Case Management

The court must further the overriding objective of dealing with cases justly by active case management. This means that once a case has been allocated to a track, the court will give directions as to how that case is to proceed to trial. Ultimately, this is done by the court setting a timetable of steps that the parties must follow. But first the court will want to identify the issues in dispute between the parties: i.e. decide which of those issues need to be fully investigated and direct the parties as to how that investigation is to be conducted.

To help the court carry out these tasks, particularly in a complex multi-track case, the court will usually require the parties to attend at a case management conference and to prepare a case summary for that hearing.

Before we look in detail at those matters, let’s reflect on where we are in the litigation process, how we got there and where case management will take us to next in the proceedings.

The court will actively manage a case at Stage 3, the interim phase of civil litigation. So, what exactly does this entail and how does it fit into the civil litigation process?

Stage 1

The parties normally communicate details of their respective cases

1. Before litigation starts, details of the claim should normally be set out in writing by the claimant and sent to the defendant. The Defendant will then respond. Sometimes a settlement can be reached through a series of letters, telephone calls and meetings or even through the adoption of a successful ADR procedure. If not,

2. the pre-action steps taken should help identify what legal and factual issues remain in dispute between the parties. These issues will subsequently be detailed in court proceedings as statements of case. (Only a few documents may be shown (for tactical reasons not everything is said/shown))

Stage 2

The basic details of any claim, defence and counterclaim are set out in the statements of case

A Claim is started by the claimant completing a claim form which is then filed at the appropriate court.
This is a prescribed form containing only basic details about the parties and the nature of the claim.
The material facts on which the claimant relies should be concisely set out in the Particular of Claim.
If the defendant wishes to resist the claim, each and every allegation should be answered in a Defence by way of admission, -non-admission or denial.
If the defendant has a claim against the claimant – a defence and counterclaim can be made using the same document.

Stage 3

the interim phase

At Stage 1 the parties normally communicate details of their respective cases, at Stage 2 the basic details of any claim, defence and counterclaim are set out in the statements of case. It is only at Stage 3 that the detailed evidence used at trial is addressed. A statement of case is just the bare bones of a party’s case. What “flesh” can be put on by way of factual an expert evidence is a matter for the court to decide. Assuming the Particulars of Claim and any counterclaim have properly set out the allegations and that each of these has been answered by the defence by way of admission, -non-admission or denial – a comparison of the documents should allow the parties to formulate the issues in dispute.

This analysis is essential in most multi-track cases when preparing a case summary for a case management conference. At that conference the court will:

set a timetable of steps the parties must take in order to prepare the case for trial. This normally starts with the disclosure and inspection by the parties of certain documents.
This is followed by the exchange of evidence that the parties intend to rely on. This often includes formal, written, factual statements form non-expert witnesses and written experts’ reports.

Whatever track the case is on, the parties will work towards either a known trial date or at least a period of time in the future when the trial will occur.

Stage 4

Trial

A trial on the small claims track is informal and conducted at the discretion of the judge. However, the formal rules of evidence apply on the fast track and multi-track. At the end of the fast track trial, the judge will give a decision on the legal and factual issues and decide which party, if any, should pay the costs of the opponent and the amount of those costs. On the Multi-Track, the trial judge decides the legal and factual issues and who should pay costs but the amount of those costs is determined subsequently by a different judge, known as a costs judge.

Stage 5

Appeal

On all tracks a party may decide to appeal all or part of the trial judge’s decision. Subject to any appeal, a party awarded damages and/or costs will expect to be paid by the date set by the court. But what if that does not happen? The answer is that the party will have to apply to the court to enforce the judgement.

Case management conference

Now let’s focus on the multi-track and the case summary that needs to be prepared for a case management conference. A case summary should assist the judge at the conference to understand the proceedings and decide how the case should be prepared for trial. The case summary needs to be:

clear and concise,
Normally it shouldn’t exceed 500 words,
It should be prepared by the claimant.
However, the other parties should be asked to comment on it and, if possible, its contents should be agreed, with a note being made of any disagreement.

Case Summary

Now we will consider how to draft a case summary. A case summary, to be used at a case management conference, should contain certain information. The important skill to use when drafting a summary is case analysis.

Formalities	The case summary starts by looking a bit like a statement of case. The heading should have the name of the court, the claim number and the title of the proceedings, The date that the case management conference is set to occur should be identified. If the document is agreed by all the parties, that fact is normally included in the title. The document should end by being signed and dated by all the parties who have participated in its preparation.
Chronology of Proceedings	Set out in chronological order all the sets that have occurred so far in the court proceedings. These will include for example, the dates of each statement of case and when the allocation questionnaires were filed.
Agreed Issues	The parties will have spent time and money already on the case and now they are starting to draw on the court’s resources as well. It is therefore essential that all the legal and factual issues that are agreed between the parties are clearly and accurately identified so no other further expenditure is incurred on them. The claimant should conduct a thorough review of the case. In particular he should examine the statements of case and spell out which parts of the claim and any counter claim have been admitted.
Issues in Dispute	As the parties will now spend time and money on preparing the case for trial, it is vital that all the legal and factual issues that are in dispute are explicitly and precisely set out. This is why case analysis and drafting are the key skills that need to be used here. The claimant must methodically examine the case. In particular, he should dissect the statements of case and make clear which parts of the claim and any counterclaim are not admitted or disputed. Where appropriate, a claimant may want to categorise the issues as being either legal or factual. Very often the claimant will formulate the issues as questions for the trial judge. Such as: Did the claimant communicate the particular purpose for use of the cooker to the defendant when making the contract? Did the claimant say the cooker was to be used as a demonstration model in his shop? If so, was the cooker fit for that particular purpose?
Evidence Required on Disputed issues	It will be for the judge at the case management conference to decide what legal and factual issues should proceed to trial and how this is to be done. Quite often liability and quantum are the two main legal issues in dispute at this stage. By careful cross-referencing to the disputed issues, the parties should flag up for the judge what factual and expert evidence they would like to rely on if permitted by the court. So, for example, whether or not the claimant communicated the particular purpose for use of the cooker will be a matter for factual evidence. However, expert evidence will be required to resolve the legal issue of whether or not the cooker was fit for use.

Case Management Directions

Active case management requires the court to set a timetable, by reference to calendar dates, for the steps the parties must take to prepare a case for trial. In deciding what directions to give, the court will first reflect on what has happened already. So it will ask if any statement of case needs amending or if any Part 18 request for information are outstanding. Then, looking forward, the court will consider what disclosure of documents, if any, is necessary; what factual evidence should be given in the form of witness statements; what expert evidence is reasonably required including how and when any expert evidence should be obtained and disclosed;...

#10145 - Case Management Summary Case Managment Conference - Civil Litigation

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