Product Description

Since its first publication, Accidents, Compensation and the Law has been recognised as the leading treatment of the law of personal injuries compensation and the social, political and economic issues surrounding it. The seventh edition of this classic work explores recent momentous changes in personal injury law and practice and puts them into broad perspective. Most significantly, it examines developments affecting the financing and conduct of personal injury claiming: the abolition of legal aid for most personal injury claims; the increasing use of conditional fee agreements and after-the-event insurance; the meteoric rise and impending regulation of the claims management industry. Complaints that Britain is a 'compensation culture' suffering an 'insurance crisis' are investigated. New statistics on tort claims are discussed, providing fresh insights into the evolution of the tort system which, despite recent reforms, remains deeply flawed and ripe for radical reform.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #217378 in Books
• Published on: 2006-10-26
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 550 pages

Review
'… providing a thought-provoking and accessible account. … Written by a common law lawyer, Peter Cane, Atiyah's Accidents, Compensation and the Law builds on its impressive previous additions. It is extremely well-written and provides an excellent balance between theoretical considerations and practical implications of personal injury law. … well researched … well priced and exceptionally researched meaning an academic can save a considerable amount of research time.' Student Law Journal

About the Author
Peter Cane has been Professor of Law in the Research School of Social Sciences at the Australian National University since 1997. For twenty years previously he taught law at Corpus Christi College, Oxford. His main research interests are in the law of obligations, especially tort law; public law, especially administrative law; and legal theory. Recent publications include Responsibility in Law and Morality (2002) and The Oxford Handbook of Legal Studies (edited with Mark Tushnet) (2003).

Patrick Atiyah is one of the leading common lawyers of his generation. Until his early retirement in 1988 he was Professor of English Law at Oxford University. His published writings range widely over topics in tort law, contract law, legal history and legal theory; and include The Sale of Goods (11th edition with J. N. Harpers and H. L. McQueen, 2005), The Rise and Fall of Freedom of Contract (1985) and The Damages Lottery (1997).

Customer Reviews

"A must" for any aspiring personal injury lawyers
In many respects Peter Cane's edition of Atiyah's Accidents, Compensation and the Law is "a must" for any aspiring personal injury lawyers in England and Wales.

Its value lies not it its undoubted academic content, but moreso in the way that it allows the personal injury lawyer, obsessed with case law, legislation and day to day practicalities, to "take a step back" to look at the broader picture of compensation (from whatever source) for the victims of accident or disease.

Professor Cane's common theme throughout the book is the unfairness of the tort system. Why do such a small percentage of the injured (6.5% according to the Pearson Commission in 1978) get compensation as they can find someone liable in negligence when so many others must rely on relatively low levels of social security benefits?

The proposal is the adoption of a more egalitarian system of "no-fault" compensation, such as exists in New Zealand. This would compensate more people (at a lower level) and would be far cheaper to administer.

As Professor Cane notes, there are vested interests in our current system who would oppose such a move (at times it reads more like a Stephen King novel to lawyers!) and drawbacks to a "no-fault" scheme.

My criticism is lack of analysis of these drawbacks. In particular Professor Cane only briefly mentions the very serious problem of fraud in the UK's social security system.

The other problem is reliance upon old data, in particular from the Pearson Commission, which is now nearly 30 years old. Is the 6.5% recovery rate still realistic in today's more "sophisticated" consumer climate of widespread media accident-claim advertising etc.?

This is, nonetheless, a highly recommended book that provides plenty of "food for thought" in considering the ways that victims of accident and disease receive compensation.

John Kilmister, Solicitor and member of The Law Society's Personal Injury Panel.

More Public Policy than Practicing Lawyer Utility
...I doubt that the personal injury lawyer will find the book particularly valuable compared with its utility for students of public administration or political science since it focuses primarily on issues of public policy. One minor caveat, a larger book with less crowded print would make it more user friendly.