I suspect that I am not alone in noticing a continuing deterioration in the standard of paperwork from the civil court service. In one case, I appeared before a circuit judge on 31 January, but the resulting order was not drawn until 7 March.

Although a preliminary trial had been ordered, both this and the relevant directions were completely left out. When the preliminary trial took place before a different circuit judge, she was unclear as to the issues she was being asked to try.


More recently, a draft consent order was submitted for approval by post. The court retyped the order omitting a complete payment schedule and incorporating numerous other errors. These included substituting a completely different figure in respect of the settlement sum, increasing it by some £297,000.



It would seem that standards will continue to fall, while court fees will continue to rise. I have received a timely warning from the Queen's Bench Division this week in the form of a notice of issue of claim form, stating the issue fee to be £370,604.


RG Watson, Brignalls Balderston Warren, Stevenage, Herts