Sweet & Maxwell Thomson Reuters. The book is subtitled ‘Tables for the Calculation of Damages’, which says it all, really -- except not quite. This volume is in fact a tour de force of research and editing, illuminated by insightful commentary throughout.

As this is the twenty-first edition, the very longevity of this work of reference indicates the esteem in which it is held as the definitive authority on the vexed matter of damages. From 1996 onward, the book has been compiled under the general editorship of Robin de Wilde QC, who currently heads a team of six editors and a dozen additional expert contributors. There’s a wide spectrum of expertise here, conveniently presented in one volume, so as a practitioner, you don’t have to spend time you don’t have looking up multiple sources of reference elsewhere.

For greater ease of use, the book is organised under fourteen groups of tables (from A to M), starting with Ogden Tables and Related Materials… Damages… Interest Rates… Tax and National Insurance… Pension… Benefits, Allowances, Charges… Court of Protection… and so forth, as well as updated tables on motoring costs and carer fee rates. In the final section, you’ll also find lists of websites and useful organisations.

It is useful to note that the book is produced by the Professional Negligence Bar Association. As the publishers, Sweet and Maxwell, have put it, ‘special damages contribute an important part of most personal injury claims’. The aim of this book therefore, is to ‘make the entire calculation process quicker, easier and more accurate.’

‘We attempt to keep up with the changing face of the calculation of damage,’ says de Wilde, ‘whether in the field of personal injuries, or elsewhere. ‘In the calculation of damages,’ he adds, ‘other practitioners in different fields have also found advantage in the use of these tables.’

It is not surprising that this book is referred to and cited in court by the judiciary. If you are a personal injury lawyer, or indeed any practitioner involved with issues relating to damages, can you really do without it?

No -- you can’t -- which is why you should ensure that this up-to-date edition occupies pride of place on your desk, or in your professional library.

The publication date is cited as at 1 August 2016.