Word count limit on statement of facts.

[ritemaster]

I have read somewhere online that the limit is 2000 words for a statement. My statement is 6400 words and will take about 30 minutes to read out. I can cut it down to just over 4000 words if I don't list all the issues I raised that were not addressed or investigated, some of which are very important. Doing this will lose the impact of just how many issues the company did not address before they dismissed me. Do I cut it down or do I risk 6400 words and hope the tribunal accept it?

[FlamingParrot]

Re: Word count limit on statement of facts.

Is this for a witness statement? I was never told that was the case, I spent 8 hours with my solicitor preparing mine and I'm sure it's much longer than 2000 words.

[des8]

Re: Word count limit on statement of facts.

This may be what you read:
"The statement shouldn’t be overly long. Most Employment Tribunals now try and limit the word count of witness statements, often to a maximum of 2,000 words. It’s therefore very important that you’re to the point and don’t waffle."

From http://www.direct2lawyers.co.uk/employment-law/witness-statements-how-to-draft-them-for-the-employment-tribunal

[ritemaster]

Re: Word count limit on statement of facts.

Yes its for my witness statement. Ive spent 28 hours of the last three days on it to get it ready to hand over to my solicitor tomorrow, then I come across the exact page des8 has posted the link for.

[FlamingParrot]

Re: Word count limit on statement of facts.

I'll try to find my first one to see how many words it had but I'm sure it was more than 2000, I also presented a supplementary WS which had 2,400 words at the same hearing so that alone would have exceeded the 2,000 word limit, yet at no point did the judge (or anyone else) ever mention word count.

[ritemaster]

Re: Word count limit on statement of facts.

My solicitor said it was way to long so ive had to be brutal and cut it down. By keeping all issues to just a sentence each and by removing all the repeated sentences, ive got it down to just under 4000 words. If I only list the serious issues I could cut anther 500 words off, but that wouldn't show just how many issues I raised that were not dealt with at disciplinary and appeal. I'll just have to see what my solicitor says tomorrow

[FlamingParrot]

Re: Word count limit on statement of facts.

My solicitor wrote my WSs for me, he typed them up himself and just asked me questions. There was never a single mention of word count or any restrictions

[FlamingParrot]

Re: Word count limit on statement of facts.

I've just found my first WS, trying to see if I can get a word count as it's a scanned in PDF.

Ran OCR and an online PDF word counter gave me Word Count: 3719. This includes everything such as the heading "In the ET..."

My supplementary WS was 2,400, both were used at the same hearing so a total of over 6,000, no comment from judge or anyone else.