When I act for a Defendant at trial, I will scour through the evidence to find any inconsistencies I can use to undermine the Claimant’s credibility. Unlike independent witnesses the Claimant will have various documents and evidence that can be used to contradict them if there is an inconsistency.
The most common inconsistencies are found in the pleadings and medical reports in comparison with the Claimant’s witness statement. The difficulty arises when that document has been signed by a legal representative on behalf of the Claimant.
Whilst the advocate acting for the Claimant can argue that any information in such a document may have been included or omitted erroneously by the legal representative, the fundamental principle is that if the legal representative has signed it, it’s because the Claimant has approved it
Claims Notification Form (“CNF”)
The CNF can be quite a dangerous document if incorrect. Some of the CNFs have been completed shortly after the accident, giving rise to very little argument about the passage of time degrading the recall of specific information.
Unlike the letter of claim, a CNF will have a statement of truth that is required to be signed either by the Claimant or their legal representative.
Inconsistencies can be put to the Claimant during cross examination. Whilst the Claimant can say that they have never seen this document before, they will have significant problems because even if the legal representative has signed the document it is deemed valid.
Statement of Truth
Practice Direction 22 states the following:-
3.6 Where a party is legally represented, the legal representative may sign the statement of truth on their behalf. The statement signed by the legal representative will refer to the client’s belief, not their own. They must state the capacity in which they sign and the name of their firm where appropriate.
This paragraph always used to be used by me in litigation when the Defendant had served a defence where the legal representative had signed the defence but then claimed in the statement of truth they understood the consequences of signing a statement of truth. That is not the case when you sign a document as a legal representative.
It is further explained in Practice Direction 22 why this is important:-
3.7 Where a legal representative has signed a statement of truth, their signature will be taken by the court as their statement that:
(1) the client on whose behalf they have signed had authorised them to do so,
(2) before signing they had explained to the client (through an interpreter where necessary) that in signing the statement of truth they would be confirming the client’s belief that the facts stated in the document were true, and
(3) before signing they had informed the client of the possible consequences to the client if it should later appear that the client did not have an honest belief in the truth of those facts (see rule 32.14).
Protect you and your client
Legal representatives should be taking steps to make sure the content of a document is accurate before they sign a document on behalf of their client, such as CNF. Really the sensible approach would be to send the CNF to the Claimants directly to sign and date. You explain to them the consequences of this document being incorrect. You make sure they understand that any consequences flowing from any in accuracies of the CNF will lay with them. I expect most Claimants will then take exceptional care in reading the document.
Whilst I appreciate that many fee earners will be running hundreds of claims at any given time, the real risk to you is that if you have been seen to have signed a document without authority or without the Claimant endorsing the contents of that document you could be in serious trouble with your regulator (individual or the one who regulates your firm.
It removes the risk of you being held responsible and it is more likely to reduce the number of issues and inconsistencies that advocates, like myself, can exploit in cross examination at trial.
Information
AJH Advocacy Limited, a Limited Company which is regulated by the Bar Standards Boards (entity number 190758), ceases trading on the 12th January 2026.
From the 12th January 2026 and onwards, Alec Hancock will practice as a Barrister at Magdalen Chambers in Exeter. For instructions on matters on or after 12th January 2026, please contact Magdalen Chambers via clerks@magdalenchambers.co.uk or by telephone on 01392 285 200.