Once you have submitted your statement of claim, the defendant has 28 days to respond. If the defendant believes that they do not have all the information necessary to understand the claim and be able to respond, they may ask for ‘further and better particulars’. If you do not respond to this request, the court may then make an order that requires you to provide the further and better particulars.
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What is a Request for Further and Better Particulars?
‘Further and better particulars’ is another way of saying that the defendant needs more information from you. They may even specify parts of the statement of claim that they would like more information about. It is important that the defendant understands the claim being made against them, especially if it is quite complex.
You can also make a request for further and better particulars in relation to their defence or cross-claim down the track.
The defendant will usually make this request in the form of a letter from the solicitor representing the other side. The letter commonly includes:
- a request for a copy of any of the documents that you mentioned in the statement of claim;
- further details about anything you may have mentioned in the statement of claim; and
- clarity on any pleadings that are confusing or ambiguous.
The defendant will usually not file a defence until you respond to their requests for further and better particulars. That is why it is really important to draft the statement of claim as clearly, yet detailed, as possible. This will assist in speeding up the process.
How Do I Respond?
Once we have received the request, we will need to respond to it. We would usually respond to this in the form of a letter. It is important to note that it may not be necessary to respond to every single request. Your LegalVision team will be assessing how we can respond to this in a way which will achieve the best outcome for you.
Some common reasons for why it may not be necessary to provide further and better particulars include:
- your LegalVision team decides that your statement is already sufficiently detailed;
- that the request is a matter of evidence, so should be dealt with as part of the trial, as opposed to at this early stage of the proceedings; and
- your LegalVision team decides that the request is not a proper request for particulars. So, you do not need to address it accordingly.
Either way, it is critical to move quickly so that the proceedings are able to continue to the next stage.
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What Will My LegalVision Team Be Doing?
Your LegalVision team will be considering each request and evaluating whether it needs a response. If it does need a response, we will consider how to best respond strategically.
Your LegalVision team will then work on drafting the response to the request in the form of a letter. During this time, we may consult you for further information to ensure the response is accurate.
What Do I Need To Do?
If you are at this stage of the proceedings, there are a few things that your LegalVision team may need you to do, for example:
- providing additional information – if we decide to respond to the request, we may need your assistance in crafting the response; and
- reviewing the response – once we have drafted the letter, we will need you to look over it to ensure that it is factually accurate.
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