Kenworthy’s Chambers is happy to announce ‘Trial Preparation’, a free CPD training course taking place on Thursday 29th of February from 4 pm – 5 pm hosted by Civil Litigation and Personal Injury expert Peter Quegan.

Please register your place on this virtual course by filling out the sign-up form at the bottom of this page.

Who is this seminar for?

This seminar is suitable for any litigator in civil cases, especially Personal Injury cases.

What does this seminar cover?

In this free seminar, Personal Injury and Civil Litigation Expert Peter Quegan will talk about ‘manoeuvrism’, taking the right instructions, and how to use each stage in the proceedings to your best advantage.

Why you should have the trial in mind from the beginning of your preparations and even make the client aware that a willingness to attend the trial is essential. How to reassure your clients.

Common problems that occur in court and how they can be mitigated by taking a full statement as early as possible, by playing the devil’s advocate, and by getting the client to review and comment upon the defence or opposing witness statements.

You cannot account for how a witness will perform on the stand, but you can prepare, and Peter will take you through the best-practice approach to litigation, preparation, and fraud issues. He has a checklist for witness preparation and advises that Litigators have a trial checklist organised once the trial date is known.

Having a conference with counsel as early as possible is useful in highlighting problems, sometimes five to six weeks prior to the trial. Agreeing on quantum or liability helps to narrow down the issues and instructing counsel about costs as comprehensively as possible is worth your while.

What will I learn?

Litigators attending this training seminar should gain a new way of seeing the journey, from taking first instructions to winning trials, the aim is to get you thinking strategically. 

Peter Quegan is set to teach tactics for undermining your opponent's will to fight and for winning cases. Good draft directions are important in shaping the battle against your opponent, channelling them onto your chosen ground, and are more likely to be used by the judge as the basis for his directions.

The importance of remaining detached and not getting too emotionally involved or aggressive or falling out with your opponent. Agreeing directions with the other parties’ Solicitor can help improve your relationship with them.

The value in gathering evidence with haste so it can be obtained before it becomes lost. The importance of notifying the witness when the trial is likely to be and checking their availability and financial ability to attend.

Finally, this seminar will teach you how scheduling joint settlement meetings as early as possible can bring focus to your case, helping to narrow the issues, agree on the costs, and give you more control over the trial. Additionally, sending the trial bundle index to the defendant in good time is important. The earlier the better.

About the speaker

As a Civil Litigation and Personal Injury Barrister of 13 years, with another 15 years working as a Solicitor handling fatal and serious accidents, Peter Quegan understands the pain points Litigators experience.

He can appreciate the multiple deadlines you face, the realisation that you may have missed something, and the horrible feeling when you think that you have made a mistake. This is why he is the perfect host for this seminar on Trial Preparation.

He is familiar with the annoyance of when counsel fails to deal with the central point of your instructions, despite having the papers for weeks. Or when counsel fails to get the costs that you had hoped for, and you suspect they would have done so if it had been their money.

Please be advised that the last day to register for the ‘Trial Preparation’ seminar is 28/02/2024 and invites to this virtual seminar will be sent via email on 29/02/2024.

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