Suing someone is where you make a legal claim against an individual or company. You can sue someone if they have broken a civil law in order to reclaim the losses that their actions in breaking this law caused you.
Civil law provides clear guidelines for dealing with disputes that involve our rights and property. People sue in order to be reimbursed for money, or even health. These are the things lost when an individual or organisation does not fulfil their duty of care to the claimant.
Civil law differs from criminal law.
The aim of any civil lawsuit is not to find out whether a party is guilty or not guilty. Instead, suing someone determines whether the defendant is liable or not liable.
If liable, they may have to to pay for the damages caused by their actions or negligence.
In suing someone, you must provide sufficient evidence supporting your claim. For example, if you are suing on the grounds that your landlord has breached your tenancy agreement, you can outline the part of the agreement they failed to adhere to. The first step in suing someone is to identify why you are suing.
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Identify Exactly Why You are Suing
The reason you are suing will have an impact on the kinds of evidence you need to produce and the stages you’ll go through in making your claim.
Here, we’ll identify just a few of the common reasons behind why you might choose to sue.
These sections also outline the evidence you should collect in order to sue successfully. This will help you prove that the defendant is “liable” to pay for their actions.
Reasons to Sue People in the UK
Discrimination
Unfortunately, discrimination does still happen today. It can be an extremely upsetting experience to go through as an individual.
Discrimination happens in the workplace, for example, if you are not hired for a particular reason in an interview.
Or, if you are experienced (or are experiencing) harassment at work.
If you are discriminated against for any reason – age, sex, race, religious beliefs, pregnancy – the first step is to raise a formal grievance with your manager.
If this formal complaint is not received well, we then move on and take your claim to an employment tribunal. This is where you will explain your case and seek the compensation that the judge believes is appropriate.
This is where the formal grievance and your employers’ response is applicable for use as evidence in the employment tribunal. If your claim is successful, you could be compensated for your experience of discrimination.
Have you been discriminated against?
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Employment Law
Employment law covers areas such as unfair dismissal and contract and pay disputes. If you have been dismissed without a valid reason, contact our employment law team here at Hattons Solicitors.
You may have experienced unfair dismissal if your employer has not gone through the formal procedures required to dismiss someone. You can then sue your employer for reimbursement or reinstatement of your position.
The evidence required to sue will include the details of all communication you have had with your employer regarding the dismissal.
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Medical & Dental Negligence
One reason you may need to sue is due to medical and dental negligence. This is where you have undergone a treatment, such as surgery or a dental procedure, that has not worked. The procedure may have even left you in a worse position than before.
Other medical issues such as receiving a wrong or delayed diagnosis, experiencing care home neglect, or even experiencing prescription errors, can all be grounds to sue.
Medical and dental records, as well as letters from your doctors and other registered medical professionals, are great in these situations. These are all suitable examples of evidence that can support a medical and dental negligence claim.
Think you have a medical or dental negligence case?
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Personal Injury
After experiencing a personal injury, you may be left unable to work.
This may come with long recovery processes that have after-effects and lasting consequences.
You may have injured yourself at work, on private property or due to a faulty product you purchased.
The person you will sue depends upon where the incident happened and who was to blame. For example, you may slip and break your leg on a recently washed floor at work.
Your employer actually hires contract cleaners but some of the blame may go to those cleaners, who failed to dry the floor properly, rather than it being entirely your employer’s fault.
The court will scrutinise the evidence in trying to determine how and why the accident occurred. This is so they can figure out where the blame falls.
This can be done via evidence such as timesheets and cleaning work contracts. You may also need your medical notes regarding the damage caused by the fall. Long-term projections for how your leg will heal, signed by a doctor, can also help.
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Professional Negligence
Professional negligence happens when someone you employ does not fulfil their duty of care when providing their services.
An accountant that messes up your accounts, for example, can be sued. Their error has the potential to leave you personally liable for the professional mistakes they make.
Architects and surveyors can also be sued based on their work with regard to your property.
An architect might carry out work that is not suitable or they could be negligent when carrying out building tasks. Their mistakes can pose a significant risk to your health and safety. You may have the right to claim compensation in order to fix the work.
A surveyor may be sued if they fail to survey your property properly. They may not notice a significant structural issue, for example. Or, they could fail to warn you of areas that do require more surveyance.
Their actions and choices may also pose a threat to your health and safety. They have therefore broken civil law, as they have failed to fulfil duty of care whilst fulfilling their contractual obligations.
Evidence for professional negligence cases, could include the contract between you and the professional you have hired are acceptable. Keep any other pieces of evidence that determine the defendant is liable to pay.
Have you experienced professional negligence? We can help.
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How to Sue Someone Successfully and Claim Compensation
- Make a compelling claim for your case.
As the claimant, you know that you feel a compelling case to sue the defendant for the problems caused. Much of this is emotional, as people naturally feel angry or betrayed when taking someone to court. You can try and validate the factors that have led to your decision to sue in a few ways. One way is to list the damage afforded to you by the defendant. Consider mental implications, time lost, monetary factors and the impact on your ability to work. You may also wish to think about how the damage will continue to affect you in the long term. - Collect all the evidence required to present to the courts.
Putting emotions aside, the court does need to see some substantial, solid evidence. This should portray the damage to your finances and state of wellbeing that the defendant has caused. Be sure to make photocopies of all evidence in case any original documents are lost. You can also upload them in digital form for ease of viewing. - Accurately determine how much your case is worth in financial terms.
This is also known as ‘quantum’ – the financial value of damages and costs. You have to provide enough evidence to prove that the case is worth as much as you tell them it is. For example, someone suing an architect for dodgy work may provide an invoice. This declares they have paid a certain amount in order to have the work reconstructed professionally and some or all may be recoverable. - Figure out how your opponent feels about the case.
This is important. It means you can assess whether they are willing to mediate in order to come to a fair and reasonable agreement. Your opponent may be an individual, where things can become tense on a personal level. Alternatively, they may be an organisation, such as your employer. The way you navigate communications with the defendant may have an impact on the outcome of your claim. Do your best to remain amicable. - Consult specialist lawyers familiar with your case.
For the best chances of accurately putting your case forward and succeeding in making a claim against the defendant, you should seek professional legal advice from a reputable lawyer or solicitor.
We may be able to help.
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Qualities to Look for When Selecting a Solicitor
The solicitor you end up choosing should be one that you’ve looked into. You should do enough research to know that you trust them wholeheartedly. Here are a few of the key qualities you should seek when determining which solicitor or law firm to go with:
- A history of great reviews from previous clients. This shows they are a well-established lawyer or firm that has seen past success in filing civil claims.
- Lawyers that specialise in the particular area of the law you are suing someone within. Those familiar with your specific issue know exactly how to provide the best services.
- Look for affordable yet quality services. You already lost out due to the actions or negligence of the people you’re suing. Make sure you don’t lose out further, with how your case is funded.
- Ultimate case progress transparency. When suing someone, you’ll likely want to keep updated with the case at all times. Hattons Solicitors provide an easy to use online case progress tracker, so you can see where your case is going in real-time.
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Hattons Law: Established Solicitors to Help with Your Lawsuit
At Hattons Solicitors, we have spent decades supporting our clients within the UK. Our personable, approachable solicitors have seen almost every possible legal situation. We know how to prepare for whatever faces us when fighting a legal battle. So, we know just what to do in order to help you file a winning lawsuit. We’re on your side.
Get in touch with us today, to discuss how we can provide professional help with your legal issue. Depending on what your problem is, we will guide you towards the right advice to get your lawsuit started. If you are wishing to discuss an employment law situation, we offer an out of hours employment law advice helpline. This is on 01744 744412 – this is open Monday to Friday, 6pm – 9pm.
Posted on: 02/Feb/2021 Posted in: General