Preparing Your Legal Case
Posted by Steve Huggard on July 12, 2009 · Leave a Comment
Good evidence essential
When the collection process has failed and a debtor is forcing you to consider your legal options and remedies, the available evidence must be taken into consideration as part of the equation.
Court proceedings are always expensive and it does not necessarily guarantee the outcome one would like. Much depends on the strength of the evidence submitted being persuasive and logical and of a high standard, so a court is not required to review irrelevant information. Consideration of the available evidence and or likely witnesses gives the opportunity to expose any weaknesses in a clients case and whether it is possible to address those issues successfully in a court action. There is no point in proceeding into a court situation without a very strong case as a successful defended action could also have the repercussions of you paying some of the former debtors legal fees adding insult to injury.
Commencing legal proceedings early will ensure possible witnesses are available and important facts are remembered at the time to support any case submitted. Any evidence provided should include all documentation, even where errors have been made to enable the case to be prepared carefully.
The evidence held by the client is paramount and should be given considerable protection, as it will become evident at the end of the day that evidence may not be limited to an account sent to a debtor, but could include salesman’s notes, emails, credit notes, and a summary of other issues, should it be necessary.
There are several steps to achieving a final court decision.
Once proceedings have been issued and served on other parties a pre-trial settlement conference would occur, enabling each side to again reassess their position. This can sometimes result in settlement prior to any court hearing which naturally will save considerable costs. A well prepared brief of evidence at one of these settlement conferences can be a powerful tool in obtaining settlement to the satisfaction of the client without having to proceed in to a full hearing and incurring those additional costs along with a defended action as a result of weak evidence.
In summary, it is important any potential legal situation is recognised early and the appropriate records are kept at the outset in preparation of an anticipated court hearing. If this was made a policy of the department even if staff left the information would still be available.
