Every so often, we will have a client who has not completely comprehended the court process nor how a judge has reached a decision.
It is important to stress that it is not just the strength of the evidence that is vital, but also how the evidence is given.
Every case is different, and there are cases where the witness evidence itself is nowhere near as important as the physical evidence, such as in a contract dispute where the wording of a term within the contract completely defines the outcome, and no amount of witnesses are likely to change that.
However, the vast majority of final hearings are determined based on the witness evidence.
Any of our clients who have used Lawgistics Litigation for the Motor Trade will know that we carry out all the steps that are required to get to a final hearing. These can, but are not limited to, drafting defences or particulars of claim (if we are the claimant), completing the directions questionnaires, drafting directions for the court to consider, arranging for a motor engineer’s report, drafting witness statements, and instructing a representative with a full explanation of the claim and the desired result.
Documentation and other written evidence are vital, but how these are framed in the context of the case and how they are understood by the court, are of equal importance.
Lawgistics Litigation will help you draft a statement that best presents your argument. The team will amend and/or omit anything you should not say in court, as judges do not generally appreciate unfounded criticisms of other parties.
It is important for the person or persons at the organisation who best know what happened in any particular case to provide the witness statement. They should have had first-hand experience of what transpired.
A witness who turns up at court and can only refer to what they have been told, rather than what they experienced or saw, is unlikely to have much weight put on their account of the event, as they cannot confirm the situation happened nor be asked meaningful questions about/on their evidence.
As opposing witnesses give different accounts of what has happened, some cases really will hinge on which version of events the judge prefers.
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Therefore, the right person must attend the hearing so they can provide full, informative evidence and confidently answer any questions that the judge or the opposition asks them.
At the beginning of the court process, a witness must provide Lawgistics with the dates they cannot attend court. If witnesses have further diary commitments arise, they must notify us as soon as possible of the dates they are unavailable.
Finally, given the importance of the witness evidence, it should be borne in mind that our clients are businesses, and as such, staff come and go. If the key witness is no longer available to give evidence as they have left the business, then the whole plan behind defending the claim may need to be reassessed.
Here at Lawgistics Litigation, we have the experience of dealing with the twists and turns of cases and can advise accordingly.
