I am a Litigant in Person in a Civil Law case and need some advice regarding court forms, amended particulars of claim and others.

[Cinnabr33]

I have issued court procedures against my commercial landlord who is also the Local Authority. I am confident(ish) with the case law, statutes etc. however, I have failed to send the evidence which I have. My initial particulars of claim was rushed and not the best! The judge stated I could apply to amend and also directed me to file an amended claim form from a Relief of Forfeiture to an N1.
My question is should I apply to further amend the claim form and the particulars of claim?
I feel like this would let me set out my claim properly with the evidence included.
I have also replied to the defence and counterclaim but again, I have not sent this with evidence as there is so much and I am useless with tech, should I just send the evidence for both the particulars of claim and the defence together or apply to amend the defence reply too?
I have filed a directions questionnaire and waiting for the next hearing date.
I feel I have a strong case to strike out the counterclaim based on a horrendous schedule of conditions report, an example of how poor it was is they identified I had an emergency exit at the rear of the premises, I don't, and took 6 separate to show exposed power supplies and electrical wiring left loose and poorly jointed to existing circuits - these pictures show speaker wires and all have labels on! None of the work that has been carried out by me (my contractor) has been raised as a concern, however, they have highlighted work or installations that were there previously as needing attention. The surveyor who completed the report works for the Local Authority and met with the professional who instructed him at the property when he completed the survey.
Any help at all would be appreciated however help with the court forms are a desperate plea!

Thank you all in advance

 

[Paul Kelly ICHYB]

Sorry to hear of your situation.

It is not clear if this is business or residential, however, unless otherwise informed, I will presume residential, therefore, as this is a business related forum, I will lock this topic from further comments.

However, I would advise you to Speak to Citizens Advice or, ideally, seek qualified legal advice/support (I believe there are free services at certain courts).

 

[Newchodge]

Sorry to hear of your situation.

It is not clear if this is business or residential, however, unless otherwise informed, I will presume residential, therefore, as this is a business related forum, I will lock this topic from further comments.

However, I would advise you to Speak to Citizens Advice or, ideally, seek qualified legal advice/support (I believe there are free services at certain courts).

Paul

The forst line says commercial landlord. So I've unlocked it

 

[Paul Kelly ICHYB]

Apologies, you are totally correct!

That rules out the CAB option, then!

 

[Gyumri]

The stage of providing a witness statement will come later after disclosure of documents/photographs etc. First however you need to clarify concisely your particulars of claim and you will need to provide your defence to the counterclaim within 14 days (or is it 28 days?)

The case is obviously in the county court but either way you need to closely follow the rules of court that are set out in the CPR which is published on the internet.

The CPR is divided into helpful sections and I think the court itself has a voluntary association to help LIPs.

However you may wish to instruct a cheap junior direct access barrister to advise you on the procedural requirements as the case is obviously important to you.

You are up against the local authority and they are not going to make life easy.

 

[Cinnabr33]

The stage of providing a witness statement will come later after disclosure of documents/photographs etc. First however you need to clarify concisely your particulars of claim and you will need to provide your defence to the counterclaim within 14 days (or is it 28 days?)

The case is obviously in the county court but either way you need to closely follow the rules of court that are set out in the CPR which is published on the internet.

The CPR is divided into helpful sections and I think the court itself has a voluntary association to help LIPs.

However you may wish to instruct a cheap junior direct access barrister to advise you on the procedural requirements as the case is obviously important to you.

You are up against the local authority and they are not going to make life easy.

 

[Cinnabr33]

Thank you so much. I had another order arrive today, I am in court again for a case cost management conference and on the 611 - I also received a change of legal representative application today.
I have also discovered CASEMINE - amazing website!!

 

[Gyumri]

see also this link:

BAILII - Case Law Search

www.bailii.org

 

[Michael Loveridge]

Thank you so much. I had another order arrive today, I am in court again for a case cost management conference and on the 611 - I also received a change of legal representative application today.
I have also discovered CASEMINE - amazing website!!

It concerns me that you're facing a costs management hearing. Do you actually understand the law relating to relief from forfeiture? It's an extremely complex area, and even specialist property lawyers treat it with caution.

It also concerns me that you appear to have issued the claim on form N1, which is entirely the wrong form. You should have used form N5A - https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/601bc358e90e07128691d2c0/n5a-eng.pdf This makes me wonder whether you really know what you're doing at all.

On what grounds was the lease forfeited? If not for rent arrears then presumably you were first served with a section 146 notice, so why did you not comply with it?

Are you a sole trader or a limited company? Either way you're facing thousands, or quite possibly tens of thousands of pounds in costs if your confidence in your case turns out to be misplaced. If it's a limited company then it may not matter if it's insolvent, but if you're a sole trader it's your personal assets that are at risk.

 

[Lisa Thomas]

I highly recommend you pay a solicitor to represent you. I can recommend one if you DM me. This could be very expensive if you lose.