How Long Does it Take to Sue Someone?

Litigation is never a quick process.  There are several mandatory steps involved before you will get anywhere near a court room for a trial. 

Those steps are set out in a series of rules called the Civil Procedure Rules.  They were first published in 1999, and are updated regularly.  They are available for free, online, at https://www.justice.gov.uk/courts/procedure-rules/civil/rules

For example, the Civil Procedure Rules set out the following steps which are inevitable for almost any construction dispute:

1. Party A prepares and sends a letter, setting out its claim, called a ‘Letter Before Action’;

2. Party B responds to that letter;

3. Party A and Party B meet to discuss the claim, and their respective positions;

4. Party A prepares and sends the ‘Claim Form’;

5. Party A prepares and sends the ‘Particulars or Claim’;

6. Party B prepares and sends an ‘Acknowledgement of Service’;

7. Party B prepares and sends a ‘Defence’, which might include a counterclaim;

8. Party A prepares and sends a ‘Reply’ to any counterclaim made by Party B;

9. the court provisionally allocates the claim to a suitable ‘track’.  This has the effect of tailoring the litigation process to suit the size and complexity of the case;

10. the court sends the parties a questionnaire, known as the ‘directions questionnaire’, to find out more about the case so that the provisional track allocation can be confirmed as appropriate.

These ten steps all take place before the parties get anywhere near a court, and can take months.  Very significant additional tasks, such as preparing and serving witness statements and expert reports, are still required thereafter.

Even once all of the mandatory, and applicable other, steps have been taken, the courts are very busy and so trials need to be scheduled many months in advance. 

Recent statistics published by the Ministry of Justice reveal that:

• the average time taken for small claims track disputes – which are those that are most straightforward and of lower value – to get from the claim being started, to the first day of the trial, was 51.2 weeks (i.e. about 1 year); and

• the average time taken for multi-track, and fast track claims – which are those of more complexity and value – to go to trial was 75.5 weeks (i.e. close to 1.5 years)

Compared to the previous year’s statistics, these periods are 13.1 weeks longer for small claims, and 16.2 weeks longer for multi/fast track claims.

Both the processes that must be followed, and the real-world statistics, show that suing someone can take a long time.  In general, you should expect to be involved in the litigation for at least12 months (if it is simple and straightforward) and at least 18 months if it is not. 

Unfortunately, construction disputes are not often straightforward or low value enough to be allocated to the small claims track, and so it is not unsual for construction litigation to take even longer to reach a resolution.

Hamshaw can help ensure that momentum is maintained in any litigation, and can take the burden and avoid the fatigue that you would otherwise suffer trying to navigate the litigation alone.

Click here to contact Hamshaw today if you wish to discuss likely timelines for your case.  We are happy to discuss fixed fees for different scopes of work, so that you can ensure that your costs remain transparent and controlled.