HT-2022-000304 - [2025] EWHC 1771 (TCC)

The claimants propose that the defendants should serve their responsive Re-Re-Re-Re-Amended Defence by 31 July 2025. The defendants’ position is that the amendments are very substantial and they need until 31 October 2025.

The period proposed by the claimants is insufficient. Having served hundreds of pages of amendments, many as recently as 30 May, it is unreasonable to expect the defendants to plead to them within a matter of weeks. The court recognises that there is much publicly available information on the amended issues and the claimants have provided the defendants with a list of key documents relied on, and subsequently copies of those documents. The claimants have now further agreed to provide a mark-up of their pleading cross-referencing those documents within two weeks of the CMC. Undoubtedly that will assist the process but, even without the need to respond to Appendix VI, the task of investigating and pleading to the voluminous pleadings in Appendix III and Section C5 is a substantial task.

Having regard to the above points, the timetable for pleadings shall be as follows: