Service & Amendment of Claim Forms - Avoiding Problems & Pitfalls

Introduction

CPR 6 and 7, the rules about service of the claim form, form a tricky section of the Civil Procedure Rules. Every year, applications are made, and decisions reported where the claimant is trying to avoid the consequences of defective service or asking for some latitude to be shown regarding its attempted service.

Equally troubling is the area of the amendment of claims after service, the need for which can sometimes occur extremely late in the litigation process. This may be due to a good reason or to correct an oversight. When will courts permit the amendment of a claim and which tests must be satisfied?

Aimed at lawyers involved in pursuing or defending civil claims, this virtual classroom session will provide an outline of the main rules on service and the amendment of claims. It will work as a refresher, as well as updating delegates on recent cases.

What You Will Learn

This live and interactive session will cover the following:

Service of a Claim Form

• The two-fold purpose behind service of a claim form
• The date of deemed service rule
• The problem in not ascertaining a defendant's last known address (Goodfellow v Warren Boyes & Archer)
• Combatting the evasive defendant
• Why pulling off effective service by email is trickier than using the Royal Mail
• The latest case where a claim form had expired before service: Phipps v Goulbourne

Amending a Claim Form

• Amending a Claim Form after service
• Why different results occur in similar situations
• CPR restrictions on amendment of a claim
• Why a ‘very late’ application to amend with material trial impact was allowed in Salt Ship Design AS v Prysmian Powerlink SRL
• But a ‘late’ one was not in KMG International Limited NV v Chen - because it would cause disruption to trial preparation
• What is the difference between 'late' and 'very late' in this context?

Recording of live sessions: Soon after the Learn Live session has taken place you will be able to go back and access the recording - should you wish to revisit the material discussed.