Taking a trader to court-clarification re: servicing documents

[BaileyCol1]

Hello
I am taking a landscape builder to court. The small claims hearing is at the end of this month. I do not have any legal experience. I have just signed-up to this forum (have spent hours on the internet and the more research I do, the more complicated things seem to become!) .

I believe I need to provide the following:

Particulars of Claim (have a draft one prepared)
Statement?
Index
I understand the documents need to be 'filed'' in a certain order:

Claim Form, Defence and Counterclaim, etc ie 'legal docs'
Letters I have sent to the defendant (inc landscaping report, quote)
Emails from the defendant
Emails from RatedPeople (they offered to try and help)
Email rom the CAB ie initial one where they offer and state advice
Reviews (negative ones) from RatedPeople etc (including these as the defendant says that he has never received complaints from anyone else, but he has...)
Photos of the substandard/incomplete work

Any help would be gratefully received.

[R0b]

Hello

When the court issued an order providing details of the date and time of the hearing, the order would have explained what you needed to file as your evidence bundle.

For small claims, the common statement requirement for both sides to exchange witness statements and disclose to each other all documents that they wish to rely on to support their case - this is what we call an evidence bundle. You should refer to your evidence in your witness statement (by reference to page number) and then attach the evidence as an exhibit. Do some research on how to prepare and draft a witness statement, there is plenty of information out there.

Sometimes the judge making the order might deviate from that general position and request the parties to file a trial bundle, which commonly includes the the documents you described in your post such as the claim form, court orders, skeleton argument witness evidence etc.

Long and short, read the court order and comply with it as it exactly states. If you feel a trial bundle is necessary and the court has not ordered for one to be prepared, then you can submit one but it is very time consuming and needs to be properly prepared, paginated and cross-referenced. You may get scorned by the judge for filing a poor trial bundle and could affect your chances of success.

[jaguarsuk]

Agree with Rob in the above, this page might be helpful Witness Statements.

[BaileyCol1]

Thanks for all your help.