Product liability conversations podcast series

In the first episode of Simmons and Simmons' podcast series on Product Liability, partners Jacques-Antoine Robert from the Paris office and David Kidman from the London office delve into the complex definition of anxiety damage. They provide a comparative analysis of how anxiety damage is approached in the UK and France, particularly in the context of product liability.

In the second episode of our podcast series on Product Liability, partners Jacques-Antoine Robert and David Kidman explore the intriguing question of whether anxiety damage can be indemnified as a singular claim. They navigate through the contrasting landscapes of UK and French law, revealing a flexible French approach that recognises anxiety damage even without physical injury, and a more rigid UK stance that requires a recognised psychiatric disorder.

In the third episode of our podcast series on Product Liability, Jacques-Antoine Robert and David Kidman tackle the complex issue of valuing anxiety damage and its 'cascading effect' on family members. They navigate the contrasting legal landscapes of the UK and France, revealing a UK approach that follows strict brackets for valuing damages, and a French approach that has awarded lump sum payments to large groups of claimants, including secondary victims.

In the fourth episode of our podcast series on Product Liability, Jacques-Antoine Robert and David Kidman delve into the implications of the new Product Liability Directive for anxiety damage claims. They navigate the potential changes this Directive could bring, from providing a framework for judges in France to decide on indemnifications, to possibly opening the door for more claims in the UK.

In the fifth episode of our podcast series on Product Liability, Jacques-Antoine Robert and David Kidman delve into the complexities of anxiety damage within the context of class actions and discuss cases of law in different sectors. They navigate the contrasting landscapes of the UK, where claimants have generally struggled with product liability group litigation, and France, where class actions can be initiated by patient organisations and where claimants were sometimes compensated for both physical injury and anxiety damage.

In the final episode of our podcast series on Product Liability and anxiety damage, Jacques-Antoine Robert and David Kidman navigate the complexities of anxiety damage claims in civil and criminal courts in the UK and France. They discuss the distinct processes in the UK, where civil and criminal courts operate separately, and the unique situation in France, where civil damages can be awarded by criminal judges.