Independent, practical help for litigants in person in England & Wales.
118 articles · All articles
Written by John Barwell
Once a defence is filed, CPR Part 26 begins the sorting exercise that decides where your case lives: small claims, fast, intermediate or multi-track. The directions questionnaire carries a fixed deadline the parties cannot extend, an automatic strike-out sanction for ignoring it, and answers that shape the timetable, the costs band and the hearing format. This guide explains the machinery – and how to complete the form so the answers work for you.
Written by John Barwell
WordPress tags (comma separated):** tenancy deposit, deposit protection, section 214, Housing Act 2004, prescribed information, Part 8 claim, county court, litigants in person, assured periodic tenancy, Renters’ Rights Act 2025
Written by John Barwell
A Part 36 offer is not an ordinary settlement letter — it is a formal costs instrument with a clock attached. Reject one and fail to beat it at trial, and the court must, unless it would be unjust, make you pay the other side’s costs from the day the offer period expired, even though you won. This guide explains the formalities, the 21-day relevant period, and how to evaluate, answer or match a Part 36 offer.
Written by John Barwell
Winning liability is only half the case. This guide explains how an employment tribunal actually builds an unfair dismissal award: the basic award’s statutory formula, the compensatory award’s assessment of real financial loss, the reductions for conduct, chance and mitigation, the statutory cap, and the up-to-25% Acas Code adjustment either way.
Written by John Barwell
With the Acas early conciliation period now able to run to twelve weeks, the tribunal deadline is a computed date, not a guessed one. This worked-arithmetic guide runs three fact patterns – unfair dismissal, discrimination and unpaid wages – through the Day A and Day B rules, shows exactly where the one-month floor bites, and sets out the calendar discipline a claimant needs, including what changes when six-month limits arrive on 1 October 2026.
Written by John Barwell
Civil courts in England & Wales can now order parties into non-court dispute resolution, and the Civil Procedure Rules were amended in October 2024 to match. This guide explains the difference between the automatic small claims mediation scheme and the general Churchill power, the costs risk of refusing to engage, and how to prepare for a mediation appointment without legal representation.
Written by John Barwell
Moving a listed Employment Tribunal hearing takes a formal application, not a diary note. This guide explains the rule 32 test in the 2024 Rules, what the presidential guidance expects a postponement request to contain, and the timing and evidence that decide whether it succeeds.
Written by John Barwell
A default judgment is not the end of a case. Part 13 of the Civil Procedure Rules builds in two routes back — one mandatory, one discretionary — and the route you take decides what you must prove. This guide sets out both routes, the promptness requirement the rule itself names, and the evidence an application has to carry.
Written by John Barwell
Nine months after Royal Assent, the Employment Rights Act 2025 is a half-built statute. Tribunal time limits double on 1 October 2026, but the unfair dismissal changes do not begin until January 2027 — and for dismissal the test is the date the employment ends, not the day the decision is announced. A state-of-play guide to what is in force, what is not, and how to time a claim in the overlap.
Written by John Barwell
Since October 2023 the County Court has had four case management tracks, and the newest — the intermediate track — now covers the defended claims worth between £25,000 and £100,000 that are too big or too complex for the fast track. Track allocation decides procedure and, through fixed recoverable costs, almost exactly what the winner recovers. Here is what to check before you return the directions questionnaire.
