Time is an essential part of any lawyer’s life

We charge for our time.  Weirdly we do it in units of 6 minutes – no idea where that came from, but there we are.

We agree to do things by very specific times (the Claimant shall serve upon the Defendant by 4pm on Friday 1st April xxxx) but if it’s by reference to a length of time (within xxxx days) then you need to know when that includes weekends and when it doesn’t.

Sometimes we have arbitrary times.  The other side might tell you that if you don’t respond to their letter by 4pm on Friday, they will immediately issue proceedings, forthwith and without further reference to you.  Well, maybe they will, but maybe they’re bluffing.  What’s more, even if they’re not bluffing, it’s highly unlikely that they’ll do it at 4.01 – you’ll have to take instructions, prepare papers, get court fees etc.  So in reality, I’ve probably got a few days and if I respond by 10am on Monday it’s unlikely (although never impossible) that they’ll issue without at least considering what I have to say, even though I’m late by their reckoning.

And we know that we have to do things before certain times, such as an order that says unless the Claimant do by xxx date pay the court fee, their claim shall automatically be struck out.

But there are other time considerations, such as limitations.  Almost all claims must be bought by a particular time (usually within 6 years of the act or omission being complained of) failing which the claim may fail, not because you are in the wrong, but because you’ve left it too late.

Under current law, proceedings in the Employment Tribunal for unfair dismissal (which is most Tribunal claims) must be bought within 3 months less one day of the effective date of dismissal.  This is something that is very VERY strictly enforced to the point where even being a few minutes late can render the claim void.

The good news is that Tribunals are actually quite well serviced in terms of technology, so the ability to file on line means you don’t have to factor in how long the post might take.

The bad news is that occasionally, Tribunal technology fails or, as in this case, needs upgrading.

Recently, any lawyer who has any regular involvement in Tribunal work is likely to have received a notification that the system will be off line for a short time in a few weeks, for important IT repairs.  Which means that those in the know, will know to submit claims early.

However, what does everyone else do.  If you’re a lawyer who doesn’t get these bulletins (as some won’t) or if you are lay person, what will happen.  Will you be given leniency.  Probably not.

There was a case a while ago where a solicitor was filing papers at the last minute, using a fax machine.  For those of us who remember what fax machines were like, it was easy for the pages to get jammed, and then you’d have to start again.  In this case, some of the relevant pages went through before the cut off point, but a few didn’t, due to the machine malfunctioning, so there was an issue as to whether the claim had been submitted on time.  The solicitor argued that his client shouldn’t be prejudiced by a machine error that was beyond his control.  The Tribunal’s counter argument was that the solicitor (or possibly his client) shouldn’t have left it until the last minute, because we all know that technology can sometimes let us down.

Of course a Tribunal may be more sympathetic towards a litigant in person, but obviously this isn’t something that can be taken for granted.

So if you are up against a deadline (Tribunal or otherwise), don’t leave it until the last minute.  Make sure you submit your papers with a few days to spare, so that if something does go wrong (your end or theirs) you’ve got time to remedy it.

Kleyman & Co Solicitors.  The full service law firm.  Timing is everything.