This blog is co-authored by Boitumelo Phillips, a candidate attorney.
In November 2025, the High Court dismissed a claim for damages against a landowner after a child was injured by a caterpillar machine operating on the property. The court found that mere ownership of land does not automatically impose a duty to prevent such incidents
When tendering a letter of undertaking (LOU) to an arresting party, a P&I Club cannot lawfully include terms that could cause the undertaking to expire according to the Australian Federal Court.
In the case of the “Yangze 22”, the court refused to release a vessel from arrest because the P&I Club’s LOU included
This blog is co-authored by Daniel Kariithi, a candidate attorney.
In February 2025, the Eastern Cape High Court reaffirmed that any party seeking to develop the common law must clearly state their case and provide supporting evidence.
The dispute before the court concerned the quantum for future care and medical expenses for the claimant’s son
In May 2025, the English High Court held that business interruption cover under an infectious diseases extension does not include Covid-19 where the policy defines “disease” as a closed list of specified illnesses not specifically including Covid-19.
The claimants owned and operated various commercial businesses comprising hotel accommodation, spa facilities and restaurants. The claimants (as
In South Africa it is possible to arrest any property (not only marine property) to obtain security for a claim that the arresting party is pursuing, or will pursue, in another forum or jurisdiction. To obtain such an arrest, the applicant must show that its need for security is genuine and reasonable.
In a June
This blog is co-authored by Yuveshen Naidoo, candidate attorney.
In November 2025, the High Court in Mahikeng held the local municipality liable for injuries suffered by a claimant who fell into an uncovered stormwater drain. This decision demonstrates how damages are assessed when liability is not in dispute.
The incident occurred when the claimant stepped
In November 2025, the High Court considered a claim arising from a birth injury. The defendant Member of the Executive Council for Health had been held liable for all agreed or proven damages. Although the matter was trial‑ready by January 2024, the damages hearing was set for 17 August 2027, creating a lengthy gap. The court granted
In November 2025, the Ontario Superior Court of Justic found that an alleged trip and fall incident at a restaurant and inn where a wedding was being hosted did not cover liability to a photographer who fell as a result of pre-existing defects on a ramp/pathway over which the principal named insured had no control
In November 2025, a United States appellate court found that a pre-existing condition exclusion in a disability insurance policy did not apply in circumstances where the insured had received treatment during the policy’s “look-back period” for generic symptoms which was only later diagnosed. The decision turned on the meaning, in the context, of the word
A September 2025 decision from the federal court in New Mexico confirmed that the effect of a standard policy exclusion that excluded loss caused by vandalism if the building had been vacant for more than 60 consecutive days turned on the presence of sufficient personal property to conduct the insured’s customary operations, rather than on