Subjects:

Practice & Procedure

There is very little of authority published for professionals on practice and procedure in small claims matters, at a time when the size of limits means that more and more actions will be handled by these relatively informal procedures. New rules and policies on mediation necessitate a new edition.

At the same time, the nature of the work is such that that same book must be accessible to those working within the legal system without legal training.

Patricia Pearl has been a solicitor in practice and latterly a Judge in a busy county court until elevation last year. She is used to hearing actions across the full spectrum of work, including consumer law, debt collection, road traffic and cases related to personal injury, employment and landlord and tenant. Andrew Goodman is a barrister in practice. Their book is practical and authoritative, its contents including:-

• Financial limits, cases excluded and choice of county court
• Commencing proceedings, defending proceedings and the pre-arbitration hearing
• Preparations for the hearing, lay representatives
• The hearing: practice, evidence and presentation issues
• Mediation
• Challenging the result
• Precedents
• Enforcement
• Fees and terms.