{"id":21340,"date":"2018-09-01T11:54:10","date_gmt":"2018-09-01T11:54:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/legalblog.ie\/pre-trial-cc\/"},"modified":"2018-09-01T11:54:10","modified_gmt":"2018-09-01T11:54:10","slug":"pre-trial-cc","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/legalblog.ie\/pre-trial-cc\/","title":{"rendered":"Pre-Trial CC"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_63 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-grey ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<div class=\"ez-toc-title-container\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title \" >Table of Contents<\/p>\n<span class=\"ez-toc-title-toggle\"><a href=\"#\" class=\"ez-toc-pull-right ez-toc-btn ez-toc-btn-xs ez-toc-btn-default ez-toc-toggle\" aria-label=\"Toggle Table of Content\"><span class=\"ez-toc-js-icon-con\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #999;color:#999\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #999;color:#999\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/span><\/div>\n<nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/legalblog.ie\/pre-trial-cc\/#Offers_and_Lodgements\" title=\"Offers and Lodgements\">Offers and Lodgements<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/legalblog.ie\/pre-trial-cc\/#Settlements\" title=\"Settlements\">Settlements<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-3\" href=\"https:\/\/legalblog.ie\/pre-trial-cc\/#Joint_Defendants_Settlements\" title=\"Joint Defendants &amp; Settlements\">Joint Defendants &amp; Settlements<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-4\" href=\"https:\/\/legalblog.ie\/pre-trial-cc\/#Discontinuance_and_Withdrawal\" title=\"Discontinuance and Withdrawal\">Discontinuance and Withdrawal<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-5\" href=\"https:\/\/legalblog.ie\/pre-trial-cc\/#Discontinuance_and_Withdrawal-2\" title=\"Discontinuance and Withdrawal\">Discontinuance and Withdrawal<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Offers_and_Lodgements\"><\/span>Offers and Lodgements<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>In common with the other courts, the Circuit Court has a procedure by which a defendant can make a formal offer of money in settlement of proceedings.\u00a0 The settlement offer monies must be lodged in Court.. The lodgement \u00a0may be made with a denial of liability, so that it is not deemed an admission of the claim. The claimant who rejects a formal offer runs the risk that if he fails to recover more than the amount lodged, he will be responsible for the costs from the date of lodgement forward.<\/p>\n<p>A lodgement can be made in Court during certain phases of the litigation. An additional lodgement may be made, but the consent of court is necessary.\u00a0 It must be made within a certain time before the trial.\u00a0 Once the lodgement is made, it is generally unconditional.\u00a0 However, a withdrawal or reduction in amount may be permitted with the Court\u2019s consent in some cases, where there has been an exceptional change in the circumstances or law.<\/p>\n<p>A lodgement made outside the time permitted by the rules, with consent of court.\u00a0 If consent to late lodgement is granted and accepted, the court will require that costs up to such date must be paid.<\/p>\n<p>The lodgement may be accepted by service of a notice by the defendant.\u00a0 There are time limits for acceptance of lodgement.\u00a0 After the time limit has expired, it is necessary to obtain court consent to the extension of time for acceptance. Where the defendant is under age or mentally incapable, the court must approve the acceptance of the lodgement.<\/p>\n<p>Certain bodies, can make an offer of payment, without actually lodging money.\u00a0 This privilege is limited to State bodies which are assumed to have unimpeachable financial status. Also included are State authorised insurance companies.\u00a0 Special procedures apply to such tenders.<\/p>\n<p>There is a practice of making so-called \u201cCalderbank\u201d offer.\u00a0 This is an offer made without prejudice, except in relation to cost. The effect is that in considering the issue of costs, the court mayl take account of the offer.\u00a0 The extent which the court takes account of the offer will depend on the terms of the offer and the time in the proceedings, in which it is offered.<\/p>\n<p>The offer should generally offer a precise sum of money and undertake to pay the claimant\u2019s cost to the date of the letter, to be taxed in default of agreement.\u00a0 It should specify, the time in which it is to be accepted.<\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Settlements\"><\/span>Settlements<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>A party may make a without prejudice offer to settle before or in the course of a dispute. A settlement of a case is a contract by which the litigation is discontinued in return for performance of the terms of the settlement. \u00a0The rules of contract apply in relation to settlements.<\/p>\n<p>A settlement agreement should be recorded and approved by parties or their \u00a0representatives in writing.\u00a0 In this case, a new contract is entered, the breach of which, is a ground for a further claim or enforcement. Alternatively, and preferably from the perspective of the party who might wish to enforce it, the settlement may be embodied in an agreement which is made an order of court.\u00a0 In this case, the terms of the order are directly enforceable at a judgment if breached.<\/p>\n<p>Another possibility is that the settlement may involve the adjournment of proceeding on terms that they can be revived, if the settlement is not performed within a certain time.<\/p>\n<p>A Tomlin Order involves a consent order where the terms of the consent \/ settlement \u00a0do not appear on the face of the order.\u00a0 The order provides for the staying or suspension of the proceedings. The terms of the order are set out in the separate schedule or are referred to.\u00a0 The order stays the proceedings except for the purpose of the carrying out of the terms of settlement.<\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Joint_Defendants_Settlements\"><\/span>Joint Defendants &amp; Settlements<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>Where persons are sued jointly, a settlement with one may release the others, unless the contrary is clearly indicated.\u00a0 Provided this is done, as would normally be the case, then, the other persons liable remain liable.<\/p>\n<p>In a claim against the other wrongdoers, the claim is reduced<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>by the amount paid under \u00a0the settlement or<\/li>\n<li>by the amount by which it is provided, that the claim shall be reduced or<\/li>\n<li>by the amount which the party who settles would have been liable to contribute if the\u00a0 claim was made against all\u00a0 wrongdoers<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>whichever is the greater of the three amounts.<\/p>\n<p>A joint wrongdoer who settles with the claimant in full (barring the claimant\u2019s right against other wrongdoers) can seek contribution from other wrongdoers, who would have been liable in the same matter where his settlement has barred the claims as against others.\u00a0 He must satisfy the court that the settlement was reasonable.\u00a0 If the court finds it excessive, it may fix the amount which it should have been settled for.<\/p>\n<p>A person who has settled or made a contribution, has the right to claim repayment of the whole or part of the sum paid, if he is subsequently compelled to pay a sum in settlement of his own liability to the injured persons or the circumstances render repayment just and equitable.<\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Discontinuance_and_Withdrawal\"><\/span>Discontinuance and Withdrawal<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>The claimant may, at any time before the receipt of the defence or after receipt, before taking any other proceeding in the action, other than an interlocutory application, by notice in writing wholly discontinue his action against all or any of the defendants or withdraw all or part of his cause of complaint.\u00a0 He must thereupon pay the defendant\\&#8217;s costs of the action.\u00a0 If the action is not wholly discontinued, he must pay the costs occasioned by the matter withdrawn.\u00a0 Costs are to be taxed. Discontinuance and withdrawal, as the case may be shall not be a defence to any subsequent action.<\/p>\n<p>Save where otherwise provided, it is not competent for the claimant to withdraw or discontinue the action without leave of the Judge.\u00a0 The Judge may before, or at or after the hearing of the trial, upon such terms as to costs or any other action as may be just, order the action to be discontinued or any part of the alleged cause of complaint to be struck out.\u00a0 The Judge may, in like manner upon application of the defendant, order the whole or any part of his alleged grounds of defence or counter-claim to be withdrawn or struck out.\u00a0 It is not competent for a defendant to withdraw his defence or any part it, without such leave.<\/p>\n<p>Where an action, matter or proceeding has been entered for trial, it may be withdrawn by either claimant or defendant, upon producing to the County Registrar a consent in writing signed by the parties.<\/p>\n<p>A defendant may enter judgment for the costs of the action, if it is wholly discontinued against him or for the costs occasioned by the matter withdrawn, if not wholly discontinued, in case costs are not paid within four days of taxation.<\/p>\n<p>In any subsequent action brought before payment of the costs of a discontinued action, for substantially the same cause of action, the Judge may order a stay of subsequent action until costs have been paid. The County Registrar shall, on application by the claimant or a defendant, as the case may be, tax such costs.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Discontinuance_and_Withdrawal-2\"><\/span>Discontinuance and Withdrawal<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>The claimant may, at any time before the receipt of the defence or after receipt, before taking any other proceeding in the action, other than an interlocutory application, by notice in writing wholly discontinue his action against all or any of the defendants or withdraw all or part of his cause of complaint.\u00a0 He must thereupon pay the defendant\\&#8217;s costs of the action.\u00a0 If the action is not wholly discontinued, he must pay the costs occasioned by the matter withdrawn.\u00a0 Costs are to be taxed. Discontinuance and withdrawal, as the case may be shall not be a defence to any subsequent action.<\/p>\n<p>Save where otherwise provided, it is not competent for the claimant to withdraw or discontinue the action without leave of the Judge.\u00a0 The Judge may before, or at or after the hearing of the trial, upon such terms as to costs or any other action as may be just, order the action to be discontinued or any part of the alleged cause of complaint to be struck out.\u00a0 The Judge may, in like manner upon application of the defendant, order the whole or any part of his alleged grounds of defence or counter-claim to be withdrawn or struck out.\u00a0 It is not competent for a defendant to withdraw his defence or any part it, without such leave.<\/p>\n<p>Where an action, matter or proceeding has been entered for trial, it may be withdrawn by either claimant or defendant, upon producing to the County Registrar a consent in writing signed by the parties.<\/p>\n<p>A defendant may enter judgment for the costs of the action, if it is wholly discontinued against him or for the costs occasioned by the matter withdrawn, if not wholly discontinued, in case costs are not paid within four days of taxation.<\/p>\n<p>In any subsequent action brought before payment of the costs of a discontinued action, for substantially the same cause of action, the Judge may order a stay of subsequent action until costs have been paid. The County Registrar shall, on application by the claimant or a defendant, as the case may be, tax such costs.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<!--themify_builder_content-->\n<div id=\"themify_builder_content-21340\" data-postid=\"21340\" class=\"themify_builder_content themify_builder_content-21340 themify_builder tf_clear\">\n    <\/div>\n<!--\/themify_builder_content-->\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Offers and Lodgements In common with the other courts, the Circuit Court has a procedure by which a defendant can make a formal offer of money in settlement of proceedings.\u00a0 The settlement offer monies must be lodged in Court.. The lodgement \u00a0may be made with a denial of liability, so that it is not deemed [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[315],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/legalblog.ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21340"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/legalblog.ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/legalblog.ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/legalblog.ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/legalblog.ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21340"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/legalblog.ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21340\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/legalblog.ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21340"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/legalblog.ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21340"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/legalblog.ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21340"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}