WITNESS STATEMENTS: SAYING “I AGREE WITH HIM” IS HARDLY GOOD PRACTICE
Large number of litigants pay large amounts of money to their lawyers to draft witness statements. This blog often documents the problems caused by witness statements that are simply inadequate. The issues of inadequate witness statements is seen again in…
JUDGES, FACT FINDING AND GRENFELL: THE CRUCIAL QUESTION – IS THIS JUDGE A GOOD FACT FINDER
If you write a blog on civil procedure it is not hard to steer a course away from the issues of the day. However there is one issue of the day that is hard to ignore. The criticisms of the…
DOCUMENTS, AUTHENTICITY AND ADMISSIONS: A TIMELY REMINDER OF THE PROVISIONS OF CPR 32.19
I said in the previous post that there are several reasons litigators should read the judgment of HHJ Paul Matthews (sitting as a High Court Judge) in Jones -v- Oven [2017] EWHC 1647 (Ch). One of those reasons is that it contains…
APPLICATIONS TO RECUSE HAVE NO SPECIAL STATUS AND SHOULD BE MADE PROPERLY AND PROMPTLY
In Miley -v- Friends Life Limited [2017] EWHC 1583 (QB) Mr Justice Turner made some important applications in relation to applications that a judge recuse themselves. THE CASE The action concerned the question of whether the defendant should continue…
WHEN LIFE MIMICS ART: (OR ART MIMICS LIFE): WIGAPEDIA, LEGAL CHEEK – AND WHO PREPARED YOUR WITNESS STATEMENT?
I recommend that all litigators read Wigapedia’s “Jargon Buster Litigation Edition” in Legal Cheek. As ever Wigapedia is cruel but fair in his definitions – “Brief – a document which very rarely is”. With Wigapedia’s permission I am taking up…
A LITIGANT IN PERSON CAN SERVE A CLAIM FORM VIA A NON-SOLICITOR AGENT: HIGH COURT DECISION
There has been a recent spate of cases relating to service of documents. One of these is Ndole Assets Limited -v- Designer M&E Services UK Limited [2017] EWHC 1148 (TCC). The court considered the issues that arose when the…
PROVING THINGS 47: FIRE IN THE LOFT: IT WASN’T THE MOUSE MAN AT ALL
The judgment of Mr Justice Coulson in Palmer -v- Nightingale [2016] EWHC 2800 (TCC) is another example of a claimant failing to prove their case. More curiously, in some respects, the claimant’s own evidence contradicted their case. “In circumstances where there…
FIRST CLAIM FORM CASE OF THE YEAR: AND THERE'S A BRIGHTSIDE
Every year brings a batch of cases relating to service of the claim form. This year starts with an unusual issue. In Brightside Group Ltd -v- RSM UK Audit LLP [2017] EWHC 6 (Comm) Mr Justice Andrew Baker considered issues…
LAWYERS, LITIGATION AND MEMORY III: THE GESTMIN PRINCIPLES APPLIED
“This may be an interesting year for the consideration of issues relating to the accuracy of memory. An interesting case where the relevant principles were considered in detail can be found in the judgment in EF -v- The Catholic…
LAWYERS, LITIGATION & MEMORY II: HOW YOU ARE AFFECTING THE MEMORY OF WITNESSES (AND POSSIBLY SOWING THE SEEDS FOR DEFEAT)
The post on “Lawyers, litigation and memory“clearly struck a chord. It had many hundreds of readers (on a Sunday too). It highlights the fact that a failure to be trained in, and consider, issues relating to memory, causes litigators numerous…
IF YOU ARE BELIEVED YOU WILL WIN: THE NEED FOR A DEVIL'S ADVOCATE IN CIVIL LITIGATION
The post written yesterday on litigators and memory has already given rise to a large number of responses, particularly on Twitter. It is worthwhile taking the matter further by considering how and when a litigator should take stock of the quality…
LAWYERS, LITIGATION & MEMORY: THE MEMORY ILLUSION
A single moment of logical thought will lead to the conclusion that it is strange that lawyers don’t learn about memory. Much (indeed most) litigation relies on the memory of the parties. Judges are, more often than not, called upon…
COURT FEES AND STRIKING OUT: ANOTHER CASE
There is a brief report on Browne Jacobson Insurance Law about a case that struck out because of a failure to pay the correct fees. THE REPORT The report is brief and does not give the date of the judgment…
"UNNECESSARY, UNHELPFUL & UNACCEPTABLE" : OVER-LONG SKELETON ARGUMENTS – AGAIN.
There have been a series of judgments in the civil courts, notably from Jackson L.J., commenting on the length of skeleton arguments. The criminal courts are not immune. In R -v- Brandford [2016] EWCA Crim 1749 the Court of Appeal…
LITIGATORS: WHAT DO YOU DO WHEN THINGS GO WRONG? 10 KEY POINTS
There has been an unusual amount of sympathy today on Twitter for the report of a newly qualified solicitor who was struck off. The solicitor “had ‘messed up’ on a handful of the 170 cases he was handling and did…
DELAY AND NON-COMPLIANCE: ACTION STRUCK OUT: A "GAME CHANGER"
The judgment of Master Matthew in Phelps -v- Button [2016] EWHC 3185 (Ch) emphasises the dangers of delay and non compliance. “…I will observe that the Court ethos has changed enormously since the days of Lord Denning and the two…
INSURANCE, FUNDING AND LITIGATION: INSURERS HAD TO PAY SOLICITORS
There is an interesting judgment by Stuart Brown QC (sitting as a judge of the High Court) in Nesbit Law Group LLP -v- Acasta European Insurance Company Limited (Leeds Mercantile Court 15.9.16). The judgment is available here nesbitjudgment A judgment on…
CIVIL CASE OF THE YEAR 2016: THE CASE THAT ENCAPSULATES CIVIL EVIDENCE: HOW THE COURT DECIDES
There were many important cases on procedure and costs in 2016. Choosing a case of importance to litigators was not an easy task. However I kept coming back to the judgment of Master Matthews in Adepoju -v- Akinola [2016] EWHC 3160…
A NEW YEAR'S RESOLUTION FOR 2017 : EX PARTE APPLICATIONS ARE NO PARTY (AND CAN LEAD TO CRYING)
Last year I had 10 new year’s resolutions for litigators. This year I have one. (The resolutions from last year remain current but one resolution is easier to keep) THINK VERY CAREFULLY BEFORE, DURING AND AFTER, MAKING AN EX-PARTE APPLICATION…
COSTS, INDEMNITY COSTS AND THE EXPENSIVE CONSEQUENCES OF A SIEGE BASED MENTALITY
It is surprising how often cases that have been looked at because of issues in relation to the evidence at trial are reported again on the issue of costs. The Ocensa Pipeline Group Litigation case is such an action. I…