Solicitors who failed to track down a missing claim form as a court deadline loomed should have been 'far more proactive' the Court of Appeal has found. In Bali v 1-2 Couriers Ltd & Anor, three judges turned down an appeal against a district judge's refusal to grant an extension of time for the road traffic accident claim.
The Court of Appeal ruled that the date of issue for a claim is the date it was sealed, not the date it was sent out by the court office.
In this case, the claim form over injuries sustained in 2019 had been sealed by the court service on 13 December 2023. From that point, the claimant had four months in which to serve. For what the judgment stated were unknown reasons, the claimant's lawyers, east London based Legalex Solicitors, received the sealed claim form only after that deadline had passed.
During those four months, the court heard, there was no evidence of the solicitors taking any steps to find out why the letter with the sealed claim form had not arrived. Nor was there any evidence that the solicitors considered making a precautionary application to the court for an extension of time for service.
In lead judgment, Lady Justice Andrews said a reasonable person in this situation would have sought to find out whether the claim form had been issued and, if it had, whether it had been sent out, and if so, when.
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