What is a high court hearing?

breda1970 · 24-01-2019 08:19PM

But a good defence solicitor would not make any offer before the court and that would put the plaintiff under pressure to except a lower offer on the morning of the court.
Can a certain judge make that much of a difference in a personal injury case?

Claw Hammer · 25-01-2019 03:52PM

breda1970 wrote: »

But a good defence solicitor would not make any offer before the court and that would put the plaintiff under pressure to except a lower offer on the morning of the court.
Can a certain judge make that much of a difference in a personal injury case?

What happens is that the case is valued by the underwriters. They will often try a low ball offer at an early stage. If a case has got to the point of being heard there is a risk something can go wrong on either side. A new medical report showing worsening injury might appear. The judge might be in a giveaway mood.
If the defence can get the case off their hands at the lower end of expectations they will do so.
There are major differences between judges. Some are more prone to throw cases out for exaggeration than others. Some award far more in damages than others.

breda1970 · 25-01-2019 10:04PM

So the case is valued by the underwriters and this figure is given to the defence solicitor.so the defence will do there best to get it thrown out or offer as little as possible and it excepted..?
Then the defence get a
pat in the back and more work given there way...
Is there much of a savings in costs settling the case on the court steps?

4ensic15 · 25-01-2019 10:20PM

breda1970 wrote: »

So the case is valued by the underwriters and this figure is given to the defence solicitor.so the defence will do there best to get it thrown out or offer as little as possible and it excepted..?
Then the defence get a
pat in the back and more work given there way...
Is there much of a savings in costs settling the case on the court steps?

There is very little saving. By the time the case gets to the steps, most costs have been incurred. There may be some saving on standby costs and refreshers fees but these are a relatively small percentage of the total. The main saving is that there is no appeal. Insurance companies are happy if the majority of their cases settle within the expected range. Insurance companies work on a global basis. Write x no of policies. Get notification of y no claims. Provide z against the claims. Pay out z on claims. They are going to have the odd outlier but they know some settlements are going to be more than they might have had to pay, others are going to be less.

25-01-2019 10:30PM

Mr. Incognito wrote:

They are accessable to the public- feel free to wander in and have a look

It's a great day out if you aren't in the dock. It can be fascinating and entertaining and a little sad all rolled into one. I think everyone should visit court for the day.

breda1970 · 25-01-2019 10:33PM

The defence may try and discredit you if a case goes to trial,but if the accident happened and every thing I’d in the medical notes history-does the judge not look at the medical notes /reports when coming to a decision?

4ensic15 · 25-01-2019 10:51PM

breda1970 wrote: »

The defence may try and discredit you if a case goes to trial,but if the accident happened and every thing I’d in the medical notes history-does the judge not look at the medical notes /reports when coming to a decision?

The judge looks at the evidence put before her.

FreudianSlippers · 26-01-2019 04:08PM

4ensic15 wrote: »

There is very little saving. By the time the case gets to the steps, most costs have been incurred. There may be some saving on standby costs and refreshers fees but these are a relatively small percentage of the total. The main saving is that there is no appeal. Insurance companies are happy if the majority of their cases settle within the expected range. Insurance companies work on a global basis. Write x no of policies. Get notification of y no claims. Provide z against the claims. Pay out z on claims. They are going to have the odd outlier but they know some settlements are going to be more than they might have had to pay, others are going to be less.

How long is a piece of string?

breda1970 · 26-01-2019 06:22PM

Would there be more negotiations the weeks leading up to the court date?if the defence was plans on an offer at the steps,the plantiff solicitor is hardy going to keep annoying them and looking desperate...

4ensic15 · 26-01-2019 06:31PM

breda1970 wrote: »

Would there be more negotiations the weeks leading up to the court date?if the defence was plans on an offer at the steps,the plantiff solicitor is hardy going to keep annoying them and looking desperate...

There might be some but the single biggest unknown is the identity of the judge who will hear the case. Settlement negotiations take place between counsel. There may be some casual toing and froing leading up to the hearing but so many cases are adjourned that serious negotiation only really begins on the day of the hearing.

breda1970 · 27-01-2019 10:00PM

Do the specialists doctors have to wait about the court all day or does that have any impact on an getting an early settlement?
Can they ask whatever they want for there days pay?

Johnny Red Cab · 27-01-2019 11:45PM

They are normally on call for the days the case is listed. And yes they can claim for each day on call.

Dakotabigone · 27-01-2019 11:47PM

What are we talking here, how many €75,000 balers?

Mod
75000 balers?

Peregrinus · 28-01-2019 10:19AM

There are standard fees agreed between (I think) the Law Society and (I think) the IMO for giving a medical report for litigation purposes, for being on call to attend court, for giving evidence. I've no idea what the fees currently are. The agreement has no legal force; doctors are free to ask for higher fees but lawyers are generally very reluctant to agree to higher fees.

breda1970 · 28-01-2019 12:52PM

What would happen if an orthopaedic dr had a few operations booked in for the day.his/her fees could run into thousands for the day.

Claw Hammer · 28-01-2019 03:07PM

breda1970 wrote: »

What would happen if an orthopaedic dr had a few operations booked in for the day.his/her fees could run into thousands for the day.

They schedule their operations for days when they do not have appearances in court.

breda1970 · 29-01-2019 10:26PM

I see posts where defence have lodged money into court.is this common practice and have they a time limit to do this before the trial?

4ensic15 · 29-01-2019 10:32PM

breda1970 wrote: »

I see posts where defence have lodged money into court.is this common practice and have they a time limit to do this before the trial?

It happens from time to time. It is part of the psychological game they play. There is a limited period during which the defence can make a payment into court before the trial.

breda1970 · 03-02-2019 12:20PM

so when a high court date is set down,will the defence sit down and focus or just forget about the case until a week before the trial date?
What is the process for the defence solicitor when a date is set down?

Claw Hammer · 03-02-2019 12:33PM

breda1970 wrote: »

so when a high court date is set down,will the defence sit down and focus or just forget about the case until a week before the trial date?
What is the process for the defence solicitor when a date is set down?

Defence solicitors will be handing many cases simultaneously. Their main cocernn is logistical, getting papers together, making sure witnesses are available, counsel hae papers and are available. The decision on settlement is with the case handler in the insurance company. The case handler may carry out a review and advise they can offer a certain amount before trial. They may try and ask counsel to get some feel from the other side as to expectations. In a run of the mill case, which most are, the papers will be prepared and then it is wait and see what happens.

breda1970 · 09-02-2019 08:45AM

when a court date is set down and agreed,does the plaintiff solicitor have to say how much compensation they are seeking or can that be left open because it the high court?

breda1970 · 11-02-2019 02:03PM

Is it just because the case is in the high court it can be between €40k- ....
They don’t need to give an exact figure?

Credit Checker Moose · 11-02-2019 04:50PM

Nope. That is for the judge to decide.

Peregrinus · 12-02-2019 01:41AM

breda1970 wrote: »

when a court date is set down and agreed,does the plaintiff solicitor have to say how much compensation they are seeking or can that be left open because it the high court?

Depends on the nature of the claim. If this is a commercial, breach-of-contract type dispute, the claim is for losses resulting from the non-performance of the contract, and it may be possible to quantify those with reasonable precision, so both sides will know how much is in issue. Whereas if this is a personal injury case you'll be able to quantify your medical expenses, loss of earnings, etc incurred to date, and make a reasonable projection of future expenses/loss of earnings, but there'll also be a claim for further damages for pain and suffering, and that's pretty open-ended. You don't claim a specific sum; the court fixes a sum having heard the evidence in the case.

hullaballoo · 12-02-2019 08:43AM

breda1970 wrote: »

when a court date is set down and agreed,does the plaintiff solicitor have to say how much compensation they are seeking or can that be left open because it the high court?

In theory at least, both the plaintiff and defendant in personal injuries cases are obliged to formally offer settlement terms by virtue of s 17 of the Civil Liability and Courts Act 2004. This requires in mandatory terms that the plaintiff and defendant write their proposed settlement terms down, send them to each other and then lodge the notices in Court prior to the hearing date.

The Court is then supposed to determine the issues without reference to the s 17 offers and then take account of the reasonableness or otherwise of the offers when dealing with costs.

For some reason, it doesn't happen in practice to the best of my knowledge at least.

breda1970 · 13-02-2019 02:44PM

hullaballoo wrote: »

In theory at least, both the plaintiff and defendant in personal injuries cases are obliged to formally offer settlement terms by virtue of s 17 of the Civil Liability and Courts Act 2004. This requires in mandatory terms that the plaintiff and defendant write their proposed settlement terms down, send them to each other and then lodge the notices in Court prior to the hearing date.

The Court is then supposed to determine the issues without reference to the s 17 offers and then take account of the reasonableness or otherwise of the offers when dealing with costs.

For some reason, it doesn't happen in practice to the best of my knowledge at least.

So to get a hearing date,a judge has to look over everything to make sure all is in order and both parties are there to agree on a date??
at this stage would the judge not ask the parties to try and sort it out?

4ensic15 · 13-02-2019 06:58PM

breda1970 wrote: »

So to get a hearing date,a judge has to look over everything to make sure all is in order and both parties are there to agree on a date??
at this stage would the judge not ask the parties to try and sort it out?

In a personal injury case, nothing of the kind happens. Judges don't look at anything until the hearing.

breda1970 · 15-02-2019 10:49PM

Can any dr or professional that treated you for your injuries be summoned to court to give evidence?
Even if they have not done a medical legal report?

Peregrinus · 16-02-2019 08:03AM

breda1970 wrote: »

Can any dr or professional that treated you for your injuries be summoned to court to give evidence?
Even if they have not done a medical legal report?

Yes. But if you haven't got a report from him you don't know what evidence he's going to give. And if he feels aggreived about being summoned without the usual procedures having been followed, he may not be motivated to give evidence in a friendly way. So you'd want some unusual circumstances before you would think this was a wise thing to do.

4ensic15 · 16-02-2019 09:56AM

breda1970 wrote: »

Can any dr or professional that treated you for your injuries be summoned to court to give evidence?
Even if they have not done a medical legal report?

Medical reports have to be exchanged in advance. Each side needs to know what medical evidence the other is relying on. The doctors who provided treatment will have recorded their observations which will have been passed on to the doctors who will be giving opinion evidence. It is unlikely that anything recorded by the treating doctor would be disputed.

What is a high court hearing?

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