document size for small claims court

[sergio33]

I am bringing a small claim for non-payment of fees for services. The defendant has produced a lengthy defence, and to counter this I will need a large appendix to my witness statement with many emails to show what actually happened. However I think there is a maximum size for documents that the small claims court can accept, something like 25 pages. Is this correct? And how many documents can I bring to court? I was thinking of a witness statement and a defence rebuttal (but ideally both over 25 pages).

[Pezza54]

Hi
Welcome to LB

Please read Practice Direction 5B - Communication and Filing of Documents by Email
In particular
1.2 (b) only applies to claims started under Money Claims Online
2.3 (b) when printed out on both sides of A4 paper must not exceed 25 sheets of paper in total
2.3 (c) only one email including attachments to take a step in proceedings

Your Reply to Defence should be (or should have been) filed with your Directions Questionnaire. However, you could email this document to the county court as soon as the claim is allocated

You should receive court directions regarding your witness statement and evidence including the latest date for filing and serving
Take the opportunity to read online how witness statement and evidence should be presented

[sergio33]

Thanks for this.
2.3(b) seems to imply that a PDF up to 50 pages would be acceptable (ie. under 25 pages if double sided).
2.3(c) I don't understand - what is considered a 'step' in proceedings?

I checked my Directions Questionnaire, and it didn't say anything about a Reply to Defence. I haven't seen anything about deadlines for this, although I remember seeing somewhere I can reply if there are factual errors in the defence document. I had assumed, since the Reply to Defence is a potentially lengthy task, it wouldn't be required until after mediation. Is there guidance on this? Also I'm worried, if I did email it soon, the reply would be considered the 'only one email' I am allowed to send to court, and then my witness statement would be invalidated.

The claim was allocated a few weeks ago.

[Pezza54]

A witness statement along with evidence is one step in proceedings. A Reply to Defence with the DQ is another step. You don't have to file a Reply to Defence, but if you want to, try to keep it short as possible by only replying to points in the defence you strongly contest

[sergio33]

Can I put all the items that should be in my reply to defence, at the end of my witness statement instead? If it fits into the 50 page limit...

[Pezza54]

All your evidence should follow your witness statement. Your Reply to Defence should just respond to points in the Defence that you disagree with

[sergio33]

My issues is this: The defence is a long-winded 32 page document with many complaints, some irrelevant, some untrue, some with facts twisted to support his narrative of events. So a short response is difficult. If I respond to some/all, it distracts from the main point - I wasnt paid for my work - and risks taking the judge down a rabbit hole of detail. If I don't, it may look like I'm conceding the points the defendant makes.

[pc52straw]

I can sympathise. It's very easy to fall into the trap of into fully rebutting every single contentious point when the defence does this... But sometimes that's the intention of the defendant. Overwhelming you, if not the court, with dead cats on the table, knowing that if you respond to all of it you'll risk annoying the court even more than the defendant already might be.

But, you're the claimant. You have to toe the line and keep your cool even if the defendant plays dirty tricks.

In copilot or Google (generative AI search), I've found "what does a good reply to defence look like in small claims" turns up the best advice.

Gut feeling- the job is to close off any loose ends and respond to new alleged facts that might FATALLY undermine your claim if not answered.

Use evidence sheets by exception in a reply to defence. If something wasn't necessary in the evidence in chief, do you need to be adding it in reply to the defence?

A reply to a defence must not contradict any earlier statement of case, or introduce a new argument or claim. Avoid finessing/embellishing /extending your claim. And, avoid engaging with point scoring exercises unnecessarily.

Example hypothetical scenario:

If a claim said (in summary), "The Defendant failed to pay the fee as agreed in the contract, causing financial loss, then notified me after the fact, of their intention not to pay the fee."

And the defence said that the fee was in the contract, but could not be paid due to XYZ; and asserted that the claimant was informed... And accused the claimant of a litany of wrongdoing without evidence, and closed with "the claim is full of lies and the claimant is a wazzock."

The reply to defence might want to focus on these key observations:

1. The defendant has conceded the fee is in the contract and has confirmed their intent not to pay was communicated after the deadline to pay. These two facts are not in dispute, and that validates your claim.

2. 'The claimant was informed" does not amount to proof that XYZ was discussed prior to the non-payment. If the notification was after the fact and without any reference to XYZ; and XYZ was never raised in prior correspondence, and this was already covered in the evidence in chief, perhaps highlight that observation with references.

3. The claimant may strongly disagree that non-payment of the fee can be justified by XYZ. Perhaps there are no clauses in the contract which allow discretionary non-payment of the fee in any scenario, and no provision to waive the fee under the circumstances outlined in XYZ without mutual agreement and consent.

If the rest is scurrilous nonsense, I believe the claimant shouldn't need to dignify it with a response. A reply to defence is optional, so not responding to every point doesn't imply acceptance of those arguments. A competent judge will see if the claim is presented fairly and the defendant is using a scattergun with a side order of ad hominem abuse to deflect attention away from the lack of substance to the defence.

(Beagles - if I'm wrong on any point, please correct me!)

[sergio33]

Thanks for the replies. I think I've come to the conclusion not to respond to the defence statement as my (draft) witness statement is, I believe, strong enough on it's own. The directions I'm given by the court are clear and simple enough, but I'm so unfamiliar with the process and protocols I'm nervous there's something that will trip me up. Random question: Am I allowed an appendix to my witness statement, or only individual exhibits?

[Pezza54]

Whatever it takes to locate the evidence referred to in your witness statement quickly. If you have a lot of documents, emails letters etc you could include an index at the front of the evidence, with documents cross referenced from the text of the witness statement to the index page

[sergio33]

Thanks.
1. Can I have footnotes to some of the paragraphs in the witness statement, to give additional detail without loosing the 'flow' of the text?
2. Can I include an excerpt from an email as an exhibit, or would it need to be the entire email? (eg. in the case of a 3-4 page email where only one paragraph is relevant)

[Pezza54]

Has your claim been allocated to a track yet? I don't recall you saying you had filed your directions questionnaire

[atticus]

Looking at some of the OP's questions, he might find it helpful to download and read the Judiciary's guide for LiPs - link in my signature.

[MaryS57]

Random question: Am I allowed an appendix to my witness statement, or only individual exhibits?[/QUOTE]

When you get to WS stage, this is how i've done mine..........

1) My witness statement (paginated) has a v small condensed table at the top with 3 columns: (1) Exhibit Number (/appendix) (2) v brief exhibit description e.g. "photos of damage". (3) page number reference .

2) The WS text then follows, complete with references to exhibits e.g. see [Exhibit MS3/page xx] (in bold italics)

3) all Exhibits are behind the WS and marked with title at the top e.g. Exhibit MS3.(email from x to y) & paginated at bottom (numbers following on consecutively from WS ) . I have put labelled coloured tabs between different sections e.g. photos/correspondence/Expert Report .... for ease finding the right exhibit.

4) I have an appendix at the back - I've used this really for only for far less important things that are unlikely to come up at the hearing - but which i wanted in there just in case.

5) All put into small ring binder - one copy filed in person at court (some courts have letter boxes for this purpose- but could be posted); a second copy posted to defendant (24hr tracked) and last copy for myself.

I have over 25 pages - so I preferred the hard copy route rather than risking the court cutting off an overpaged/oversized file pdf electronic version of my WS+exhibits.

i hope this helps.

[sergio33]

Thanks for the link and advice. To some extent I do want to limit the time I spend on this, it's not a huge amount at stake, although I will be very unhappy if the (particularly unpleasant) defendant 'gets away with it'. (The same as he's done with several others as I subsequently found out). I have filed the directions questionnaire and have a date for the hearing, and am in the process of putting together the witness statement. I didn't realise larger documents, above the 25/50? page PDF limit were allowed if hardcopy - thanks for that Mary.