After court proceedings have been served and the Defendant has filed their Defence to the claim, the Court will notify the parties of a date by which they must complete a court document called a directions questionnaire. A directions questionnaire can be found at the following link: http://formfinder.hmctsformfinder.justice.gov.uk/n181-eng.pdf
The Claimant and Defendant Solicitors will usually suggest their preferred timetable to the court within their directions questionnaire. This timetable is known as directions. Sometimes the solicitors agree the timetable between themselves. However, it is often the case that the parties may have differing views on how the claim should be timetabled by the court.
In the directions questionnaire, the Claimant and Defendant Solicitors will advise the court about the witnesses they intend to rely on, what medical reports they consider are required, how many days they consider the trial will last and any other matters they consider the court should be aware of when ordering the timetable of the claim.
In addition, the Claimant and Defendant Solicitors are required to notify the court whether their client wishes to consider settlement of the claim at that stage.
