Small Claims Court

[Jazzer]

Hi,

I’m just after some advice from those in the know.

I have issued a small claim against a company, which has been rejected by them.

I have a very strong case, but the expert witnesses nominated by me are now unable to attend for incredibly unfortunate reasons.

So should I now go to court without their backing, would that count against me?

I fear I’d look foolish and be consigned to lose from the start.

Thanks in advance.

Jazzer

[Jeremy-75qq8]

Get the witness to write a report.

Small claims is not hard but not a walk in the park.

Pay attention to any contract and it’s terms. If you have breached them be prepared to be very very clear as to why.

It is a court and you still have to prove your case.

[paintman]

Unable to attend on the court date for good reasons or have decided they don't want to be involved any more?

[martinbiz]

Ask the court to move the date, explain why, you would think they would oblige in the circumstances

[cts1975]

martinbiz said:

Ask the court to move the date, explain why, you would think they would oblige in the circumstances

Ye agreed - the judge will rely heavily on the expert witness to make a decision so I would expect the court to understand and accept your request.

[anonymous-user]

Jazzer said:

Hi,

I’m just after some advice from those in the know.

I have issued a small claim against a company, which has been rejected by them.

I have a very strong case, but the expert witnesses nominated by me are now unable to attend for incredibly unfortunate reasons.

So should I now go to court without their backing, would that count against me?

I fear I’d look foolish and be consigned to lose from the start.

Thanks in advance.

Jazzer

1. How do you know that you have a strong case?

2. Why do you need more than one expert witness in a small claim?

3. What are the issues that require expert evidence?

4. Do you have the court's permission to adduce the evidence of one or more expert witnesses?

5. Why can the witnesses not attend?

6. It is impossible for anyone to give you meaningful advice without a clear and balanced statement of the key facts of the case.

L not YL.

[kestral]

Just contact the court and request an adjournment until your expert can attend.
Don't do it on the day do it now.

[Jazzer]

Thanks for all of your replies and suggestions.

One expert witness is out of action, recovering from a serious operation, and the other now thinks it decent to charge me £1895 (+VAT) to give his views, having previously agreed to attend for free.

st, eh?

My case is solid, based on fact and standards of practice, which were not observed, something which is incontrovertible.

Expert written reports concur.

My question remains the same as before: will I be wasting my time if experts, previously mentioned, do not attend the court hearing?

I think I will and should abort now, and move on.

Breadvan, am I stuffed?

[kestral]

Jazzer said:

Thanks for all of your replies and suggestions.

One expert witness is out of action, recovering from a serious operation, and the other now thinks it decent to charge me £1895 (+VAT) to give his views, having previously agreed to attend for free.

st, eh?

My case is solid, based on fact and standards of practice, which were not observed, something which is incontrovertible.

Expert written reports concur.

My question remains the same as before: will I be wasting my time if experts, previously mentioned, do not attend the court hearing?

I think I will and should abort now, and move on.

Breadvan, am I stuffed?

No one can tell.
If you have told the court that the expert will attend and does not. That may go against you in particular if that evidence is required.
But it does not normally mean the case cannot go ahead. It is up to how you feel/think about your case. Do you have enough evidence without the expert? If so why not proceed?

[Jazzer]

I think I have a strong, robust claim.

However, I know how things go and, frankly, could not face turning up for a square go, only to be dismissed at the outset on a technicality’

The money matters little to me, it’s all about decency and integrity to me.

So I’m in a m mm

[KungFuPanda]

At what stage of the proceedings are you at? When directions were agreed did you get the Court’s permission to rely on expert evidence both written and oral at the final hearing?

If the case was listed for hearing, both the allocation questionnaire and listing questionnaire would have asked for the availability of your witnesses and experts and dates which they were not available to attend any hearing. If you completed these forms and your experts aren’t going to attend despite their previously stated availability windows, the Court isn’t going to be impressed.

Also, there is no way whatsoever that any expert witness was ever going to attend and give evidence for free.

There seems to be a few holes in your story.

[anonymous-user]

Having read the OP’s not altogether promising opener, and his not entirely encouraging or charm-filled follow up, and for all the usual reasons , ah’m oot!

[anonymous-user]

Jazzer said:

I think I have a strong, robust claim...

...The money matters little to me, it’s all about decency and integrity to me.

Oh.

[Jazzer]

The claim was issued online in the usual way.

The expert witnesses were both keen to attend in my support, but one is now trying to extract money from me to do so, having previously agreed to speak, given the significant money and referral business I had previously put his way.

So I’m disappointed with this turn of events.

My feeling is that, if I proceed to court
without expert witnesses in attendance, that I would be on a loser from the get go.

That was the aspect I was asking for advice with.

Why the hostility?

[anonymous-user]

Jazzer said:

Why the hostility?

On my part, ambivalence. The thread reads as if you haven't considered court rules and procedures and that you're using the court to teach someone a lesson, on principle.

If you're unsure how to proceed, best course of action is to pay for the advice of a lawyer. If the money isn't important to you and the case doesn't justify even an hour's time with a lawyer, you have to ask is it worth it at all?

[Jazzer]

Fair point.

I’m taking the company to court because they have acted wrongly, in a manner demonstrably inconsistent with the code of practice for their business, leaving us (and many others) with a mess to sort out.

The case against them is clear, but not calling on two experts listed initially in the claim could, I feel, go against me.

I will seek further advice from those more familiar with small-court proceedings.

Thank you for your thoughts.

[KungFuPanda]

Jazzer said:

I will seek further advice from those more familiar with small-court proceedings.
.

That’ll be trainee solicitors and paralegals then. Best of luck.

[Jazzer]

KungFuPanda said:

That’ll be trainee solicitors and paralegals then. Best of luck.

What’s up with you?

I’m stating exactly what has happened and you talk of holes in my story and sarcastically wish me good luck when you, with your wealth of knowledge and experience, can’t answer my simple question.

The two witnesses were listed in the online application, the claim has been rejected by the defendant, and I merely wish to know if me withdrawing these expert witnesses before proceeding to court would cause me problems.

I have tried to ask the question of the court, but communication with them is through unqualified support staff, who suggest that I seek professional advice elsewhere, like Citizens’ Advice or a suitably qualified solicitor.

The solicitor who has worked for us before has suggested that, if the court and defendant are informed in advance of the hearing, then there would be no detriment to my case, but he’s not too familiar with small-court proceedings and has suggested I get further opinions.

[KungFuPanda]

Nobody can answer your questions because you've failed to give enough information regarding your claim.

What is your claim relating to? What are the points in dispute? What evidence is the expert going to give?

You've also failed to provide information as to what stage the proceedings are at. You've merely stated that the Defendant has rejected the claim. Have they provided a fully pleaded defence whereby they have stated what they dispute? Is the expert's evidence going to rebut the pleaded case in their defence?

Have you filed an Allocation Questionnaire (or whatever it's called now)? This questionnaire is where you let the Court you will be seeking to rely on expert evidence, whether it's in a written report and whether you want your expert to give oral evidence at trial and dates of availability. It's unusual for oral expert evidence to be allowed at a Small Claim's Court due to the relatively low value of claims in that track and recoverability of expert's fees.

A good solicitor will tell you what you might not want to hear. Without further information, we can't really provide any more guidance. Being abrasive isn't going to help.

[Rasta Pickles]

Jazzer said:

I will seek further advice from those more familiar with small-court proceedings.

I've been through the Small Claims Track as an LIP so have an idea of what is what.

I apologise in advance if I'm missing something but you need to tell us what exactly it is that forms the basis of your monetary claim against the supplier.

You can't just pull a value out of the air and hope a DJ runs with it.