Refusal to renew personal injury summons on behalf of widow would cause ‘extreme prejudice’

Renewal of personal injuries summons sought – summons of August 2022 expired in August 2023 without being served - Order 8, rule 1(4) – workplace death of Plaintiff’s husband - claim brought by wife - incident - December 2019 – February 2020 Solicitor instructed but not at that time instructed to commence personal injury proceedings – investigation into incident occurred in 2021 – DPP decide not to prosecute in 2021 – employment file sought – inquest occurs in 2021 – in February 2022 PIAB authority to commence proceedings issued – August 2022 summons issues - delays in service because of the Plaintiff widow’s concern about family re-living grief – May 2022 instructions received from the Plaintiff widow to pursue the proceedings – firm instructions were not received until June 2022 - July 2023 formal letter of claim completed and further instructions received - August 2023 administrative error in Solicitor’s office - personal Injury summons not served within the 12 month period - application for renewal of summon brought – Court finds that the omission in serving the summons was quickly recognised and acted upon - inadvertent omission - Solicitor in charge was on holidays - “irreparable prejudice” claimed - claimed that the period of non-service was “marginal” – Plaintiff says met special circumstances threshold – Court finds that inadvertent nature of the omission is coupled with extreme prejudice - relatively slight period before the application - meets threshold of special circumstances - justification for renewal that accord with justice - renewal of the summons undoubtedly causes some degree of prejudice to the County Council Defendant because it will be sued on an action that would otherwise be statute-barred – Court found that a greater injustice would be done by not acceding to the application – summons renewed.