PRACTICE NOTE. New Claims

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1 PRACTICE NOTE 1. From 1 October 2014 the Chancery Division in London will commence using the new CE-File electronic court file and some data stored on the old IT system will be transferred to CE-File. 2. Court users will not be able to file documents electronically direct to the court file until the latter part of This note is intended to govern the position in the intervening period. Some of the changes notified here will be carried over into a revised version of PD 5C which will apply when electronic filing becomes possible. 3. From 1 October 2014 the court file, whether it is in electronic or paper form, will contain only those documents which the court is required to hold pursuant to the CPR, whether they are documents created by the court or lodged by the parties. 4. All claims issued from 1 October 2014 ("New Claims") will be allocated a new style number. The Master with responsibility for each claim will be allocated, as now, in rotation on a random basis. The claim form will be stamped with the Master's name. Claims issued prior to 1 October 2014 ("Old Claims") will be given a new style claim number in place of the existing number on the first occasion a document is filed after 30 September The old claim number will not be recognised by CE-File. It will only be necessary to provide the court with the old number where a payment out is to be made of funds paid into court prior to 1 October New Claims 6. New claims will be managed as far as possible from the electronic file. All documents lodged with the court will be scanned to the electronic file and case management will be carried out using that file unless the volume of documents makes that impractical. If paper versions of documents are required by the Master a direction will be given to lodge further paper copies, usually in the form of a bundle. The parties may be asked on occasions to file a pdf version of long documents to assist the court. 7. The court will not maintain a paper file for New Claims. Paper documents lodged with the court, after having been scanned to the file, will be retained in day files for a period of 6 months. They will be available only in the event that scanning errors need to be corrected. They will be destroyed at the end of the period. 8. The only exception will be original documents which are required to be lodged with the court pursuant to an order or a provision of the CPR (such as original wills). Original documents will be retained, as now, in a separate secure storage area. Original documents must be clearly marked as such with a front sheet marked in a font of not less than 14 point:

2 "CLAIM NO. '00000( ORIGINAL DOCUMENT NOT TO BE DESTROYED" 9. Exhibits to witness statements in Part 7 claims which exceed in aggregate 30 pages must not be filed with the witness statement. Longer exhibits will be returned. In appropriate cases the court may direct that exhibits amounting to more than 30 pages are to be filed and scanned to the court file or that the filing party should provide an electronic version of the exhibit in pdf format. 10. Exhibits to witness statements in Part 8 claims will be accepted by the court and scanned to the file if they do not exceed in aggregate 100 pages. Directions should be sought from the court concerning longer exhibits. In most cases the filing party will be requested to provide an electronic version of the exhibit in pdf format. Old Claims 11. Documents filed or created from 1St October 2014 will be retained only on CE- File. They will not be added to the paper file. As with New Claims, documents will be retained only for 6 months. 12. The identity of the Master allocated to the claim will remain unchanged. Old and New Claims from 1 October From 1 October 2014 a hearing bundle will be required for every hearing, however short. A strict "No bundle, no hearing" policy will be adopted. If no bundle has been lodged, it is very likely the hearing will be adjourned to the next available date. 14. Responsibility for lodging the hearing bundle will normally fall on the applicant. The parties must co-operate with each other and all parties have responsibility for ensuring that the court receives a bundle lodged two clear days before the hearing, save where this is impossible due to the urgent nature of the hearing. Late service of documents is not a reason to delay lodging the bundle. If necessary, documents may be added to the bundle. 15. A party appearing on an application without notice at 2.15pm must bring a bundle if it has not been possible to lodge one in advance. 16. Form 149C (Notice of Provisional Allocation) requires the parties to lodge a range of documents. It will be the responsibility of the claimant to lodge a bundle containing the statements of case, the directions questionnaires and all associated documents within 5 working days of the deadline specified in Form 149C. 17. Exhibits should only include the essential documents. Correspondence should only be exhibited where there is a real need for it being considered by the

3 court and a real likelihood of it being referred to at a hearing. The provisions of paragraphs 9 and 10 will apply to Old and New claims from 1st October Correspondence with the court, and documents to be lodged, must not be sent by more than one medium. Where a court fee must be paid, the document should only be sent in paper form. 19. Witness statements for trial and expert's reports should never be filed, unless this has been expressly directed by the court. Matthew Marsh Chief Master 8th September 2014

4 Chancery Masters' Orders Introduction 1. From 1st October 2014 there will be fundamental changes to the way in which most orders made by Chancery Masters are produced and served. 2. In conjunction with the creation of electronic files from 1St October 2014 and the implementation of electronic filing due in the latter part of 2015, instead of the court playing the principal role in the production and service of orders, with many orders being drafted by Associates, the parties will be required wherever possible to provide the court with the order in a form which may be approved and sealed without amendment. A nominated party will usually be required to serve the order once it has been sealed. 3. There is a need for draft orders to be lodged in a format which enables minor changes to be made without either the court retyping the order or it being returned to the legal representative for amendment. 4. There will also be a change of practice concerning the service of orders. Draft orders 5. All draft orders provided to the court must be in the proper form. A sample order in the correct form for an order made at a hearing is attached at Appendix The draft order must include: (a) In the heading Master xxxx Date xxxx 2014 (b) The service footer as in the paragraph 11 below headed "Back Sheets/footers". Service of orders 7. At present most orders are sealed by the court and sent to the parties and any relevant third parties by the court. In future, the presumption will be that orders are to be served by the parties, with the order specifying which party is to serve it. 8. The court will send the serving party one sealed copy of the order. It is the responsibility of the serving party to ensure that the text of the order and the court seal are legible in copies sent to the receiving parties. 9. The presumption of service by a nominated party will be displaced in the case of orders generated by the court, when there are no represented parties or otherwise in the discretion of the court.

5 Back sheets/footers 10. Back sheets are not needed and must not be provided. 11. The information which is currently contained in the back sheet prepared by the Associates recording the names and addresses of the parties to whom the order has been sent should be included as a footer immediately below the last paragraph of the order in the format shown in the following example: "Service of the order A copy of the sealed order was sent by the serving party to: (1) ABC Solicitors LLP at [address] [reference] by [means of despatch] (2) XYZ Solicitors at [address] [reference] by [means of despatch] (3) Second Defendant in person at [address] by [means of despatch]" 12. The identity of the legal representatives need not appear in the order save in the service footer. 13. Where an order is drawn by the court the footer will be in a similar format replacing "serving party" with "court". Consent orders (including Tomlin orders) 14. The current position is that very few consent orders lodged with the court may be approved and sealed without amendment because of errors of substance or form. The requirement to lodge 'clean copies' of the order with the signed version is routinely ignored. 15. From 1st October 2014 a consent order lodged by solicitors will generally only be accepted by the court and referred to the Master for approval if: (a) a 'clean' copy of the order is provided excluding the signature provisions; (b) the word "draft" or "minute" does not appear in the order and the title and preamble are in the correct format; (c) the signed order and clean copy are lodged as a word document by sent to chancery.mastersappointments@gsi.gov.uk (d) the contains an undertaking that the court fee will be paid within 2 working days; (e) the order specifies the party who will serve the order; (f) the order includes a footer (see the paragraph on back sheets/footers) in the correct format showing the names and addresses (with references) of the parties to whom the serving party will send the order and the means by which it will be sent. 16. If these requirements are not complied with, the consent order will not be accepted and it will be returned. An order lodged correctly will be referred to the assigned Master for approval but will not be sealed until the court fee has been paid. 17. If a consent order requires amendment because the terms of the order are not approved by the court, the order will normally be returned for re-drafting. If the

6 changes are minor the Master may choose to make the necessary amendments and approve the order. 18. In cases of real urgency, a party may request a Master to approve a consent order at an Application without Notice hearing at 2.15 provided that the consent order and two clean copies are provided and the court fee has been paid. 19. In the case of Tomlin orders with a confidential schedule, the schedule should not be lodged with the court; but the order must identify clearly the agreement which forms the schedule and where it is held. 20. The lodging of consent orders by will not apply to litigants in person. Other orders considered without a hearing (box work) 21. Where the court is asked to make an order, other than a consent order, based upon a draft submitted by a party, the court will usually ask for a copy of the order to be lodged by in word format with chancery.mastersappointments@gsi.gov.uk. The order will be approved, sealed and sent out by the court to the nominated party for service. 22. Where there is no draft order, or the draft is inadequate, the Master may give a direction for a draft to be lodged or instruct an Associate to produce the order based upon the instructions provided by the Master. The order will be sealed and sent out by the court to all the parties if it has been prepared by an Associate (unless the court orders otherwise). Orders made at hearings 23. The responsibility for producing an accurate draft order reflecting the terms of orders made by the court will rest with either (a) the applicant or (b) the party nominated by the Master. If there remains doubt about who bears responsibility for producing a draft order (for example in the case of multiple applications or where no direction is given by the court), it is to be produced by the Claimant unless the Claimant is a litigant in person. 24. The terms of the order must be noted by the legal representatives present and in the case of doubt about the terms of the order they must be clarified with the court at the hearing. 25. The order should be sent by as a word document to chancery.mastersappointments@gsi.gov.uk preferably within 2 working days of the hearing and copied to the other party(s). The terms of the order should not be `negotiated' between the parties. The draft produced should represent in neutral terms what was understood to have been the intention of the Master. If there are significant differences of view about the correct terms of the order, alternative versions should be recorded on the draft and the Master will determine the points in issue. 26. As with consent orders, and other orders made without a hearing, the order submitted to the court for approval must state which party is to serve the order and

7 must include a footer with information about service. No back sheet should be produced. 27. The Master will settle the terms of the order and give instructions for it to be sealed. It will be then sent by the court to the serving party. 28. Where all parties are unrepresented, the Master will record the terms of the order and an Associate will draw up the order and send a sealed copy to the parties. Sealing orders 29. Unless an order is referred to an Associate, the order will normally be sealed by the Master's clerk. Collection trays 30. Some law firms have an arrangement to collect orders from a designated collection tray. That arrangement will remain unchanged. The reference above to the court sending an order to the serving party should be taken to mean, where appropriate, that the sealed order may be left in a collection tray. It is the responsibility of the law firm concerned to ensure that the order is collected and served promptly. Matthew Marsh Chief Master 8th September 2014

8 APPENDIX 1 IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUSTICE Claim No: CHANCERY DIVISION Before: Master xxxxx Dated: XX of xxxxx 201 BETWEEN: ABCDEFG -and- (1) HIJKLMNOP (2) QRSTUV Claimant Defendants ORDER UPON the application of [party] by notice dated... [or Part 8 claim form] AND UPON READING the written evidence filed AND UPON HEARING legal representatives for the Claimant and the first Defendant and the second Defendant in person IT IS ORDERED that: This order shall be served by the Claimant on the Defendants

9 Service of the order A copy of the sealed order was sent by the Claimant to: (1) ABC LLP solicitors for the first Defendant at [address] [reference] by [means of despatch] (2) The second defendant acting in person at [address] by [means of despatch]