Tuesday, April 25th, 2017
Cumming v SSE Plc
In the first appeal on the issue of sanction for counsel in the Sheriff Court since the raising of the privative jurisdiction of the Sheriff Court to £100,000 in September 2015, the Sheriff Appeal Court have refused an appeal against the decision of the Sheriff at first instance granting the pursuer’s motion to certify the cause as suitable for the employment of counsel.
In the claim, which was raised in the All-Scotland Personal Injury Court in Edinburgh, the pursuer sought damages for pleural plaques. Following settlement of the case, the defenders opposed the pursuer’s motion to certify the cause as suitable for the employment of counsel in terms of section 108 of the Courts Reform (Scotland) Act 2014. The Sheriff granted the pursuer’s motion, holding that the cause met both of the statutory tests of difficulty/complexity and the importance of the claim. The defenders appealed that decision arguing that the Sheriff’s decision had been plainly wrong. The Sheriff Appeal Court agreed with the Sheriff’s views on both difficulty/complexity and the importance of the claim and held that there was no basis upon which the Sheriff’s decision could be criticised. The Court recognised that the appeal raised a point of general importance given the new and extended privative limit of the Sheriff Court and, commenting on the wording of section 108, observed that "it may simply be emphasis signifying the intention that counsel would play a real and meaningful role in the work of the sheriff court in its new and expanded jurisdiction".
Calum Wilson was Counsel for the pursuer at both first instance and on appeal and Malcolm McGregor was Counsel for the defenders in the appeal, both of Compass Chambers. A copy of the Opinion can be found here.