Litigation can be a long process of many steps. If you are pursuing a claim, it starts by us laying out the details of that claim in a document often called a Statement of Claim. We will engage a barrister for you. He or she will prepare that document. From then, pretty well every 3 or 4 weeks, a further step must be completed.
- First, the Defendant sets out its Defence to each claim.
- Second, we get to reply to any allegations made in the Defence.
- Third, we must collect all emails, letters, contracts and other documents you have relevant to the claims and provide a list to the Defendant ("Discovery").
- The Defendant provides its list of documents and each party then "inspects" each other's documents - that's when we first get to see the substance of their case.
- Fourth, the Court will schedule a "Directions Hearing", where we explain the case and the Court sets a calendar of events.
- Fifth, there will be mediation, ordered by the Court. There are many possible further steps, depending on the case.
The Defendant may have a claim against you and file a Counterclaim, which you need to Defend (as if you were the Defendant). Then, we start trial prep proper, which is highly labour-intensive. Our barrister will then get integrally involved in the case. As you can imagine, it is in this period that costs can increase considerably.The case changes over time, as we learn more of the other side's Defence or their case (if you are the Defendant). This can see the case expand and morph. We project manage these changes, updating and controlling the cost estimate.
