COVID REPEATS 40: ASKING LEADING QUESTIONS AND WITNESS STATEMENTS: THIS IS GOING TO END BADLY: EIGHT CRUCIAL POINTS ON EVIDENCE (& THEN 10 MORE)
This week we are looking at witness statements and the process of gathering witness evidence. In August 2015 I wrote at length about the judgment of Mr Justice Jay in Susan Saunderson & Others -v- Sonae Industria (UK) Ltd [2015] EWCA…
COVID REPEATS 39: THE DANGERS OF OBTAINING ONE-SIDED WITNESS STATEMENTS: A PROBLEM THAT CANNOT BE GARAGED
This week we are looking at past posts and cases on witness statements and witness evidence. This is an area with no shortage of cases to choose from. I have made the point, many times, that witness statements are basically…
WHY YOU NEED TO KNOW THE RULES AND GUIDANCE IN RELATION TO SURVEILLANCE EVIDENCE: A WEBINAR
In the judgment discussed earlier today in Tully v Exterion Media (UK) Ltd & Anor [2020] EWHC 1119 (QB), Master McCloud, made some important observations in relation to how the courts deal with surveillance evidence. As a result of that…
LATE WITNESS STATEMENT: RELIEF FROM SANCTIONS NOT GRANTED: A WARNING AGAINST COMPLACENCY
Anyone who has had the pleasure of hearing Professor Dominic Regan lecture will know that he gives a constant warning that the Denton principles have not gone away. In relation to the late service of budgets in particular, but in…
WITNESS STATEMENTS FULL OF VITRIOL – THIS IS NEVER GOING TO END WELL…
The “Covid Repeats” series next week will revisit some of those (many) cases where judges have found witness statements to be inadequate. The inclusion of unnecessary matters in witness statements is a continuing issue. It can be seen in the…
EVALUATING EVIDENCE ON APPEAL: THE APPELLATE COURT WILL NOT READILY DISPLACE THE FINDINGS OF THE TRIAL JUDGE
I am grateful to Christopher Kardahji from Irwin Mitchell solicitors for sending me a copy of the judgment of Mr Justice Freedman in Lenord -v- First Manchester Limited [2020] EWHC 982 (QB). The judgment contains a detailed analysis of the…
AFFIDAVITS, COMPULSION, EXHIBITS AND THE IMPLIED DUTY NOT TO DISCLOSE TO THIRD PARTIES: HIGH COURT DECISION
I am grateful to barrister Sarah Walker for sending me a copy of the judgment of Deputy Insolvencies and Companies Court Judge Kyriakides in the Official Receiver -v- Skeene & Bowers [2020] EWHC 1252. It concerned the issue of whether…
LIES, DAMN LIES AND LITIGATION: WHY PEOPLE TELL LIES AND WHAT DOES THE JUDGE DO? (A RECAP)
For various reasons issues relating to the credibility of witnesses and “lies” are in the news this week. Litigation is not always about lies or liars. Often it is about misunderstandings, mistaken recollection and people convincing themselves that they are correct….
ASSESSING WITNESS CREDIBILITY: A REMINDER OF THE BASIC PRINCIPLES
Today is is a good day to look again at the judgment of Mr Justice Leggatt in Gestmin SGPS S.A. -v- Credit Suisse [2013] EWCA 3560 (Comm). This is case that is now mentioned regularly in cases involving witness recollection and…
COVID REPEATS 30: THE LYING WITNESS: THE APPROACH OF THE CIVIL COURTS
We are going back to what was the most widely read post on this blog in 2017 and 2018. It is about witnesses telling lies.Mr Justice Smith has observed that “witnesses can regularly lie”. How do lies impact upon the…
COVID REPEATS 29: “THERE IS NO PRIMER FOR SCUTTLERS”: THE JUDGE’S ASSESSMENT OF EVIDENCE WHERE (HE FOUND) THAT A SHIP WAS SUNK DELIBERATELY
We are looking again at the judgment of Mr Justice Teare in Kairos Shipping Ltd -v- The Standard Club Europe Ltd [2016] EWHC 2412 (Admlty) is a comprehensive lesson in thorough fact finding. “There is no primer or guide to…
PROVING THINGS 176: RELYING ON MEMORY FROM EVENTS A LONG TIME BACK
I am grateful to David Platt QC for sending me a copy of the judgment given today of Geoffrey Tattersall QC (sitting as a Deputy High Court Judge) in Bannister -v- Freemans Public Limited Company [2020] EWHC 1256 (QB). …
JOHNNY DEPP: LATE WITNESS STATEMENTS & THE COURTS: JUDGE CURTAILS THE EVIDENCE THAT CAN BE CALLED
The judgment of Mr Justice Nicol in Depp II v News Group Newspapers Ltd & Anor [2020] EWHC 1237 (QB) is interesting because the judge grants relief from sanctions because of a delay in service of witness statements. More significantly,…
WHEN A DEFENDANT FILED A COSTS BUDGET LATE: RELIEF FROM SANCTIONS REFUSED: “THE DEFAULTING PARTY HAS ONLY ITSELF OR ITS LEGAL REPRESENTATIVE TO BLAME”
The judgment of HHJ Simon Barker QC in Heathfield International LLC v Axiom Stone (London) Ltd [2020] EWHC 1075 (Ch) is another example of a party coming to grief because of the failure to file a costs budget timeously. That…
THOSE WHO DRAFTED THE WITNESS STATEMENTS HAVE “FORGOTTEN WHAT THE ROLE OF THE WITNESS STATEMENT IS”: BACK TO BASICS FROM MR JUSTICE WAKSMAN
I am returning to more traditional territory in looking at the judgment of Mr Justice Waksman in PCP Capital Partners LLP & Anor v Barclays Bank Plc [2020] EWHC 646 (Comm). Witness evidence and witness statements have been a regular…
COVID REPEATS 16: THE DOG THAT GOT A BETTER MASTER’S DEGREE THAN A WITNESS (WHEN WITNESSES DIG REALLY DEEP HOLES FOR THEMSELVES)
To lighten up a Saturday we are looking again at the judgment of Mr Justice Ramsey in BSky B -v- HP Enterprises Ltd [2010] EWHC 86 (TCC). This contains some interesting comments on the credibility of witnesses and how the…
COVID REPEATS 13: “CLOSING ARGUMENT WAS … AND EYE-GLAZING, BUM-NUMBING, DISC-HERNIATING TOTAL OF 662 PAGES”
For this repeat we are staying with Mr Justice J.W. Quinn, this time looking at his judgment in The Hearing Clinic (Niagara Falls) Inc -v- Ontario Ltd, Lewis & Lewis 2014 ONAC 5831 (CanLii) It is a judgment worth looking at again, not…
MORE ON THE NEW STATEMENT OF TRUTH: CAN YOU CHANGE THE WORDING?
I have had questions, from several sources, about whether it is possible to amend the “new form” of the statement of truth when a document is not being signed by a party to litigation. PRACTICE DIRECTION 22. The new…
THE NEW RULES: LINKS TO ALL THE POSTS: MITIGATION, THE STATEMENT OF TRUTH AND WITNESS STATEMENTS IN A FOREIGN LANGUAGE
The rules that came into force yesterday seemed to take some people by surprise. I did write about them back in February, but a few things have happened since then. Here are links to the previous posts on the new…
NEW WEBINAR (COMING SOON): WITNESS STATEMENTS: THE STATEMENT OF TRUTH AND SOCIAL ISOLATION.
I am preparing and recording a webinar on preparing and drafting witness statements. Particular attention is being given to the difficulties of interviewing witnesses and preparing statements in a time of social isolation. The webinar should be available from the…
THE OTHER IMPORTANT RULE CHANGE TODAY IN RELATION TO WITNESS STATEMENTS: AND, HONESTLY, THIS COULDN’T HAVE COME AT A BETTER TIME
Along with changes to the statement of truth the rule changes effective from today now impose a further obligation in relation to witness statements. I have written about this before (but much has happened since). THE NEW RULES From…
GOOD MORNING FOLKS: REMEMBER (TO ADD TO ALL YOUR OTHER TROUBLES) THE RULES CHANGE TODAY…
To add to all the practical difficulties facing litigators the 113th update to Practice Direction Amendments comes into force today. Here are some of the key points. THE AMENDMENT TO THE STATEMENT OF TRUTH This the major change that will…
REMOTE HEARINGS: BUT WHAT ABOUT “WITNESS DEMEANOUR”?
One of the issues that has been raised in objection to “remote” hearings is the question of witness demeanour. In modern litigation recent case law suggests that this is not a major factor in any event. “No doubt it…
REMOTE WORKING AND THE LITIGATOR 3: SIGNING WITNESS STATEMENTS IN A TIME OF SOCIAL ISOLATION
One major difficulty that faces all litigators at present is how to get witness statements signed. Here are a few ideas. E-SIGNATURES MAY BE VALID There is no binding authority on this issue. However the decision of District Judge…
REMOTE WORKING AND THE LITIGATOR 1: THE NEW REQUIREMENT FOR WITNESS STATEMENTS
Given that many of us will be working from home and not having direct contact with colleagues or clients I am starting a series on the issues we litigators currently face. The first looks at the issues caused by the…
GIVING THE SOURCE OF INFORMATION AND BELIEF IN A WITNESS STATEMENT: NOT A MERE TECHNICALITY: FAILURE TO COMPLY WITH RULES CAN HAVE MAJOR CONSEQUENCES
This blog has dealt, many times, with the difficulties that can arise when a solicitor makes a witness statement in support of an interlocutory application. Not least there is a duty to give details of the source of information and…
DEFENDANT’S PART 20 CLAIM AGAINST CLAIMANT’S WITNESSES STRUCK OUT: WITNESSES HAVE IMMUNITY (AND THIS HAS CONSEQUENCES…)
I am grateful to barrister David Green for supplying me with a note* of the judgment of HHJ Saggerson in Holley -v- Woodburn. HHJ Saggerson, Central London County Court). A copy of the judgment is available here C65YX969 Holley v…
TRIAL JUDGE SHOULD HAVE FOUND THAT THE CLAIMANT HAD BEEN FLUSHED OUT AND WAS FUNDAMENTALLY DISHONEST: HIGH COURT ALLOWS APPEAL
In Roberts v Kesson & Anor [2020] EWHC 521 (QB) Mr Justice Jay allowed a defendant’s appeal and held that the trial judge should have found the claimant to be fundamentally dishonest. The fact that the claimant had been “flushed…
THE PROBLEMS THAT CAN OCCUR WHEN A LAWYER MAKES A STATEMENT ON THEIR CLIENT’S BEHALF: “I ATTACH NO WEIGHT TO WHAT HE SAYS”
This blog has looked, many times, at the pitfalls that can occur when lawyers make statements on behalf of their clients. An example can be seen in the judge of Mr Justice Edis in Cobussen Principal Investment Holdings Ltd v…
APPLICATIONS TO THE COURT AND THE DUTY OF CANDOUR: THE JUDGE MUST SEE DOCUMENTS THAT ARE ADVERSE TO YOUR CASE
In Short & Ors, R (On the Application Of) v Police Misconduct Tribunal & Anor [2020] EWHC 385 (Admin) Mr Justice Saini issued a warning about the duty of candour owed to the court, particularly on a without notice application….
THE VULNERABLE CLAIMANT GIVING EVIDENCE: GROUND RULES AND INTERMEDIARIES: “I HAVE STRONG RESERVATIONS ABOUT WHETHER ANY OF THE GROUND RULES WERE NECESSARY”
In the judgment today in Morrow v Shrewsbury Rugby Union Football Club Ltd [2020] EWHC 379 (QB) Mrs Justice Farbey considered a case that involved a vulnerable claimant. The judgment contains some scepticism as to whether the ground rules set…
NEW MANDATORY REQUIREMENTS FOR WITNESS STATEMENTS IN APRIL: STATE THE PROCESS BY WHICH THE STATEMENT WAS OBTAINED
It is worth isolating one aspect of the changes to the rules relating to witness statements coming into force in April as a result of The 113th update to Practice Direction Amendments. That is the mandatory obligation in every witness statement…
THE IMPORTANCE OF THE STATEMENT OF TRUTH (3): THE SCARY STUFF (THE REALLY SCARY STUFF)
This is the third (and final) post in the series that examines the importance of the statement of truth. Here we look at the clear and start warnings given by the courts about the importance of the statement of truth….
MORE RULE CHANGES IN APRIL: CHANGES TO THE STATEMENT OF TRUTH: YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED…
We are returning to the 113th update to Practice Direction Amendments. This introduces important changes to to the wording of the statement of truth. (Coming into force from the 6th April 2020). THE AMENDMENT The amendment makes changes to the…
WITNESS STATEMENT SERVED 28 DAYS LATE: RELIEF FROM SANCTIONS REFUSED: ACTION STRUCK OUT: THE PERILS OF DELIBERATELY NOT COMPLYING WITH DIRECTIONS
I am grateful to barrister Andrew Worthley for drawing my attention to, and sending me a note of the decision in Syed -v- Shah [2020] 2 WLUK 15 where Trower J upheld a decision not to grant a claimant relief…
A WITNESS STATEMENT “SIGNED OFF ON, WITH INSUFFICIENT CONSIDERATION AND SCRUTINY”
Lawyers are always, one would hope, telling clients and witnesses to read draft witness statements with care prior to signing them. An example of the problems that a failure to consider the matter in detail can be seen in the…
WITNESS STATEMENTS, WITNESS EVIDENCE AND SELF-PROTECTION FOR THE LAWYER
Every few years I repeat advice given in relation to the need for “self-protection” when drafting witness statements. This is often caused by something I have seen in practice, questions I am asked, or a transcript of a case. The…
PROVING THINGS 172: SPECULATION BY THE DEFENDANT IS NOT EVIDENCE: A CLINICAL NEGLIGENCE CASE
The judgment of Mr Justice Turner in Morrison v Liverpool Women’s NHS Foundation Trust [2020] EWHC 91 (QB) is another illustration of a party asserting something but having no evidence to support it. This time it was a defendant whose…
REDACTING DOCUMENTS: MAY CAUSE ENQUIRIES TO BE MADE AND EXPLANATIONS MAY NEED TO BE GIVEN
One other aspect of the judgment of HHJ Lethem in Ivanoy -v- Lubble (Central London County Court 17th January 2020) is in the orders made after the judgment. It concerns the redaction of documents. THE CASE The primary issue in the…
THE PRODUCTION OF WITNESS STATEMENTS: NOW BEING SUBJECT TO RESEARCH: CAN YOU HELP?
This blog has looked, many times, at issues relating to the drafting of witness statements. The Institute for Crime and Justice Policy Research is carrying out research on this subject, in the context of witness evidence in employment tribunals, “Taking…
GIVING EVIDENCE OF MATTERS THAT HAPPENED 17 YEARS EARLIER: AN EXAMPLE IN THE CONTEXT OF CLINICAL NEGLIGENCE
This blog has looked at the issues relating to memory and witness evidence many times. Particularly the problems of people giving evidence many years after the event. An example of these difficulties can be seen in the judgment of Mrs…
APPLICATIONS FOR RELIEF FROM SANCTIONS: 10 KEY POINTS
We are now nearly six years on from the Denton decision and the principles are familiar to most litigators. However applications for relief from sanctions are still a regular occurrence. Success is never guaranteed. Here I want to look again at…
PROVING THINGS 171: A TALE OF TWO TELEVISION PRESENTERS (AND OF A CASE WHERE THERE WAS NO EVIDENCE AT ALL ON VITAL ISSUES)
The judgment of the Employment Tribunal in the case of Ahmed -v- BBC (10th January 2019) has already received wide publicity. It is worthwhile looking at the paucity, often the total absence of evidence, on many key issues on the…
11th HOUR APPLICATION TO INTRODUCE NEW WITNESS EVIDENCE (AND A NEW CASE) REFUSED
In Crumpler & Anor (Liquidators Of Peak Hotels And Resorts Ltd v Candey Limited [2019] EWHC 3558 (Ch) HHJ Davis-White QC (sitting as a High Court judge) refused a party relief from sanctions where witness statements were served late. The…
ATTEMPTING TO GIVE EVIDENCE IN SUBMISSIONS AND SUBMISSIONS IN EVIDENCE: SHOULD THE TWAIN EVER MEET?
The recent post on the Post Office case and the defendant’s attempts to introduce new evidence at the submissions stage has caused me to revisit a post from several years ago. This was, in turn, caused by a recollection of…
PROVING THINGS 170: YOU CAN’T GIVE EVIDENCE BY WAY OF SUBMISSIONS (HONESTLY, YOU CAN’T)
One important aspect of the judgment in Bates & Ors v the Post Office Ltd (No 6: Horizon Issues) [2019] EWHC 3408 (QB) is the judge’s criticism of the defendant’s attempt to give “evidence” at the stage of closing submissions….
2019 AND CIVIL PROCEDURE – A ROUND UP OF THE ROUND UPS: WHAT TO FRET ABOUT AND WHAT NOT TO FRET ABOUT…
There have been a series of annual reviews on key topics throughout December. To round off the year it seemed a good idea to provide a reminder of them all and put the links in one place 2019 AND CIVIL…
CIVIL LITIGATION CASE OF THE YEAR: BATES -v- THE POST OFFICE: LITIGATING IN THE FACE OF “INSTITUTIONAL PARANOIA”
There was never any doubt in my mind as to the civil litigation case of the year – Bates -v- The Post Office. All civil litigation is here, witness and expert evidence, allegations of bias, disclosure and much more. One…
WITNESS EVIDENCE AND CLINICAL NEGLIGENCE: TO WHAT EXTENT IS “HYPOTHETICAL” EVIDENCE FROM DOCTORS ADMISSIBLE?
The judgment of Mrs Justice Lambert in AB v East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust [2019] EWHC 3542 (QB), provides an important lessons for those who draft witness statements, particularly on behalf of defendants in clinical negligence cases. The question is…
CIVIL PROCEDURE BACK TO BASICS 74: HEARSAY EVIDENCE AND SECTION 4 OF THE CIVIL EVIDENCE ACT 1995
The judgment of Deputy Master Linwood in Barnaby & Anor v Johnson (aka Smith) [2019] EWHC 3344 (Ch) provides a reminder of the terms of Section 4 of the Civil Evidence Act 1995 and an example of its application. …
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