The leaky building trial

A trial becomes an inevitability at some point once you have commenced proceedings, unless you either settle the case earlier, or discontinue your claim.

A trial costs a lot of money. Lawyers will be in Court every day for the duration of the trial, which may take weeks. Outside of this Court time they will be doing a lot of work preparing for the leaky homes trial, researching the leaky building disputes law and drafting legal submissions for the judge.

Purpose of leaky building trial

The purpose of the leaky building trial is to prove the plaintiff's case, which is done by the plaintiff's solicitor 'leading' the evidence they have earlier briefed. In other words, the people who have signed statements that were served as part of the briefing process will have to attend Court and confirm the content of those statements.

This includes both the homeowners (plaintiffs) and the experts acting on their behalf. They will then be cross examined by the defendant's solicitors, who will try to 'catch them out' in any way which will assist their defence. At both the beginning, and more importantly at the end of the trial, the solicitors on both sides will make submissions on the facts that have come out during the trial and the legal implications of these facts.

They will refer to previous case law that supports their case and argue their client's leaky home or leaky building case. The judge will then go away and write his / her judgment. This can take a number of weeks, or months.

Once a judgment has been made in a plaintiff's favour, it can be enforced against those parties the judge has decided are liable. However, both sides (the plaintiffs and the defendants) may choose to appeal the judgment to the High Court - Court of Appeal and after that, to the Supreme Court.