Members of the travel teams regularly undertake cases where issues of jurisdiction and conflict of laws arise.
We frequently act in claims pursued in the courts of England and Wales which are determined under foreign law. Members of our Travel team have been involved before the Court of Justice of the European Union in Homawoo v GMF Assurances SA (C-412/10), which decided the temporal scope of the Rome II regulation, and Hoteles Pinero Canarias SL v Keefe [2013] EWHC 4279 (QB), and currently on appeal, a leading case on jurisdiction over foreign-domiciled tortfeasors. We also have particular expertise in the evolving area of claims where quantum is assessed by reference to foreign law principles, and regularly work with lawyers in other jurisdictions to obtain the best evidence for our clients.
We also have considerable expertise in the developing area of claims against EU Member State public liability insurers, in claims against foreign motor insurers and against the Motor Insurers’ Bureau for overseas road traffic accidents where drivers are untraced or uninsured. Members of the Personal Injury and Travel teams are well placed to advise regarding the complex and often novel issues arising in such claims, and have appeared in leading cases such as Maher v Groupama Grand Est [2009] EWCA Civ 1191, Thwaites v Aviva Assurances [2010] I.L.Pr 47 and Jones v Assurances Générales de France (AGF) SA [2010] I.L.Pr. 4 on the characterisation and scope of such direct rights.
