This website uses cookies to ensure you get the best experience on our website. Learn more

LPC Law Notes Civil Litigation Notes

Allocation Case Management Conference Notes

Updated Allocation Case Management Conference Notes

Civil Litigation Notes

Civil Litigation

Approximately 418 pages

A collection of the best LPC Civil Litigation notes the director of Oxbridge Notes (an Oxford law graduate) could find after combing through dozens of LPC samples from outstanding students with the highest results in England and carefully evaluating each on accuracy, formatting, logical structure, spelling/grammar, conciseness and "wow-factor".

In short these are what we believe to be the strongest set of Civil Lit notes available in the UK this year. This collection of notes is fully updated ...

The following is a more accessible plain text extract of the PDF sample above, taken from our Civil Litigation Notes. Due to the challenges of extracting text from PDFs, it will have odd formatting:

Case Management (“CM”) (Civil Lit Book Chapter 9)

The Court’s Powers
  • CPR Part 3 gives the court a wide range of case management powers

  • r.3.1(2) sets out the court’s general powers

  • r.3.4(2) sets out the Court’s specific powers to strike out a party’s statement of case

Striking out a Statement of Case and other sanctions

(See Sanctions Sheet)

Striking out:

r.3.4(2) gives the court power to strike out a party’s statement of case (“SC”) when:

r.3.4(2)(a),the SC discloses no reasonable grounds for bringing or defending the claim

r.3.4(2)(b); the SC is an abuse of the court’s process or is otherwise likely to obstruct the just disposal of the proceedings or

r.3.4(2)(c) there has been failure to comply with a rule, practice direction or court order (Biguzzi v Rank Leisure)

Sanctions other than striking out:

  • Costs (party at fault pays the other party’s costs)

  • Wasted cost order (if party’s legal rep. is at fault and caused loss or delay he pays) SCA 1981 s.51

  • Interests (court may alter the interest payable to claimant if he is at fault)

  • The Unless Order = is not strictly a sanction but rather a suspended sanction PD 28 paras 5.1 and 5.2 and PD 29 paras 7.1 and 7.2

  1. The court makes an order that unless a party complies with a particular court order or rule,

  2. within a specified time,

  3. his claim or defence will be struck out

if the party subject to an Unless Order does not apply for an extension the Strike Out order will take automatic effect and the case will be Struck Out without further action required CPR PD 3 para 1.9

Relief from Sanctions

r.3.8 and r.3.9

  • r.3.8(3) Where a Rule, PD or court order requires a party to do something within a specified time, and specifies the consequences of failure to comply, the party in question CANNOT apply for an extension by agreement between the parties.

  • r.3.9(1) when granting a relief the court will consider all the circumstances of the case to enable a just, proportionate and compliant with the rules decision; an application for relief must include explanation as to:

  1. why the failure occurred

  2. the extent to which the party has otherwise complied with the rules, PD, court orders and Pre-action Prot,

  3. whether the failure was caused by the party or its legal rep.,

  4. whether the trial date can still be met if relief is granted,

  5. the effect which the failure to comply has had on each party and,

  6. the effect which the granting of relief will have on each party.

Allocation to a Track (Civil Lit Book Chapter 9 p126)

What is it?

&

When to file?

  • CPR part 26 deals with the preliminary stage of case management (“CM”) when cases are allocated to a particular track. This stage of CM arises where a defence has been filed then,

  • The court serves notice on each party of the proposed allocation. Parties need to fill in the Allocation Questionnaire AQ (AKA Form N150 for fast track and multi-track, Form N149 for small claims and Form N151 if the court must decide amount of claim).

  • Then the parties need to file and answer their Directions Questionnaire (“DQ”) (AKA Forms 180/1):

  • Small Claims Track cases have 14 days to complete and file their answer DQ (Form N180)

  • Fast-track and Multi-Track have 28 days to complete & file their answer DQ (Form N181)

  • Form N180/1’s date of filing cannot be changed r.26(6A)

  • Must file your costs estimate with the AQ (Costs PD para 6.4(1))

Failure to file?

None of the Parties File:

  • Judge will make an Unless Order (“UO”)

  • If AQ then not filed within 7 days of the UO, claim will be struck out (PD 26, para 2.5(1))

One Party has Filed:

  • Court allocates based on available information (if possible)

  • If not possible, an allocation hearing is ordered

  • Party who didn’t file is to pay the costs of the one who did on indemnity basis or have their claim/defence struck out (PD 26 para 6.6)

T&F NOTE If opponent in a multi-track case has failed to take a step in accordance with the timetable. You should first warn your opponent that you intend to make the application to the court. See PD 29 para 7.2.

Scrutinising the AQ
  • Always scrutinise you opponent’s AQ; in particular, consider:

    • Part C: whether the pre-action protocols compliance is accurate

    • Part D: whether we should interview any witnesses named

    • Part D: what position they have taken with experts and what that means

    • Part D: whether they have disclosed any electronic documents

    • Part G: their costs estimate

    • Part I: if any additional information has been supplied

Which Track? (Civil Lit Book pages 130-134)

Rule 26.8(1) sets out the factors to which the court must have regard when Allocating the Track, including:

(a) the financial value, if any, of the claim; (b) the nature of the remedy sought; (c) the likely complexity of the facts, law or evidence; (d) the number of parties or likely parties; (e) the value of any counterclaim or other Part 20 claim and the complexity of any matters relating to it; (f) the amount of oral evidence which may be required; (g) the importance of the claim to persons who are not parties to the proceedings; (h) the views expressed by the parties; and (i) the circumstances of the parties.

Rule 26.8(2) when the court calculates the financial value of a claim it will disregard –

  1. any amount not in dispute; (b) any claim for interest; (c) costs; and(d) any contributory negligence.

T&F NOTE The value of the claim is only one of the factors which the court will take into account when deciding on allocation.

Small Claims Track

CPR Part 27 + PD 27

(AQ Form N149)

(DQ Form N180)

Fast Track

CPR Part 28 + PD 28

(AQ Form N150)

(DQ Form N181)

Multi-Track

CPR Part 29 + PD 29

(AQ Form N150)

(DQ Form N181)

  • Claims worth no more than 10,000 (PD 26 Para 8.1(1))

  • Do not aggregate claim and counter-claim; just take the largest of them (PD26 para 7.7)

  • Part 18, Part 31, Part 32, part 35 and Part 36 Do not apply unless court orders otherwise.

  • Claims between 10,000-25,000

  • Take one day or less

  • County court unless...

Buy the full version of these notes or essay plans and more in our Civil Litigation Notes.

More Civil Litigation Samples