Lawgistics Litigation for the Motor Trade CIC (“LL”) is the litigation “arm” of Lawgistics. It runs court proceedings for our clients from the moment we receive the claim through to the point the matter is determined by the court or resolved by other means.
LL assists clients to write their initial defences and, later on, their Witness Statements. The key word, particularly for Witness Statements, is “assists”.
The whole purpose of a Witness Statement is for the witness (or witnesses) to tell their story as they see it. Clearly, LL is not a witness to the dispute, so, as far as possible, the Witness Statement should be written by the person giving the evidence in court.
That evidence is subject to cross-examination in court, and thus it is obvious to all that the person giving it must be very familiar with the content and its potential for challenge.
The courts have recently given guidance on the credibility of witnesses.
The court determined that where a Witness Statement materially or deliberately fails to address a weakness in the case, it goes to the heart of that witness’s credibility when they speak on other matters.
The court advises that, to protect a witness’s credibility, it is better to make admissions or concessions in the Witness Statement even if they go against the witness. Otherwise, those omissions, or a failure to concede certain points, are brutally exposed during cross-examination in court.
One of the reasons why judges want parties to attend hearings in person is that their credibility can be assessed. An open and honest witness who makes certain admissions is going to come across as much more plausible than one who deliberately fails to mention something that gets exposed in cross-examination. Better to take a few punches to the ribs rather than one knockout punch that takes away all credibility.
This is why, when LL makes suggestions as to what should be included in your Witness Statement, do bear in mind that we will be applying the above approach. It is for your own benefit even if you do not believe it to be so at first sight.
And on the topic of attending court to give evidence, we are often asked to try to excuse clients from attending due to holidays or childcare commitments.
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The courts have said that non-attendance at court will be viewed unfavourably in such matters, especially if other parties have had to overcome their own childcare issues or the hearing has been scheduled for many months.
This is why it is important that you tell us the dates when you cannot attend a court hearing, not only when you complete the Directions Questionnaire, but also on an ongoing basis after the questionnaire has been filed and served.
Thus, if you get a hospital appointment and you know you have a court hearing at some unknown point in the future, let LL know and we will tell the court that you cannot attend on a certain date. This is far better and less costly than making a last-minute application to try to get a court hearing adjourned. It also saves the LL team a ton of work too!
If you have had the same issue or a similar problem, why not call our legal team at Lawgistics to discuss our telephone helpline or casework support?
