lpc dispute resolution ws1 and seminar 1 high distinction 95 comprehensive exam notes 2022 2023
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LPC - Legal Practice Course
LPC - Legal Practice Course
LPC - Legal Practice Course
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1. Overview of the “Litigation Process”
Civil Litigation, 1.3
Litigation in England and Wales is a lengthy process; a Civil trial is best viewed as the end-point of a
significant number of intermediate steps, which can take months or even years to complete.
An overview of the process leading up to trial, and beyond trial is below:
Stage 1 – Pre- Initially, the Court will not be involved in the litigation process at all and the
Action parties will correspond on a “pre-action” basis.
Parties who are in dispute will be required to follow steps set out in any
applicable Pre-Action Protocol, the most common of which are the exchange of a:
Letter of Claim – Setting out the details of the Claimant’s allegations.
Letter of Response – Setting out the details of the Defendant’s response
and, if liability is denied, explaining why.
ADR Parties are encouraged under the Pre-Action Protocols to use
litigation as a last resort and therefore should consider the
appropriateness of out of court “Alternative Dispute Resolution”
throughout the progress of the Claim, including at the Pre-Action
Stage.
Stage 2 – If the claim cannot be resolved at the pre-action stage, court proceedings will
Commencement need to be commenced by the Claimant. The following steps will occur:
of Court
Proceedings Issue the Claim Proceedings are commenced by “issuing” a claim form
Form (essentially sending this into court and getting the court to
affix its seal), and serving this on the Defendant.
Exchange The Claim Form will be accompanied by Particulars of Claim
Statements of which set out the details of the Claimant’s case.
Case In response to the Particulars of Claim, the Defendant will
Acknowledge Service, and file a Defence which responds to
each allegation. The Defendant may also make a
counterclaim.
Collectively, these documents are referred to as
“Statements of Case” (along with any subsequent Replies or
Rejoinders).
Allocation When Statements of Case have been exchanged, the claim
will be allocated by the Court to a “track”:
Small Claims Track – Claims of up to £10,000 and low
complexity.
Fast Track – Claims of £10,000 - £25,000
Multi-Track – Claims of in excess of £25,000.
There is no “clue in the name” here; a claim that is allocated
to the “Fast Track” does not go through an inherently
“Faster” process. Instead, students should be mindful that:
The track allocated depends on the Claims’
complexity and value.
Each track adopts a variety of different rules across a
range of matters (such as, for instance, the amount
of recoverable trial costs).
The intermediate steps to trial will differ slightly
, depending on the track the case is allocated to.
The LPC will normally focus on what happens in
higher value, more complex litigation, and thus
focuses on Multi Track claims.
Stage 3 – CCMC / When a track has been allocated, the Court will manage the
Interim Matters Directions claim and will give the parties Directions at an initial
hearing, known as the Costs and Case Management
Conference or CCMC.
The Directions will include specifying:
The trial window, and
The steps to be taken to prepare for trial in the
intermediate period such as:
Disclosure and Inspection of Documents
The parties list documents in their
possession (disclosure) and their
opponent will have the right to
inspect non privileged documents.
Exchange of Expert Evidence
Exchange of Witness Statements
For Multi-Track Litigation, the Court will also normally
undertake Costs Management whereby each party files and
exchange a Costs Budget (Precedent H), which will be
subject to the Court’s review and approval.
The budget will limit the extent of a parties’ costs at each
“stage” of the litigation that they will be able to recover
from their opponent.
Interim As the litigation continues, the parties may also apply for
Applications specific interim orders which may be required e.g.,
applications for:
Strike Out
Summary Judgment
Security for Costs
An Interim Payment
Relief from Sanctions (if there has been non-
compliance with a procedural rule).
Stage 4 - Trial When all of the Directions have been completed, if the parties cannot resolve the
dispute by ADR, they will proceed to trial where witnesses will be subject to
cross-examination and the court will provide judgment on all issues of liability
and quantum.
On completion of the trial, the Court may decide that one party will pay the
other’s costs (the normal rule is that the loser will pay the winner’s legal costs)
and, if so, how much.
The Court may make a Summary Assessment of Costs (deciding how much should
be paid on a “broad brush” basis) or may refer the matter to Detailed Assessment
where the Court will scrutinise a parties’ costs in more detail, generally on a “line
by line” basis.
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