Taking The Airlines To Court

purple_icecream

111KAB wrote: »

Skeleton - many judges do not have time to read through your entire bundle prior to the hearing so a skeleton picks out the bones of your argument and is presented to the judge prior to your entering the court room.


14 days before hearing - as it says really your bundle must be submitted to the airline and court 14 days prior to your hearing date. You will be given a court date, subtract 2 weeks and make sure everything is distributed by then.


No as with me judges often given both the claimant and defendant some leeway at their discretion.

Ok thank you Kab, that makes sense now, but how to choose which bits go in the bundle and what to 'hold back' for the skeleton?

legal_magpie wrote: »

And you hope you have a humerus judge rather than a sternum one:rotfl:

:T

111KAB

purple_icecream wrote: »

Ok thank you Kab, that makes sense now, but how to choose which bits go in the bundle and what to 'hold back' for the skeleton?
:T

Skeleton should just be bullet points from your bundle. My suggestion would be to hold back some points upon which you do not require a prior answer but you believe will work in your favour - along the lines of my PM to you.

32Nirvana

I have a court hearing date in a couple of months but the Liverpool Judge has suggested the case is suitable for mediation, can anything be implied from this, will Virgin want to resolve the dispute this way or will they just wait for the court date?

David_e

32Nirvana wrote: »

I have a court hearing date in a couple of months but the Liverpool Judge has suggested the case is suitable for mediation, can anything be implied from this, will Virgin want to resolve the dispute this way or will they just wait for the court date?

I wonder if mediation is coming back into favour as the courts presumably become more clogged with cases.

Another poster mentioned it earlier and I replied:

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showpost.php?p=65666567&postcount=69

legal_magpie

David_e wrote: »

I wonder if mediation is coming back into favour as the courts presumably become more clogged with cases.

When a Defendant files a defence to a claim it is referred to a Judge who allocates it to a track and gives directions. In all small claims cases the judge is required to consider whether or not to recommend mediation, especially if the parties (or one of them) have requested this in their directions questionnaires.

It doesn't stop the case though which is why Nirvana has also received a hearing date.

Some cases, such as RTAs are never referred to mediation as this is usually a waste of time
JJ

Vauban

legal_magpie wrote: »

When a Defendant files a defence to a claim it is referred to a Judge who allocates it to a track and gives directions. In all small claims cases the judge is required to consider whether or not to recommend mediation, especially if the parties (or one of them) have requested this in their directions questionnaires.

It doesn't stop the case though which is why Nirvana has also received a hearing date.

Some cases, such as RTAs are never referred to mediation as this is usually a waste of time
JJ

It is generally a waste of time - at least in theory - for 261/04 claims too: either you are entitled to the sum you are claiming as a statutory right, or you are not. Some airlines have stopped ticking the box; others go through the motions in the most perfunctory way possible. But at least one I know uses the mediation stage to make a serious offer (and usually the full amount if the claimant plays hardball).

The conventional wisdom on this forum is that people should tick the mediation box because it demonstrates to the judge your inherent reasonableness. And - as Magpie says - it doesn't actually slow the process down. I think that is still probably right - though in my case with Monarch, the airline agreed to mediation and then couldn't be reached by telephone by the mediator on the day of the call, before then formally "pulling out". No record of this absurd behaviour went before the judge.

David_e

Vauban wrote: »

It is generally a waste of time - at least in theory - for 261/04 claims too: either you are entitled to the sum you are claiming as a statutory right, or you are not.

The conventional wisdom on this forum is that people should tick the mediation box because it demonstrates to the judge your inherent reasonableness. And - as Magpie says - it doesn't actually slow the process down.

That was what I had gleaned. I haven't read a posting from someone who has actually been to mediation for ages.

stevew48

As I have previously mentioned in an earlier post I am scheduled for a CMC at Liverpool on the 4th June. However, when I arrived home this morning after a weekend away I had a letter from Easyjet dated 29th May informing me that they had been informed by the court the CMC hearing had been 'vacated' ?

I had contacted the court at midday on the 29th May to ask when my skeleton arguement needed to be with them and at that time there was no mention of the case being 'vacated' . Today, I rang the court again about 11am and they inform me the CMC hearing is still listed. I will check again tomorrow but if it has been 'vacated' what does that mean and how does this affect my claim?

thanks

Stevew48

Vauban

I understand that if a hearing is vacated it means it has been postponed and will no longer be held on that date. A hearing could be vacated if a stay was granted, but you should have been informed about that if so. easyJet could of course simply be confused (to put it charitably). So worth checking with the court again the status of your claim, and whether the hearing remains "listed".

111KAB

As Vauban says check with the Court as I understood that a case was vacated if one of the two parties had failed to submit their evidence in time.