Date: 10 April 2019
This article is intended to allay concerns
about the final stages of the case and the prospect of
going to trial.
A common worry held by clients in the early stages of a claim is that their case will definitely go to a trial in court. Whilst there is a small chance this will be the case, it is much more likely that the claim will be settled outside of court. About 90% of our complex medium-to-high value cases settle at Roundtable Meetings [also known as Joint Settlement Meeting] rather than at trial.
Roundtable Meetings usually occur towards the end of a case, preferably a couple of months before the prospective trial date, by which time the case will usually have been fully prepared for trial. These meetings are much less stressful than going to trial and avoid the costs associated with that. They do not take place in court, instead they are held at the barrister’s chambers, usually in Manchester.
For clients, the main thing to know is that they will not have to give evidence. The usual set up involves the client and their legal team in one room, with the defence in another and a negotiation room in-between. In the negotiation room the legal teams discuss the issues and negotiate. Usually the defence team will make an offer. Sarah will then return and discuss this offer with the client, either then accepting or making a counter offer.
This system means the client never directly interacts with the Defendant, but is still actively involved with the proceedings. However, due to the back and forth nature of the process for the legal teams, the client can often spend much of the time waiting. The meetings can often last for several hours or the whole day, so maybe bring a book.
Most cases do settle at these meetings, but if not
they are still incredibly useful and give us a better
idea of the Defendant’s case and what to expect at
trial. The trial process will be outlined in another
article in the near future.
We hope you have found this article informative, if you still have any questions about roundtable meetings or any other stage of a claim then please call us on 01253 356051 for free advice.
