Help Needed for Court Case. Claimant ignoring Directions and Witness Statement needed by Friday

[elsinore]

If you are truly confident of your position, why not apply to the court for the stay to be lifted and for the case to continue to trial.

You can state in the application that the stay was at the request of the claimant and that all attempts to negotiate a settlement have failed.

This should concentrate the mind of your antagonist. She will have to come up with some very good reasons for prolonging the stay (especially as she is the claimant!) to convince a judge not to allow your application. If she cannot, then you will have your day in court or she will pull the claim.

Els

[Desperate Daniella]

Hi bazaar,

 

All the ducks are lined up.

 

DD

[Desperate Daniella]

Hi Els,

 

To be totally honest, I know that even if I win (which I really should do, based on the evidence) I will not recover all my costs. The taxation department will see to that. As much as I would love to see her cross-examined, if it goes to Court a two day trial will be expensive (her lawyer upped it to a two day trial) and that money really could be better spent elsewhere. I really don't want to spend the money, which is why I am sending letters about nasty cross-examination which I hope will put her off. If I knew I was lying, I wouldn't want to go to court. I'm not too concerned about being cross-examined, (although I know it's not nice from a case where I took someone to court over a dodgy car), because I've told the truth the whole way through and my statements don't contradict themselves.

 

DD

[elsinore]

 

(her lawyer upped it to a two day trial)

 

DD

 

Presumably her lawyer suggested 2 days in her allocation questionnaire. That will have been to deter you.

How much time did the judge allocate?

 

But I hear what you say, although I don't see the cost to you if you win.

 

The alternative is to do as bazaar suggests - nothing.

 

Els

[DonkeyB]

Well, if they are not responding positively and continue to deny your claim, you are entitled to request that the stay be lifted. So battle can commence. A threat to do this may actually move them on. They would be quite happy for the stay to remain, I’m sure.

[Desperate Daniella]

Yes, Els, it was listed by the Court for one day but her solicitor increased it to two and when asked to explain said it was because I had raised so many issues.

 

Apparently the Taxing Office is really tough at the moment, and that is what worries me. Let's face it, a two day trial with preparation costs on top is going to cost a lot of money, and there is what I have already spent on Counsel, and of course I've spent literally hundreds of hours myself and I'm sure the Taxing Office would reduce those as much as they could.

 

Hi DonkeyB,

 

You are right; they just don't acknowledge my claim at all. I am supposed to have worked for nothing. Would her solicitor work for nothing?

 

I'll give it a bit longer and then ask if she intends to proceed or settle. I just don't understand how they think someone who can be so discredited on so many issues will have much credibility before a judge.

 

DD

[lady-in-red]

hey desperate daniella i cant send you a message as your box is full thanks

[Desperate Daniella]

Emptied now!!

[Desperate Daniella]

Hi all,

 

I've just realized I haven't updated for three months and really that's because there is no news. Her solicitor has phoned me twice saying he thinks he can get her to settle but those calls were about six weeks apart and it's six weeks since the last one. I think that he is finally accepting that her various witness statements are just full of lies, my statements from two impartial witnesses back me up and totally contradict what she says (big lie there), and she will be torn to bits if she is cross-examined. She, of course, will not want to settle because she has spent so much money, but it's going to cost her a lot more to continue. It's her own fault she spent so much money by flatly refusing to supply documents which she was legally obliged to supply. I've written about 50 letters to her solicitor all of which he's had to reply to. There have been four witness statements on each side, countless documents to be copied, and she has met with two different counsel one of whom attended the mediation with her. (My lovely Counsel didn't charge me for attending.)

 

You may remember that she flatly refused to make any offer of settlement and did not want to pay me for hundreds of hours of work. Thank God it dragged on for so long because the more witness statements she made the more likely it was that she'd tie herself up in knots and that is what she did. Even a possible typo can help because if a date is wrong it shows that she either lied to make it look better for her case, or didn't read the statement before she made the statement of truth. That is something else I haven't mentioned to them. I'm still keeping some stuff back in case I need it, including the BIG lie.

 

I hope you are all well and your own cases are being settled to your advantage, or being quiet.

 

Love to you all, and again thank you for seeing me through some very dark days on here.

 

DDxxxxxxxxx

[the_shadow]

I'm sorry to hear its still ongoing and you've not had closure of this claim but I'm glad to see your in a good position and feel comfortable of how it stands... thats the main thing.

 

All the best.

 

S.

[Desperate Daniella]

Thank you, Shadow.

 

I want closure too, and her solicitor keeps telling me he thinks he can get her to settle, but she's probably not that happy with him bearing in mind how much she's paid him so far.

 

I know I could apply to lift the stay but it will cost me more to do that, and at the moment if he can get her to settle it will be a very good result for me.

 

DD

[Undercover-Elsa]

Hello you!

Thanks for the update, here's hoping her solicitor does his job and convinces her it's pointless continuing and best to settle. The good thing is that you are so much more chilled and in control now, while she must be gnashing her teeth in frustration!

This has gone on far too long, after all her messing about it should be struck out with costs awarded to you for your time, stress and expenses!

 

Elsa xx

[Desperate Daniella]

Hiya Elsa,

 

If I thought I could go for a strike out I would, but the problem is that she is very rich and might, just, decide to go to Court and realistically that will be more expensive for me whatever the outcome. Unless you were very rich, and downright wicked, a normal person would have been concerned about rising costs about a year ago and, as I have pointed out to her solicitor, if it does go to court as far as the costs are concerned I can produce for the judge the dozens of letters where I am asking for documents and she is refusing to supply them - because they showed up what a lying b**ch she had been.

 

There used to be the option of going for a strike on the basis of "failure to prosecute" but apparently that has stopped. What a pity!!

 

How are you?

 

DDxx

[Undercover-Elsa]

I'm fine - battling on as usual

[rockwell304]

Hi DD, I'm sorry to hear this is still dragging on for you. she is obviously completely obstinate and is probably not listening to her own legal advisor. Hopefully her numerous errors will see you through in the end!

 

Anyway! now is the time for constant and varied non stop entertainment for our little darlings! I hope your daughter is having a lovely summer. Lots of activities here as we are in a small coastal village (Holland Park on sea in August regrettably) though not so great in winter.

 

Best wishes,

R

[pedross]

Hi DD

 

On a more positive note, the good news is that you do not have any bad news for us. Slow and steady wins the race.

 

All the best

 

Pedross

[Desperate Daniella]

Hi Elsa,

 

Know the feeling!!

 

Hi Rockwell,

 

I wish I lived in a small coastal village! How lovely, and you probably only get the tourists a couple of times a year. Funnily enough I did take my little darling to Holland Park (not on sea) last weekend. She is keen now to go to Brighton - I prefer the bits outside - so maybe I should ask Amex if I can drop in and visit my agreement.

 

Hi Pedross,

 

Thank you. You helped me get through a very bad time.

 

Love to you all,

 

DDxxxx

[lexis200]

Hi DD

 

I've not been on for so long, but thought I'd see what was happening with this awful case. I assumed it'd all be done and dusted now but I see as of July the mental woman is still refusing to admit defeat in the face of overwhelming evidence against her!!??

 

Has anything happened in the meantime?

 

Hope you're ok.

 

Lexis xxx

[Desperate Daniella]

Hi Lexis,

 

How lovely to hear from you. I hope you had a good Christmas and New Year.

 

Happy New Year everyone, and apologies. This settled just before Christmas and I have been meaning to update - just recovering from the school holidays.

 

On the advice of my barrister I paid her £2,500 to settle. It killed me because I don't think she deserves a penny, so here are the reasons:

 

My barrister, who met her at the mediation meeting in November 2010, said she is clearly d*****ed (not going to say because of site rules) but essentially it means as she has so much money even though we had provided proof of all my work, with independent witness statements, and she had made so many downright contradictions in her various witness statements, she was *** enough to go to Court, even though she knew I had no money. She had spent £27,000 in legal fees by the time we went to the mediation meeting and there has been more correspondence and telephone conversations with her lawyer since then so she will have incurred even more fees. C****, or what?

 

As you may remember, the case was listed for two days, and even if it took less that that she would still book her barrister for two days, and that and the preparation by her solicitor could work out at another £12-14,000, so she'd probably be up to £40,000.

 

I am sure that with all the evidence I would have won on almost all the points at issue, BUT it comes down to a matter of costs. If she were to win only 10% of her claim, I would be liable for 10% of her costs, or around £4,000. Even if she had to pay 100% of my costs for my counterclaim, most of those, apart from £2,500 to my barrister, are LiP rate.

 

I'm not happy about it, but it least it got rid of her, and it means that she did in effect pay me £6,500 for the work I did, but of course £2,500 of that went to the barrister, and it's taken hours and hours of my time. I just got to the point where I was exhausted by it all.

 

It's been a horrible three years but I'm glad I stood up to her, and I suppose it should count as a win. I've returned £2,500 and kept £6,500 of the funds she was demanding back, and of course it's cost her around £30,000 which I think serves her right for all the nastiness and spite she directed at me. Her solicitor kept moaning that he didn't want to litigate by post but I wouldn't let anything go, and dragged out the correspondence and made it as difficult as possible for them, and for that reason she incurred her staggering costs. She kept avoiding providing the information to which I was legally entitled and trying to hide facts instead of telling the truth so it's entirely her own fault that she has spent so much money. Her solicitor must have known she was lying, or maybe he just didn't notice when she made completely opposing statements in her various witness statements. As I have said to him, "A and B both can't be true, yet she has signed witness statements saying they both are. Does she not realize that a Statement of Truth has to be true?" Also I did imply that my barrister would be representing me if we went to Court. She met him at the mediation hearing (which he did for free for me) and they will have googled him. I don't think she would have wanted to be cross-examined by him, and he would have tied her in knots. I would have liked to have seen that but the worry about costs was the main issue.

 

You may remember that her solicitor told me on the phone the first time I spoke to him that he considered it to be a "winner takes all" situation. Well that wasn't right, but we can see who is the biggest loser.

 

I want to thank absolutely everyone who has joined me on this thread. I started to list particular people who gave me detailed technical help (you know who you are and gave me so much brilliant information), but I don't want to miss anyone out because on the days when I was very low so many people just came on the thread to give me encouragement and that meant so much and made me smile. Everyone on this thread helped in their own way and I am very, very grateful.

 

I'd also like to thank the site team for allowing this thread, because I realise it's not exactly a consumer issue, but I've learned a lot I didn't know before and I hope others have benefited too.

 

If anyone reads this thread, and it's now a very, very long one, I'd highly recommend dragging it all out as long as you can and never, ever letting the other side get away with anything.

 

I wish everyone a Happy and Prosperous 2012, and may you be successful in all your battles.

 

Lots of love,

 

DDxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

[elsinore]

Hi DD,

Happy New Year!

I'm sure we're all pleased that you have finally got this monkey off your back. Well done for sticking it out.

Els

[Desperate Daniella]

Thank you very much, Els.

 

It's nice to start the New Year without her.

 

DDxx

[DonkeyB]

Ouch! But the evil witch is dead.

[Desperate Daniella]

It is ouch but, as you say, the evil witch is dead. I can't believe she ran up so much in costs. Completely bonkers and she might have run up more. That's the problem when you are up against someone who is loaded. She was offered every chance to mediate but turned it down because she thought as she could afford legal representation she'd automatically win. My barrister said because she is so *** she would need to feel she had won in order for her to give up so now, despite the fact that she's spent £30,000 and didn't get £6,500 back she can say she's "won".

 

Thank you for all your help on the company law angles because that really helped. How are things with your case?

 

DDx

[DonkeyB]

You really don’t want to know. It’s evil. Shenanigans of the highest order! Will tell you via PM.

[Desperate Daniella]

I shall look forward to that.