Case management conference

Disputes & Litigation
Solicitors & Lawyers
Legal Dictionary

case management conference
1.
Case management conferences form a fundamental part of the management of litigation in the UK. These conferences are used by courts to (1) exercise their broad case management powers; (2) fix case management directions; (3) if necessary, review the litigants’ compliance with previous directions, with a view to making directions leading up to the trial. The parties may consent to directions that would otherwise be made at a CMC, however the court retains the power under the Civil Procedure Rules to require the parties to attend court at anytime for the purposes of managing litigation for the purposes of ensuring that the case is ready for trial at any time between allocation through to the pretrial review.
Ordinary business at a case management conference includes:
Ensuring previous directions made by the court have been complied with;
Review the steps taken by the parties in preparing the case for the final hearing;
Decide matters that should be addressed prior to the hearing, having regard for the overriding objective;
Make a record of agreements to progress the litigation.
In the course of managing the litigation, the court will identify the fundamental issues in dispute between the parties, with a view to ensuring that the case progresses in accordance with the directions issued in the proceedings. Legal representatives or a person familiar with the disputes being litigated (with litigation experience) should attend to properly assist the court manage the litigation. To this end, it may be appropriate for:
documents that the court may wish to see be available for inspection, including witness statements and experts’ reports
parties should attend
preparation of a case summary (which is the responsibility of the claimant)
be filed prior to the hearing
preparation of draft orders in advance for perusal by the court, after service of the same on the parties.
The court may during the case management conference hear submissions relating to:
the details of the claim and sums sought by way of damages, so that the other party can understand the case it has to meet
amendment that may be required to the Particulars of Claim or the Defence in the litigation
the classes of documents that ought to be made the subject of disclosure
the expert evidence that may be required, and how and when that evidence should be obtained and disclosed, including questions to be put to experts
the factual evidence to be disclosed
the arrangements that should be made about the giving of further information or clarification;
whether a trial for liability on the claim and any counterclaims should be heard separately or together with an assessment of quantum of liability
whether the trial should be spilt, and how this might be arranged in terms of the issues to be heard
the need for a further case management conference and/or a pre-trial review
either fix a date for the hearing or a trial window, which will in all likelihood be as soon as practicable. Also dates for filing pre-trial checklists may also be set
Whether it will be just and will save costs to order a split trial or the trial of one or more preliminary issues.
Sanctions
The court maintains broad powers to sanction failure to comply with directions. A failure to comply with deadlines for filing disclosure lists, expert or lay evidence or any other direction often results in the court issuing an ‘unless order’. Such orders require a party to take stated steps in the proceedings by a specified time. In the event that the relevant litigant fails to comply with the unless order, some consequence will follow, as such adverse costs orders, striking out of a statement of case, summary judgment or some other named sanction, if the party is in default of the order.
Usage: The claimant's failure to comply with the directions made at the case management conference led to an order being made by the court that the claim be struck out unless the claimant complied with the directions within 21 days.
Related Words: pre-action disclosure; allocation directions; claimant; defendant; pleadings; claim form; particulars of claim; defence: litigation; Civil Procedure Rules; pleadings; hearing: litigation; cause of action; fast track; multi-track.