The Russell Decision: the “Real Rate of Return” case

The Court of Appeal recently upheld the decision of the High Court in Gill Russell (a minor) v HSE, to reduce the real rate of return from the traditional 3% (the “Reddy v Bates deduction”) to a rate of return of between 1% and 1.5%. This important decision means that lump sum awards in favour of persons with catastrophic or long-term injuries will be significantly higher in the future.