Progression after issuing court proceedings

Once court proceedings have been issued, you will be required to sign a ‘Statement of Truth’ on the Claim Form, the Particulars of Claim and the Schedule of Special Damages form. The signed documents will be lodged at court and served on the defendant.

Once the defendant has served their defence within 28 days, the court will send a timetable (court directions) for the progression of the case to trial. It will provide key dates by which you and the defendant must complete certain tasks by. These directions will be set out by a judge in a court order and will provide details of all the steps that the judge believes are necessary to progress your case to trial.

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Frequently asked questions

  1. What should I expect from the court directions?
  2. What do I do when the judge or defendant has requested extra documents from me?
  3. What should I do if I cannot find or do not have the requested documents ordered by court?
  4. What happens if the court directions are not completed on time?
  5. What if I’m on holiday during this time?

 

1. What should I expect from the court directions?

Such steps include exchanging witness statements and disclosing evidence to support your claim. We will remain in contact with you throughout and will ensure that your case is fully prepared with everything in place to comply with the directions before any of the due dates. To do this we will need to work together to stay within the time allowed.

 

2. What do I do when the judge or defendant has requested extra documents from me?

You must send the requested documents to your solicitor. We will need this in the file that we are putting together in preparation for the hearing. If you know that you will not be able to do this in the time allowed, then you must tell us at the earliest opportunity so that we can ask your opponent’s solicitor or the court for extra time.

 

3. What should I do if I cannot find or do not have the requested documents ordered by court?

If you cannot find a requested document then please notify your solicitor at once. It may be possible that we can get a hold of the requested document for you. The longer or closer to the deadline you wait to inform us about being unable to find the missing document, the less likely we will be able to obtain it in time.

 

4. What happens if the court directions are not completed on time?

A failure to comply with court directions on time, or at all, can have serious consequences for your case. These consequences can range from an order that you must pay some costs to your opponent, or in the worst case scenario, your entire claim being struck out of court. The same consequences apply to your opponent should they fail to complete the court directions on time.

To ensure that your court directions are completed on time, we advise that you maintain regular communication with us and provide us with any documents requested by court at the earliest opportunity. Please note that if there are any changes to your contact details, it is your responsibility to inform us as early as possible.

 

5. What if I’m on holiday during this time?

We understand that holidays may have been booked early in advance. If there are any periods of time when you will not be contactable prior to the court hearing date, then we should be informed of this as soon as possible so that we can take the appropriate actions for the circumstances. This can help us protect you from any consequences should there be a breach of court directions order for lateness or other reasons.

We would advise you not to make holiday plans leading up to (7-9 months after issuing proceedings) and including on the day of your court hearing. Please ensure that you are available and in the country during the period when the trial is likely to be heard.


This is a disclaimer to say we do not accept liability for any inaccurate or out-of-date information contained on this website at any given time. Whilst we do make every effort to keep the information accurate and up-to-date, you should only treat this information as a guideline. For more information relevant to your claim, you should speak directly to your solicitor.

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