Gladstones/LPS - County Court Claim

D_P_Dance

This is,imo, a very good reason to ask for a face to face hearing.  

KeithP

Keep it simple. I would suggest you set up an email address that incorporates his name. 

Coupon-mad

pkul01 said:

OK, but my father has never had an email address and his mobile is one of the very first Nokia's i.e. not a smartphone that he only uses the phone for calling and receiving calls. He does not even use text - he is a tech-ignorant and is happy with this.
I have been sending the Email's for him by signing them as:
YYYY
For and on behalf of
XXXX (Defendant)

Stop doing that immediately.  Basically none of these emails are the D, then. 
You are a third party, you can't do it like this, but you can email 'as him'.

All you do is create a new gmail with his name in it...DO NOT PUT YOUR NAME ON IT.  

pkul01

I finally managed to speak to the Court late this morning. The lady advised that the WS and documents have been logged as received. The log entry only shows "..WS and various documents" for both the WS and Supplementary WS. She cannot see any log entry for the COVID19 covering email that was sent. She said that someone goes to the Court once a week and will put these documents into the court file that the judge will review one day prior to the telephone hearing.
She confirmed that the emailed WS & documents were processed and logged on 22 May 2020 due to limited staff working during pandemic. Clearly, the judge that remotely sat on 20 May 2020 and Court deciding a remote hearing did not review the COVID19 covering email before making this determination.

The lady said that I should send the COVID19 covering email again and hopefully this email and its documents will be printed and put on file so that the judge will read this prior to issuing directions on when the remote hearing is listed. I said that this email could again be classed as "various documents" and put in the file which the judge will read a day prior to the remote hearing. The lady then said to give the Court till next Wednesday, 10-Jun-2020 and then the Court to check status of the email and if processed and ready for judge to read. If this has not been done then she (as she is the only person manning the phones) will process the email while I am on the phone.

pkul01

Understood...will do that.
Also, the post just arrived. Gladstones' letter dated 27-May-20 say they have advised the Court they will not be attending the court for the hearing on 03 June 2020 and ask the Court to decide in the Claimant's evidence based on the evidence submitted.

Coupon-mad

Gladstones never attend anyway so that's normal.  Does it say the Claimant 'might still attend' (they usually do).  It seems that Gs are finding telephone hearings impossible to manage but I expect the Claimant will change their minds when they realise this one will be relisted and not a remote hearing.

But why are the Court talking to you, a third party? 

The D is your Dad; you can't do this unless you say you are Dad.  Basically you are trying to act as a litigation friend without authorisation and this will come unstuck, so stop being 'you' and start emailing 'as Dad' (honestly):
https://www.gov.uk/litigation-friend/suitability

Make sure your Dad's (not your) email says clearly why a hearing 'ON THE PAPERS' is not agreed.

pkul01

Here is the letter from Gladstones.
I explained to the Court that I was calling on behalf of my father. Also, early on in this process and prior to sending the emails on his behalf, I asked my father to write a letter of authority that he signed stating that I can act on his behalf.
However, I understand what is being said and will setup an email for my father so that the COVID19 covering email can be sent again and importantly stressing that a hearing "on the papers" is not agreed.

Coupon-mad

Good.  I was concerned that a Judge would see you as a third party, so it's far better to email 'as him'.

pkul01

OK, the emails have been forwarded to the Court and Gladstones.
Next thing is to prepare the hearing bundle and send to Gladstones. Court order states that bundle should contain:
a) Statements of case (Claim Form, Of Claim, Defence, Reply, etc)
b) Any Directions Questionnaires and proposed directions
c) A case summary and chronology
d) Any previous orders that are relevant to the remote hearing (I guess this includes Judges' Orders striking out cases in other Courts that handled these kind of cases)
e) Any other essential documents and witness statements that the court will require to determine the issues that fall for determination at the remote hearing.
f) A draft Order (not sure what this is for other than the defendant's required outcome from the hearing).

nosferatu1001

Does it state that the CLaimant has to compile the bundle? 
f) you could draft - order is dismissed, costs as follows...
Take the chance to get what YOU want in front of the judge.