second part Flashcards
What are damages
Damages are a remedy or compensation for an incident, there are two different categories - special and general. Special are quantifiable, which means they have exact, calculated numbers, such as loss of earnings or medical expenses. General damages cannot be easily quantified as they are simply potential - such as pain and suffering, loss of amenity and faculty. In this scenario
Explain two sources of funding
The first source of funding id like to advise you on is “no win no fee” claims, this is a CFA where if you don’t win you won’t have to pay the courts any fees, however if you do win you will have to pay a court fee and if you win you may still have to pay a success fee to the solicitor if you aren’t already paying theme by the hour. The second source of funding I would like to advise you is pro bono, this is where solicitors and barristers do legal work for free. They do this on a voluntary basis and may not give you the full legal advice that you need due to them doing it for free, however if you win the case, you don’t have to pay a success fee to the solicitor.
Explain two sources of advice
The first source of advice I would like to advise you on is using a solicitor for your advice within your negligence claim. Solicitors work includes personal matters, protecting the rights of an individual and making and defending claims arising from negligence, therefore it will be perfect in your case. Solicitors are highly trained and have lots of experience within legal matters therefore, they are a good option for you as they are highly skilled and can give you specialist advice which would make your case more likely to succeed. However a downside to using solicitors as a source of advice is that they cost a lot of money and therefore it will depend how much money you have at your disposal and whether or not legal aid is available for you.
Explain the multiple court tracks
All cases go either ro the county court or the high court, these courts are split into a 3 track system. The first system is the small claims track, this is where the cases claims go up to £10,000 or in a personal injury case go up to £1,000. The second system is the fast claims track, this is where the claims go up to £25,000 or in personal injury cases go up to £50,000. The last system is the multi claims track, this is where the claims go above £100,000 or in personal injury cases above £50,000.
Role of a judge and appeals
The role of the judge is to hear evidence from both sides of the case and their witnesses, so the judge is able to give a clear verdict and an award of damages.
Although, if you are not in agreement with the original verdict of your case you would be able to appeal the case, which allows for the case to be heard again. However, to be able to appeal you must file an appeal notice within 21 days after the decision in the lower court, you will also need to be granted permission or ‘leave’ is required and will only be given if the appeal would likely be a success.
Explain ADR
Adr is alternative dispute resolution. For example the family law act suggests mediation for separating couples instead of involving the courts. Mediation includes a third party who aids the communication of both parties. Similarly, conciliation may be used as a type of adr, where the third party may begin to suggest ideas to solve the issue. Adr also includes negotiation, where the parties try to resolve the issue between themselves in private, which is therefore free and confidential. These alternative dispute resolutions are however not legally binding. On the other hand, arbitration is legally binding. Arbitration is governed by the Arbitration Act 1996 and section 1 of this Act sets out the principles behind it. In this resolution, the third party will be independent from the two parties and will usually have specialist knowledge surrounding the issue at hand. The arbitrator will decide a verdict and this is legally binding under the act stated above, and if the parties don’t abide by the decision made, the courts have the power to enforce it.
