Controlling the Civil Litigation Agenda - Handling Defendant Divergence

Introduction

Cross border contracting partners who have fallen out; accidents on holidays abroad; joint ventures that have gone wrong - each creates its own difficulties in dispute resolution. The common thread is the likelihood of multiple party disputes.

One of the main issues for claimants’ advisers running a civil claim lies in not having defendants present a common front. No longer is the dispute the straightforward model that of claimant confronting defendant.

Asymmetrical positions are enhanced by a mix of domestic and overseas defendants. This factor will often have significant implications for the effective management of the case, including the time taken to seek permission for the issue of claim forms against non-UK defendants, resulting service complexities, compliance with the court’s directions and other issues running all the way to trial.

How to handle such difficulties will be explored in this course, maximising opportunities for group discussion and the sharing of experiences.

Relevant case law will be considered, and practical points illustrated via a case study going through case preparation phases under this scenario.

What You Will Learn

This course will cover the following:

• Deciding on the advisability of suing multiple defendants: establishing a checklist of advantages and drawbacks
• Complexities introduced by overseas defendants and implications for domestic parties
• Pre-action applications
• Co-ordinating the timing of issue and service against all defendants
• Should a claimant apply for a default judgment if one of several defendants does not acknowledge service or serve a defence? What happens to claims against those who do indicate/serve a defence?
• Challenges to the English and Welsh courts’ jurisdiction
• The role of unless and debarring orders: ensuring that compliance with case directions can be enforced, especially parties’ disclosure obligations
• Intra-defendants’ claims
• Offers and mediation in multi-party cases
• Trial running order if the case gets that far
• The enforcement of a domestic judgment against an overseas party: realistic options for claimants