The client enters with a claim form and particulars of claim.

The time for filing the defence, assuming he has got one, is already running against him.The client says that these arrived in the post a fortnight before.

One major departure from existing practice is that the court will send out the originating process by first class post and the deemed date of service will be the second day after it was posted, rather than seven days later as at present.Efforts to secure an extension will need to be made immediately because the defence should be filed within 14 days of service of the particulars of claim (and not of the claim form, if that was served earlier).The maximum period that time for filing the defence can be extended by the agreement of the claimant is 28 days.

For anything longer, solicitors must take their chances with an application to the court.

But they can earn clients an extra 14 days without the other side's consent by filing an acknowledgment of service in the style of the present High Court practice.If solicitors do this, then the defence is due 28 days after service of the particulars of claim.Pleading -- with meaningA defence which merely puts the claimant to proof will no longer be acceptable (see Benchmarks [1999] Gazette, 13 January, 31).

The bare denial comes to an end, as does the pl eading which is guaranteed to spawn a request for further and better particulars (which also disappears under the new rules).

If the defendant has a defence, then solicitors should present it in words which even a hard-pressed district judge can understand.As the new rules make clear, the court will want to identify the issues at an early stage, decide promptly what requires full investigation (and what does not) and so on.

This is not possible unless the pleadings are plain and intelligible.Nothing but the truthDo not forget the statement of truth.

Every defence must have one.

Practitioners must sign the statement: 'I believe/the defendant believes that the facts stated in this defence are true' with an honest belief in what they are saying, otherwise committal proceedings could follow.If solicitors intend signing on the client's behalf, they must ensure that prior authority has been given to do so, and that the meaning of the statement has been explained, including the possible consequences of a false statement.If there is sufficient time, it is far better to send the defence to the client for him or her to check and sign in person.And do not forget the counterclaimIf the client has a counterclaim, solicitors should set this out in the same statement of case as the defence.

When acting for the claimant, a reply should be filed with the allocation questionnaire.Bye, bye to liquidationThe concept of liquidated and unliquidated claims, much misunderstood, has disappeared.

Instead, in the claim form solicitors can either specify an amount of money or not.

So in a personal injury case, a claim for 'general damages of £25,000' will be a claim for a specified sum.

What is the effect?It is simply that if no acknowledgment of service or defence is filed, the claimant would be able to obtain a default judgment for the specified sum and without the need for damages to be assessed.But what happens in a case where a specified amount is claimed and a defence filed? If the defendant is an individual, the proceedings will normally be transferred to the defendant's home court.

That is the defendant's address for service as shown in the defence (not on the claim form) so it should result in a transfer to the home court for the defendant's solicitor.Setting asideOK, so you the solicitor or your client blows it.

As now, irregular judgments which are promptly challenged will be set aside as of right.

In a clear case of clerical error, practitioners should write to the court.

Under the new rules, the court has far greater powers to make orders of its own initiative, and the local district judge may be quite amenable to rectifying a clerical error without forcing solicitors to the time and expense of an actual hearing.If it is plain to the claimant that the judgment is irregular, then he or she is now under a duty to have it set aside.

It would not be proper to sit back and wait for the defendant to take the point.Where the judgment was regularly obtained, the application notice should be issued as soon as possible.And along with this, the witness statement (RIP the affidavit, long live the witness statement) in support.

To be worth the candle, the statement should show that the defendant has a real prospect of successfully defending the claim or that there is some other good reason why the judgment should be set aside or the defendant allowed to defend the claim.

If a solicitor has been at fault, he or she should say so.Summary disposalThe court will dispose summarily of issues which do not need full investigation and trial.

But its new powers are much wider than the present strike-out provisions.

If a statement of case shows no reasonable grounds for bringing or defending a claim, the court can strike it out of its own initiative without an application and even without warning.

An application could be made to set aside the order.The court will be empowered to give summary judgment against the claimant or defendant on the whole of a claim or on a particular issue, if it considers that either has no real prospect of succeeding, and that there is no reason why the case or issue should be disposed of at trial.So there is the new test: no real prospect.

This is a tougher test than at present.

Regarding the present practice of granting conditional or unconditional leave to defend, solicitors should forget this.Part 24 of the new rules which apply and the complementary practice direction are on the Internet and are worth reading.

The Web site to visit is http://www.beagle.org.uk/cpr/The procedure for applying for summary judgment is similar to what we have at the moment.An interesting twist is that an application will now be possible in a small claim.

But before rushing off to apply in a £100 road traffic case, do bear in mind that the district judge may reckon an application would be a waste of time and decide, summarily, to list the small claim for a full hearing instead.