LEXLAW Solicitors & Barristers
Key changes include a new draft Practice Direction 57AC; the need to identify the documents which the witness has been referred to for the purpose of providing the evidence and endorsement by a certificate of compliance signed by a lawyer.
The third amendment to the Civil Procedure Rules 2020 will come into effect from 1 October 2020. Following a public consultation, extensive revisions were undertaken to condense the previous rules and to set out a uniform procedure. The new Part 81 reduces the number of rules from 38 to 10. Our specialist litigation lawyers can advise you in relation to any contempt of Court applications you may wish to issue or defend.
Piepenbrock v Associated Newspapers [2020] EWHC 1708 is another case concerning where and when service may occur on the Defendant’s solicitors. The facts are similar to the Court of Appeal case of Woodward v Phoenix Healthcare Distribution (which Lexlaw were instructed on). The Claimant, a litigant in person, purportedly served the Claim Form on the last day of its four month validity period via email on the Defendants’ solicitors, who had not confirmed whether they were authorised to accept service. This amounted to a failure to effect service of the Claim Form. Applications to the Court to validate service were refused and the claim dismissed highlighting the dangers of ‘DIY litigation’ and the importance of instructing a specialist litigation team.
In yet another example of disclosure wrongdoing, The Lawyer’s Tabby Kinder reports that Dentons and RBS have been accused in the High Court of deliberate non-disclosure of documents…