[Tezcatlipoca]

Originally Posted by Chris W

Matt I used to work in a court doing witness support, and also studied law, so if you want some advice then give me a shout on msn.

Thanks, Chris, I may take you up on that

Originally Posted by popper

'is finally being heard next week'

its leaving it a little late but you might go pop over to the
http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk...lords-tenants/
section and perhaps the chatroom http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/

plently of people there to help you understand some of the tricks that might be played against you in court by the other side etc.

Handy links, thanks

Originally Posted by Tinky

Be punctual, do not be late for your appointment. Be clean and presentable. The Usher will call your name when it is time to go into court. If you are nervous you can ask for someone else to speak for you, this is called a lay represtantive. The lay representative must first complete a form (obtained from the court counter) and hand it to the District Judge before the case commences. Be respectful to the Judge, address him/her as Sir/Madam, and do not argue with the Judge. Make sure you have all relevant documents with you and that they are in some kind of order, otherwise you might get flustered if you can't find what you are looking for. Do not raise your voice or swear. Do not interrupt. Good luck!

Ta

We're leaving quite a bit earlier than we need to, to make sure we still get there early even if there's bad traffic.

I've got a big black ring binder with every letter, document etc. in it, in chronological order. I also have 160 photos of the state of the house throughout the last two hellish months (major building works, disrepair, lack of facilities, & more...).

Originally Posted by TheDaddy

Good advice there and getting flustered aside some judges don't like it if you are reading your notes and documents whilst the case is being heard, although it's fine to make notes on things you want to challenge later.

Good luck, I hope justice prevails for you

Cheers

Originally Posted by Shaun

Make sure you have a time line of the events that occurred that is easily understood at a glance. Also make sure that each event has some documentation to support it and number them the same. I.E. event 1 paperwork bundle 1.

That way if he states that X happened on Y date then you can counter it with the correct date/info and easily pass paperwork to the magistrate to corroberate your claim.

Also, don't panic, the magistrates come up against idiots like your land lord day in, day out. If you're honest and sincere (and have paper work/photos to back you up) then you'll do fine I'm sure Tez.

Thanks


I have a long, detailed timeline (which has already been submitted), plus various other bits.

Originally Posted by cookie_365

Don't try to impress anyone with words like 'aforementioned' and 'herewithto' .And don't drop in legal jargon you don't understand but have heard on CSI Doncaster.

Never say 'with respect'

Just speaka da Inglisha.

LOL, OK.

Originally Posted by Bengie

There will be a duty solicitor at the court and you may use him, his fees come from the courts.
Be there an hour (or more) before you are due to appear and go find his office.

Handy info, thanks

---------- Post added at 01:50 ---------- Previous post was at 01:38 ----------

Oh, a few questions, in case anyone knows & can help:


We (& they) had a deadline of "no later than 14 days before the hearing" to submit any further documents, evidence, etc., which we wish to rely on in Court.

We submitted a few things we hadn't yet submitted back in the summer with the original claim form & particulars of claim - the photos, my timeline, & another witness statement from one of us. All in time.

The landlord & his wife then submitted "responses" to our submissions.

The response to my signed timeline did come in time, but is a string of fabrications. Is that something I can challenge?

The response to my housemate's statement came 1 day late, & is more BS. Would it still be allowed, & if so can it be challenged?

Is there any way to submit late evidence? I obtained a signed statement from a former housemate (not one a party to the claim, he lived there before the tenancy-ending problems began), supporting some things I'd mentioned as backstory, & also rebutting some of the new BS claims (& continuing BS claims) from the landlord in his recent & only-just-in-time response to my submissions. But, I didn't get it 'till last weekend, so it's too late to send off.


Oh. Crap. More questions:


Anyone actually been in a small claims hearing (or other) in a County Court? What's it actually like? Is it really daunting? What's the general sort of procedure for things?


Sorry.


Jittery.