Court Defence advice please

Redx

Everyone gets something similar , read other court case threads and you will see the same thing daily

Yes you can post anything useful from their WS plus Exhibits , and you can post your own , suitably redacted if you wish

bob5678

Hi
In my WS can I respond to anything in the claimants Evidence? Or do I need to wait until the hearing to respond in court?

bob5678

Thinking about it, I am guessing I should not respond to their evidence at this stage

KeithP

I'm thinking the opposite.

Pick every hole you can find in their WS and evidence and include all of those points in your Witness Statement.

It is not a good idea to surprise anyone at the hearing.

Having said that, do not miss your deadline for filing and serving your Witness Statement and evidence.

bob5678

The defence I submitted was based on a template at the forum and references many other cases and documents, eg. the Beavis case, POFA, Spurling v Bradshaw etc

In my WS do I need to put each of these cases and documents as an appendix, or is it enough that I have already put them in the Defence?

What I'm wondering is how much the Defence will be used in the hearing, and whether I need to elaborate on every single point in it.

I am using the very helpful WS template from JRhys, and adapting that. I notice it doesn't contain all points referred to in the template defence.

thanks

Redx

You need to elaborate on your Defence , their WS , their exhibits , plus your exhibits , before any hearing , so now , like your court order instructs you to do

Yes take note of that template

Courts do not allow an ambush in court , everything should already be with everybody , 3 bundles , yours , the claimants , with the court having both bundles , plus the court should have a copy of the claim form and a copy of the defence

The defence sets the stage , the rest is the performance by all actors , in front of the legal audience , having the script at the beginning does not make a successful drama

bob5678

Thank you KeithP and Redx for all of those points, that's helped my general understanding of the court process

Coupon-mad

The Beavis case and Spurling v Bradshaw (red hand rule) are well known to a Judge and easy for them to access, so you don't have to append them as exhibits, and the POFA is statute law so the same applies (not an exhibit).

You should certaily respond to their WS and evidence as you got it first! 

And I find it hilarious - and flattering to the regulars on this board - that robo claim solicitors and/or parking firms actually trawl through MSE and find defendants to intimidate, even though a Judge won't find a forum post to be admissable and nor will they adversely judge you for seekng informed advice and a template here!

D_P_Dance

49 pages for alleged £100 debt is ridiculous, do nor be afraid of tearing it to pieces, be as disparaging as you like.s$

Fruitcake

Please show us the claimant's WS asap. Upload it to Dropbox or similar and paste the URL here. You can then use the comments about it from the regulars in your WS to dispute their evidence.

Please ONLY redact YOUR personal data. I cannot stress enough how important the words are that I have highlighted. Please also tell us if the claimant has redacted anything.