Can defendant in Small-Claims court charge for ''time spent preparing for trial''??

k3lvc

steampowered wrote: »

It's a pointless willy waving exercise.

Obviously no pun intended here :rotfl: - isn't that what started the whole issue ?

hollydays

October868 wrote: »

Hello and thankyou for your email.

I will be perfectly honest in that I have been scared about 'going after' the McKenzie friend, simply because even if I proved that they were a mass-murderer, that wouldn't (to my knowledge) actually have any impact on the particulars of my claim/the defendant's counterclaim.
But it would ofcourse create a new enemy for me, and given the extreme amount of pressure that I'm currently under the last thing I want is a legally-trained professional targeting me!

If you say it would help me if I tell the court that they have been 'intimidating me', I will pursue that.
But the reason why I had been reluctant to do that is because all I want is for the people involved in this matter to leave me alone, to stop making up false allegations about me which are ruining my family & personal life, and to not ruin my entire future.

You don't have to pursue. You can make that descision later but initially find out if they are who they say they ar and if their behaviour has breached rules ( I strongly suspect it will have) .it will obviously give you bargaining power, but you seem to be going round in circles here with a lack of direction.Find this out yourself and then you can tell your chosen solicitor.

October868

Update-

I have emailed approximately 20 solicitor firms, however most who've replied thus far have stated that it's not a matter which they could assist with.

One firm has offered to handle the case for £1,000.

But one other firm, after speaking with me as per a free consultation, have advised me that engaging the services of a solicitor wouldn't actually be of any actual benefit to me in this matter.
They said that whilst the defendant has added a large mass of allegations/accusations/and information to try portraying me in a negative light, and to try diverting the scope of the case away from my original claim plus make the issue look multi-layered & complex | that the actual claim/case itself is relatively simple & straightforward.


As from my side the claim quite simply is that-

1. The defendant quoted me a total price for producing a certain number of videos, got paid that total sum of money, only produced 1/2 that number of videos, but then blocked me and stated she no longer wished to have any future dealings with me, but refused to refund the money paid for those non-produced videos.

+

2. Part of our agreement, upon which the videos were ordered & paid for, was that I would have the right to re-sell the videos online.
However as the defendant subsequently then threatened to 'sue me' if I did sell the videos online, she breached the contract & put me under duress, thus rendering the produced videos of no value.
Therefore my claim was for the sum of money which I paid for the produced videos, due to her breaching the contract by putting me under duress.

I have written evidence showing (and proving) each & every element of those claims.


vs


The defendant's counter-claim is-

1. Because I had mentioned a few times that ''depending on how the initial order went I would be looking to/interested in placing more orders over the future months & years for approx 45-50 more videos'' | That because I didn't proceed to ever place those orders I 'breached contract', and thus should be liable to pay her the full sum of money that she would've earned if I had placed all those orders.

2. That because I told mutual-associates of ours about what she had done, and because that information then apparently got circulated amongst people, and was apparently was heard about by 1 of the brands which she regularly worked for as a self-employed contractor, that because she then was ''driven out'' of working for that brand, and because there was apparently an 8-week period until she started regular work for another brand (again merely as a self-employed contractor), that I should be liable for the money which she claims she would've earned from Brand A during that 8-week period if she hadn't ceased working there/had been offered work by them during that 8-week period.

She hasn't provided any evidence showing any letters from Brand A as to any reason why she wasn't offered work during that 8-week period, has simply provided copies of private messages which I exchanged with mutual-associates of ours in which I told them what she did.
And the only mentions of any future orders by me were simply, as I stated, messages where I said that I would be 'looking to/interested in' placing future orders, depending on how this 1st order went.
*The rest of her evidence is simply just screenshots of various random people saying unpleasant things to me on Twitter, none of which/or whom are of any relevance whatsoever to this matter, and all of which occured many months after this matter even.



So whilst I could pay £1,000 for that solicitor to represent me at the hearing, as the judge will ask me questions, and I will have to answer them directly myself, I am unsure what value exactly the solictor could add?

(Since it is actually quite a straightforward & simple matter, and so if the judge brushes away all the irrelevant aspects, it would be quite clear cut I would've thought?)


If anyone on here would be kind enough to help me construct/forumulate a clear & concise defence to her claims though, that would be greatly appreciated?

born_again

Why not tell this "their Mckenzie friend" that you will not enter into any more correspondence with them. You will only correspond with the person who sold the video's.

When is the court date?

October868

born_again wrote: »

Why not tell this "their Mckenzie friend" that you will not enter into any more correspondence with them. You will only correspond with the person who sold the video's.

When is the court date?

Hello they have said that if I email the defendant again they will report me for harassment + file for a 'non-molestation order' against me, since the defendant has stated she doesn't want to have any communication with me.

Ultimately though I have no reason to even communicate with the McKenzie friend anymore,
as I only did it to put forward my pre-trial settlement offer.

But as that was rejected, well the case will go to court, in November.

waamo

As I said you probably don't need a solicitor to represent you. Their view was valuable. It is straightforward.

Cease communication (as they have asked) and go to court. Let the judge sort it out.

October868

Hello just a quick question-

I yesterday recieved a letter from the court confirming that my N244 application for a hearing for the default-judgment against me to be set aside had been granted, and that hearing was being listed for in 3weeks from now (the main trial is in 6weeks).

However the defendant's McKenzie friend then today emailed the court (CC'd me into the email) stating that they only recieved this notification about this application from the court yesterday,
and so will be writing a long letter to challenge it... ect


I personally ofcourse am simply ignoring that email, as it was/is upto the judge to decide if they wish to grant me the opportunity to state why I feel the default-judgment should be set aside.

Can I just check & confirm though that I personally didn't have a duty to serve the defendant with a copy of my N244 form myself?
As on the form there is the box stating who else should be served with the form/it states that the form will be served on the other party, and so I was under the understanding that I simply send my N244 application to the court only, and then the court send a copy of it to the defendant.

But was I also meant to of sent a copy of my N244 application to the defendant too?

da_rule

Did you provide the Court with enough copies of the application and supporting evidence to serve the other party? Normally it’s 3 copies of everything; one for the Court, one for them to return to you, and one for service.

If the Court hasn’t served the application then the onus was on you to serve a copy as soon as practicable after filing it with the Court.

October868

Hello I was only made aware of the judgement at the end of August, so at the beginning of September I emailed the court my completed N244 form + supporting evidence, and also posted the court paper copies of all those documents.

Over the following 10-12 days the time delays would've been for the post to arrive at the court, for the court staff to file & allocated those documents to the judge for their attention, for the district judge for to review my application and make a decision on it, for that decision to be passed on to the court staff, for the staff to create the letter, and for that letter + my documents to then be delivered to the defendant via postal service | All of which the court did within 10 working days.

I did even telephone the court and ask, before I sent them my N244, if I needed to serve a copy to the defendant; But they said no, I send the application to the court, and they then serve a copy to the other party.

But the defendant is now saying that apparently I was meant to of posted them a copy of my N244 at the same time as I posted a copy to the court... :S

*My application isn't even for the default judgement to be set aside, is merely an application that I request the opportunity to explain to the judge why I believe the application should be set aside, and so all I have been granted is a hearing at which to make my case to the judge.

da_rule

Service of a copy of an application notice
23.7
(1) A copy of the application notice –
(a) must be served as soon as practicable after it is filed; and
(b) except where another time limit is specified in these Rules or a practice direction, must in any event be served at least 3 days before the court is to deal with the application.
(2) If a copy of the application notice is to be served by the court, the applicant must, when he files the application notice, file a copy of any written evidence in support.
(3) When a copy of an application notice is served it must be accompanied by –
(a) a copy of any written evidence in support; and
(b) a copy of any draft order which the applicant has attached to his application.
(4) If –
(a) an application notice is served; but
(b) the period of notice is shorter than the period required by these Rules or a practice direction,
the court may direct that, in the circumstances of the case, sufficient notice has been given and hear the application.
(5) This rule does not require written evidence –
(a) to be filed if it has already been filed; or
(b) to be served on a party on whom it has already been served.

The above is the relevant CPR which deals with service of an application notice, so have you complied with this or not?

I don’t understand your bit in italics. All any hearing is is an opportunity to present your case to the judge.