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This week's issue

The case of the leaking reservoir

Who pays when water you stored spills onto a neighbour's land?

No. 187 · Nov 8, 2026 · 9 min read

Victorian courthouse in the rain with a barrister climbing the steps

In this case a landowner built a reservoir to serve his mill. A few years later the water found an old mine shaft and flooded the workings next door. He had been careful, and he had never meant any harm.

The question for the court was whether care was the right test at all. This week I go through the facts, the three questions the judges asked and the answer they gave, which is still where every first-term student starts.

Plus: your letters on last week's case, and one sentence from the judgment I think is the best in the books.

Read: The case of the leaking reservoir

Law library aisle with leather volumes and a green lamp

Tort

The case of the borrowed ladder

A neighbour lends a ladder, it gives way and someone is hurt. What did lending change, and who owed a duty to whom?

No. 186 · Nov 1, 2026 · 7 min read

Contract

The case of the unsigned contract

A handshake, a lorry of goods and two different memories of the deal. What the court counted as an agreement.

No. 185 · Oct 25, 2026 · 8 min read

Foresight

The case of the runaway cart

A short case about foresight, and how far one careless act can reach.

No. 184 · Oct 18, 2026 · 6 min read

Barrister's wig and gown hanging beside an oak door

Remedies

The case of the late delivery

What a seller must say, and when, if the goods will not arrive. The remedies in one picture.

No. 183 · Oct 11, 2026 · 7 min read

Hands turning a page of a heavy leather law report

Next letter: Sunday 15 November

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