Thanks for reading this.
Firstly someone tried suing me for 9000拢.Court papers were issued to me.
The claiment found out that i was consulting a solicitor as regards legal advice,and then offered me an out of court settlement of 4000拢.
My solicitor prepared defence and a counterclaim of 1000拢
The claiments solicitor then wrote to me and said they wanted a months stay by the court,so that we could explore negotiated settlement.
I KNOW I AM TOTALLY INNOCENT.Would mediation make me look guilty???
My question is,should i choose mediation if i am totally innocent.??
Or should i let a judge decide.??
The claiment gets legal aid,so far ive spent 400拢 on defence and counterclaim,but i cant afford to pay any more solicitors bills,,,,any advice appreciated You question raises a number of issues.
First the 'mediation' - I assume the Claimant merely ticked the little box in the Allocation Questionnaire requesting a month's stay?
Don't be surprised if nothing happens during that month - most litigants just tick the box to give them more time.
It's unlikely there would be a formal mediation over such relatively small sums - if anything it would be merely a series of offers and counter-offers in correspondence or at best, a round-table meeting. This can occur at any time up to trial.
If you can, I suggest you stretch yourself to get your lawyer to do the negotiation bit - you'll probably recover his fees in reduced damages several times over.
The CONTENT of any negotiation or mediation cannot be mentioned to the Judge at any time.
If the Claimant's claim is in fact worth less than 拢5,000 (rather than the 拢9,000 formally claimed) then it should be allocated to the small-claims track where there is a 'no costs' regime. Have you discussed having the matter allocated to the small claims track with your solicitor? If not, I suggest you do.
This is a civil claim, not a criminal prosecution. There is therefore no finding of guilt or innocence. It is merely a matter of liability (or not) to pay damages.
As a rule, I would suggest the parties to every claim explore settlement on best terms every claim.
Trial, which is an uncertain process in terms of outcome, should be a last resort, especially when dealing with such (relatively) modest sums.
Do not allow your understandable sense of grievance at the claim itself, over-shadow your better judgment as to the correct commercial course of action.. Mediation is an attempt by the parties to reach a settlement without going to court.
It's the legal equivalent of a business negotiation -- it doesn't make anyone look guilty -- it just makes you look like you're willing to try and resolve the problem without fighting. You "know" that you are completely innocent. Does your solicitor consider that your evidence is strong enough for you to win? Apply for legal aid and fight it. I would try increasing the counter claim and stall - ask for ajournments - send their legal bills up too - and then say you'll settle - for legal costs. Firstly check to see if you have any legal cover for defence with any insurance policies, (such as contents insurance).
I was in a similar situation where a taxi driver had driven into the back of my minibus (His name was abdul quyyum chaudhury by the way and he lived at 36 cemetery road, oldbury, warley). It was totally his fault but he got two people to act as witnesses to say that i had pulled out right in front of him (karamat hussain of 14 yately avenue birmingham and mohammed shabir of 17 corbett street smethwick). These people were not really at the scene of the accident and i had not really pulled out right in front of him and the damage to our vehicles proved so. He went to a no win no fee solicitor (cotrill stone lawless) who sent a letter claiming 拢11000 in damages (including whiplash). I was sent copies of his statement and his witnesses and it was obvious that he had wrote them all himself because of the wording. Surprisingly one of the witnesses was also a taxi driver and the other one was retired (probably from taxi driving) Anyway, this went on for over 2 years and they kept dropping their claim bit by bit but i instructed my solicitor (i was covered by my car insurance) not to settle out of court. The bloke was obviously shitting himself when it went to court and at first none of his witnesses turned up, and we were all sent home for lunch. on the way out i saw his witness (pretend witness i should say) drive past the court (i recognised him because i had been spying on their movements) and when we came back after lunch his witness showed up in court - 4 hours late, claiming he had been at the doctors all morning with diarrheoa! Anyway, the judge wasnt stupid and as it turned out, the guy who hit me had 3 previous claims all with back and neck injuries (although he couldnt recall any of them when asked) The judge threatened him that if he bought his witness in he would face some serious consequences as he was obviously lying.
He dropped his claim after that and his company had to pay my 拢5000 costs and $480 to me for damage to the step of my minibus.
Basically my advise to you is, do not give in. There is nothing to stop you from defending yourself in court which i really wanted to do, but my insurance company wouldnt let me as it was them who would have to pay out if i lost. I went there fully confident that i would not lose. I went through all the statements and listed any questions that could be thrown at me, and i wrote my own cross examination notes and emailed them to my solicitor which he used. I knew that they could not catch me out because everything i said was the truth.
Judges are not stupid and they can tell if somebody is lying. Even a little white lie is enought to raise the judges suspicions. If i were you i would learn all about defending yourself in court and cross examining witnesses.
Can i ask what the claim is about? If you go to court, how much will it cost you? (Remember the old adage that anyone who represents himself in court is represented by a fool.) I am not a lawyer, but I do believe it is more costly to prepare for trial than it is to negotiate a settlement. You need your solicitor to give you a realistic assessment of the likelihood of winning and losing. From there, you can decide if you wish to proceed.
By the way, at 9,000 pounds, why is there any legal aid involved? I'm away from the UK now but I thought the small claims court took cases much larger than that, which would preclude legal aid. Just for the record ...legal aid is not available for personal injury. (possibly is for claims against authorities?)
Mediation is where a judge would much prefer your case to be heard and even if it went far as court a judge would reflect a parties cooperation in mediation in his decision |
