Getting Earlier Settlements Out of Court

Under the various State regimes established for dealing with personal injury claims, a Respondent (most often represented by their Insurer) and a Claimant are obliged to participate in a process often referred to as the pre-action procedures prior to the commencement of formal proceedings in a Court. 

The culmination of the pre-action procedures is the convening of what is referred to as the compulsory conference.  A compulsory conference is a conference between the Claimant and the Respondent (and ordinarily their representatives) in which a Claimant and Respondent are obliged to seek to negotiate a settlement of the Claimant’s claim. 

Experience shows that many claims can be settled at this early stage without the need to commence court proceedings provided that all necessary preparations are undertaken and all evidence is obtained prior to the convening of the compulsory conference. 

If a Claimant’s claim is prepared properly it will often be capable of being settled at a compulsory conference on terms no less favourable than a Claimant would achieve from court proceedings.