ANOTHER COURT OF APPEAL CASE ON RELIEF FROM SANCTIONS : DURRANT –V- CHIEF CONSTABLE OF AVON & SOMERSET CONSTABULARY
In the first relief from sanctions case to reach the Court of Appeal since Mitchell, the Court of Appeal reiterated the tough new approach which courts should taken when considering relief applications. The Claimant brought a claim against the Defendant…
TRIAL BUNDLES: TIMING, CONTENTS AND PRESENTATION : AND DO YOU KNOW SEDLEY’S LAWS?
Amidst the Mitchell Mayhem and the high glamour and glitz of Civil Litigation at the moment I am writing a post on the mundane subject of trial bundles. Mundane but important. The significance of bundles was highlighted in the recent…
AVOIDING NEGLIGENCE CLAIMS 6: COMMUNICATIONS WITH THE CLIENT
Procter -v- Raleys Previous posts in this series have concentrated upon limitation issues. This post looks at the recent decision of Judge Gosnell in Procter –v- Raleys (Leeds County Court 6/11/2013). In particular what it demonstrates about the need to…
DRAFTING WITNESS STATEMENTS: ESSENTIAL GUIDANCE FROM AN AUTHORITATIVE SOURCE THAT EVERY LITIGATOR SHOULD READ
The dangers of drafting argumentative and adversarial witness statements have been discussed several times on this blog. A working example of the dangers of this, together with commentary on the results, can be found in the statement of Peter Smith…
WITNESS STATEMENTS & COMPLYING WITH THE RULES 2: THE GROUNDS FOR THE WITNESSES’ KNOWLEDGE OR BELIEF
The previous post at http://civillitigationbrief.wordpress.com/2013/11/04/the-importance-of-drafting-witness-statements-that-comply-with-the-rules/ discussed a case where the problems about the witnesses giving information as to source of belief and hearsay evidence. The problems were avoi… Enjoying this post? Become a Civil Litigation Brief member to read…
THE IMPORTANCE OF DRAFTING WITNESS STATEMENTS THAT COMPLY WITH THE RULES
The Civil Procedure Rules set out rigorous requirements for the structure and layout of witness statements. The editors of the White Book note (at 32.4.5 of the latest supplement that) “Unfortunately, rules, practice directions and guidance as to the contents…
WITNESS STATEMENTS IN A SPECIFIC CONTEXT: ACCIDENTS AT WORK AFTER 1st OCTOBER 2013
A fundamental change in the law relating to breach of statutory duties and civil liability means that greater consideration will need to be given to drafting witness statements. I have prepared an article on this at http://accidentsatworkaftertheerra.wordpress.com/2013/09/30/witness-statements-and… Enjoying this post?…
LITIGATION AFTER JACKSON: A 10 POINT SURVIVAL GUIDE
There has been a tremendous change in policy in relation to case management after 1st April 2013. This has already led to major difficulties for some litigators. This post is the first (of what may be many) survival guides for…
WHAT ARE WITNESS STATEMENTS FOR?
I have written an article for the Local Government Lawyer on drafting witness statements dealing with recent cases and guidance on the topic, see What are witness statements for For other articles in the series on drafting witness statements see…
SERVING WITNESS STATEMENTS LATE: AN EXTREMELY DANGEROUS PRACTICE
The recent decision in Fons HF –v- Corporal Ltd & Pillar Securitisation [2013] EWHC 1278 (Ch) provides an object lesson on the difficulties that can arise when both parties fail to file witness statements in accordance with directions. The facts…
CIVIL EVIDENCE AND WITNESS STATEMENTS
I have written two articles on witness statements and civil evidence for Local Government Lawyer One on the inferences a court can draw when a litigant elects to call no evidence on an issue http://www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=13497%3Asilence-… Enjoying this post? Become a…
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