EWJ August 62 2025 web - Journal - Page 97
particularly if they choose to follow a career path
where earnings levels are uncertain or highly variable,
such as performing arts. Further, Blamire awards can
be very useful where non-accident-related factors, for
example, a lengthy criminal record, already caused
the injured claimant to suffer some disadvantage on
the labour market and it is not possible to quantify the
value of accident-related factors with any accuracy.
themselves incorporated into the earnings multipliers.
This means that a Smith or Blamire award will not be
made separately in most cases. The adjustment factors
incorporate three criteria: (1) employment status (2)
disability and (3) the highest level of educational attainment. Employment status has a different meaning
in this context to that Employment Law and means
simply whether the injured claimant was in work at
the time of their injury, thus “employed” incorporates
self-employment and those on a government training
scheme. Not employed is anyone not in work at the
time of the accident, including full-time students. Disability is assessed by reference to the DDA 1995 not
section 6 EqA 2010. The claimant must also show that
the impairment limits the kind or amount of paid
work that they can do. Educational attainment is, in
the words of the editors of the current edition of Facts
& Figures, “a proxy for human capital/skill level” and is broken down into three levels, one being the lowest and
three being the highest. Facts & Figures contains a comprehensive but non-exhaustive list of qualifications organised into their respective levels, which is a helpful
point of reference.
Quantification of Blamire awards is even more difficult
than Smith awards, particularly if the Claimant has no
or very limited earnings history to draw upon. The
level of Blamire award will be influenced by the degree
of the disadvantage – the more significant the potential disadvantage, the greater level of damages in the
pleading. In the writer’s experience, the highest value
Blamire award seen in a Schedule of Loss was £50,000
and the lowest value Blamire (albeit wrongly pleaded as
a Smith claim) was £3,000. It is also possible to advance
the claim by reference to a specific period of earnings
e.g. the value of six months wages from the Claimant’s
last role before the index accident.
The Ogden tables and multiplier/multiplicand
approach
This article is only intended to address claims where
the claimant is disabled but has a residual earning
capacity. All other types of claims are beyond the
scope of the article and give rise to entirely different
principles. Where a claimant is disabled, the risks to
the injured claimant who is disadvantaged on the
labour market are inbuilt in the adjustment factors
for contingencies other than mortality which are
To value the claim using the Ogden tables, the
Claimant’s pre-accident earnings must be established.
In traditional salaried employment this is easier, but
self-employment can present real challenges and
obtaining and collating reliable earnings’ information
(such as tax returns and accounts) at an early stage is
vital. The next stage is to work out the Claimant’s
residual earning capacity, this may also be straightfor-
Dr Richard Bateson - Ph.D M.A. Hons (Cantab)
Investment banking, Fund management, Asset management, Cryptocurrencies,
Derivatives, Hedge Funds, Private Credit, Private Equity, Systematic Investing,
AI and alternative data in financial markets expert
Dr Richard Bateson is founder and Chief Executive Officer of is Bateson Asset Management ('BAM'). A boutique investment
management company specialising in quantitative investing. BAM is located in London and regulated by the Financial
Conduct Authority (FCA).
BAM was established late in 2016 to specialise in AI and Machine Learning strategies exploiting alternative data sources.
The company invests in equity, currency and bond markets using cash and derivatives and acts as an advisor and consultant to
funds and managed accounts for professional and institutional investors.
Dr Bateson is the former Head of Man AHL's Dimension fund (approx.
$5bn AUM) and has held senior roles in several major
funds and investment banks including as Managing Director at the Royal Bank of Canada (RBC).
He is an industry expert in AI and alternative data in financial markets, and hosts panels and is an invited speaker at major
conferences in London and Europe. Dr Bateson was a Research Committee member of the Oxford-Man Institute of
quantitative finance at Oxford University.
Dr Bateson is currently Visiting Fellow at the Cavendish Laboratory, Cambridge University and has worked at has worked at
several leading European physics laboratories, including CERN.
He holds a first-class degree and a doctorate in Physics
from Cambridge University.
Since 2017 Dr Bateson has been engaged as an expert witness on legal cases in the UK and US involving AI /systematic trading,
hedge funds, investment banking and financial markets. Notable successful public cases include;
(i) Bridgewater Associates v. Tekmerion (Minicone and Squire) for alleged misappropriation and misuse of proprietary
investment technologies,
(ii) the UKs first major case involving AI/machine learning which featured as one of The Lawyer’s top 20 cases of 2020,
(iii) AlphaSharp Limited v. ADG Capital Management LLP involving hedge fund IP and associated quantum,
(iv) CG v. DL valuation of award-winning hedge fund for divorce settlement in family court.
He is the author of two financial books “Quantitative Hedge Funds” (WSP 2022) and “Financial Derivative Investments”
(Imperial College Press 2011).
Mobile: 07930 385206 - Email: richard@batesonam.com - Website: www.batesonam.com
Address: Bateson Asset Management Limited, 128 City Rd, London, EC1V 2NX
Area of work: Nationwide & International
EXPERT WITNESS JOURNAL
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