On 9 June 2020 William Hamilton was instructed to attend one of the first personal injury trials to take place in person at the Manchester Civil Justice Centre following the easing of the lockdown. William found that the court administration had implemented a number of measures to ensure that social distancing was observed and hygiene conditions were maintained. In light of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic it is envisaged that practitioners, witnesses and others attending court will continue to experience a number of significant differences in the procedures for entering court buildings, conducting pre-trial conferences and in relation to the trial/hearing process itself.
It is to be hoped that the new measures implemented by the court administration will give those due to attend court the confidence that they can do so safely.
Chambers is happy to share what it has learnt from this experience with solicitors who may have upcoming trials. All enquiries should be made via Joe Gibson on 0161 955 5161 or Joe.Gibson@9sjs.com.
William Hamilton is a member of the 9 St John Street Personal Injury, Insurance Fraud and Travel & International Personal Injury Law teams and his profile can be found here.