Legal Jargon

A person or organisation that is owed money for a loan or provision of a good or service by a person or organisation. When a person dies, debts to creditors must be paid out of the estate before any inheritance can be disbursed.

The process where one side’s counsel (barrister) seeks to challenge or test a witness’s evidence by asking them questions in court.

A sum of money awarded to a party by the Court as compensation as a result of a Court case.

Generally speaking, it is desirable to have a single joint expert report to the Court where specialist advice is required. However, there are circumstances where one or both parties may wish to consult an expert of their choosing to decide whether they should challenge the report of the single joint expert. This is now known as a Daniels v Walker application after the case in which a ruling of this kind was first made [2000]. This is applicable to all matters that reach court and where expert evidence is required. Experts appointed this way are still required to be impartial.

A document used to make adjustments to the way a deceased person’s estate is distributed.

The party who starts a Court/Tribunal claim.

Otherwise known as a “no win, no fee” agreement. A formal written agreement between a solicitor and client that the solicitor’s costs are not usually payable if the client does not win the case however a ‘Success Fee’ is payable. Medical negligence and personal injury claims are usually funded this way and some other civil claims can also be handled on a no win, no fee basis.

An order that makes an agreement between two parties legally binding, Consent orders can be made at court or in writing.

A contract is a legally binding agreement between two or more parties – people or organisations. In simple terms, a contract is an agreement to provide goods or services, exchange assets, or provide labour or expertise, under a specified set of terms and within the law of a specified jurisdiction. These terms will typically relate to price/cost, quality and timeframe but there can be many more complex and inter-related terms stipulated within a contract, including what happens when one of the parties breaches the terms of the contract. Many but not all contracts are in written form.

Similar to a case management conference (CMC) except that the parties are also required to file a cost budget that outlines the expected costs of the litigation. CCMCs are generally required on more complex or valuable cases.