Case Law
This page contains court judgments and other documents relating to legal cases that either have considered the risks from falling trees or have a significant bearing on the way in which those risks might be considered.
Bowen & Others v The National Trust
This is a case heard in the High Court, which involved a large branch from a mature beech tree failing, during windy weather, onto a party of children. One child died and three others suffered fractures and serious injuries.
This case is of particular interest for QTRA users because the Defendant's tree expert, Dr David Lonsdale, carried out a retrospective risk assessment using the QTRA method, which is set out in his report (6). The Claimant's tree expert witness, Julian Forbes-Laird, produced a supplementary report on QTRA (8) with the very particular purpose of criticising the QTRA method. In response, David Lonsdale, produced a supplementary report (9) to address the issues raised by Julian Forbes-Laird.
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Atkins v Scott
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Corker v Wilson
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Poll v Bartholomew
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1. Poll v Viscount Asquith of Morley (Bartholomew) - Judgment(11/05/2006) |
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2. Poll v Viscount Asquith of Morley (Bartholomew) - Defence's expert (Dr Dealga O'Callaghan) Report |
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3. Poll v Viscount Asquith of Morley (Bartholomew) - Claimant's Expert (Jeremy Barrell) Report |
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4. Poll v Viscount Asquith of Morley (Bartholomew) - First Joint Statement |
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5. Poll v Viscount Asquith of Morley (Bartholomew) - Answers to Questions (second joint statement) This document is the experts' response to questions asked by the parties in the case. |
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6. Poll v Viscount Asquith of Morley (Bartholomew) - Trial transcripts part 1 |
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7. Poll v Viscount Asquith of Morley (Bartholomew) - Trial Transcripts part 2 |
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8. Poll v Viscount Asquith of Morley (Bartholomew) - Trial transcripts part 3 |
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9. Poll v Viscount Asquith of Morley (Bartholomew) - Letter to the Arboricultural Association Newsle This letter from Mike Ellison, David Evans and Glyn Thomas questions the use of QTRA method and its presentation in the second joint statement. The letter also questions the application of the Matheny and Clark tree hazard evaluation method by the arboricultural expert witness Jeremy Barrell and arboricultural expert witness Dr Dealga O'Callaghan in which they present one of their outputs as 'high risk' when by their own measure, the risk that they had calculated was 'medium'. |
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10. Poll v Viscount Asquith of Morley (Bartholomew) - Letter to the Editor of the Arboricultural Ass From David Evans, The Arbor Centre, Bath, United Kingdom in response to a letter from expert Dr. D. P. O'Callaghan, which was agreed by expert Jeremy Barrell, published in Newsletter No. 140 and commented on the case of Poll v Bartholomew in relation to an earlier letter submitted to the Newsletter by Mike Ellison of Quantified Tree Risk Assessment Limited. |
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Jones v Kaney
The UK Supreme Court rules has ruled that expert witness immunity should be removed. Download the full judgement here and for a summary of the case and it's implications for expert witnesses go to http://www.thelawyer.com/supreme-court-rules-that-expert-witness-immunity-should-be-removed/1007482.article.
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Goode v Burnside Judgment |
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What is Tree Failure Risk Assessment
A short paper delivered by Mike Ellison at the 2007 TreeNet Symposium in Adelaide, South Australia.
This paper includes a response to the comments of Commissioner Hodgson in the South Australia Land Court Judgment in the case of Goode v City of Burnside Judgment.
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