Civil Law
CIVIL LAW EXPERTISE
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What is Civil Law?
The civil law work carried out by St. Pauls Chambers comprises of two main strands (Public Law is dealt with separately):
- Contract
- Tort
The civil law team contains 15 barristers, three of whom are leading counsel (QCs). Our most experienced civil law barrister has been practising law for 38 years, and our newest junior member of the team is currently three years into the profession. Some of our members also sit as part-time civil judges, reflecting their experience and expertise in this
domain.
Types of Civil Law
Contract Law
Contract law concerns disputes between parties that have agreed between themselves how their relationship will run, who is responsible for what, and what the consequences of default will be. Frequently, these critical matters will not be entirely clear. It is not uncommon to enter into a contract without even realising you are doing so (for example, when you buy a Mars Bar from your local shop). A civil barrister can help you identify:
- whether you have entered into a contract or not, how you did so (another example is via an agent, i.e. if your partner asks someone to mend the washing machine, you may be as liable to make payment as they are);
- what each of you promised to the other;
- the consequences of not doing that which was promised; and
- the value of any failure to do that which was promised.
Our civil barristers are experienced in each aspect of this.
A contract typically involves a private relationship between parties (known officially as privity), supported by a promise from one party to make payment to the other either in money or money’s worth (known as consideration). Failure to do what was promised is a breach. Breach of contract can then lead to the award of damages, aimed at ensuring the party who has lost out is in the same position they would have been in if the other party had kept their contractual promise. Parties can sometimes agree on what the damages will be in advance. For some situations, damages are not enough, and in these cases, the Court will grant an order making the party that has broken its promise to carry out what they initially promised to do.
This basic structure governs your purchase of petrol, your job, your holiday and your banking, the precise issues of which can be enormously complicated. If you were not told the truth, the contract might have been formed based on what is known as misrepresentation, which can allow you to receive damages. If either party has made a mistake, this can have legal consequences. And if some of the things you agreed to do were unlawful, the Court will not enforce the promise; in such situations, the contract is not legally binding.
Contracts can involve anything from a small claim about your holiday departure being delayed (which you can often claim compensation for) to huge claims regarding your bank failing to honour the promises they made about your business’s overdraft. If you have a dispute about your business affairs, the sooner you take civil legal advice, the better. A well-drafted letter can often resolve a dispute before it has even begun, saving you time and money.
A civil law barrister from St Pauls Chambers can help you directly. We accept public access instructions at all levels and will agree to the fee with you for a set piece of work, allowing you to stop the clock at any stage. Equally, we know when you need a solicitor straight away, and when you might not need us at all and will advise you as such at the nearest opportunity. If there is a lot of documentation involved, it may be that you are better off with a solicitor; something our independence ensures we will provide you with accurate civil legal advice about.
Tort
Tort is the name for a civil wrong done to yourself when you have not made any agreement with the other party – for example, if you are injured at work or when crossing the road. We have decided, as a country, that times exist where we all owe a duty to other people to behave reasonably; the ‘duty of care’. If you are the victim of someone who does not behave reasonably, or if it is said that you behaved unreasonably, then you may be entitled to, or have to pay, damages.
The most obvious example is a road traffic accident. However, the requirement to behave reasonably extends much further than this. If your tree grows over the road and a cyclist is knocked off her bike by an overhanging branch, that may be unreasonable (an example of the tort of nuisance). If your ex-boyfriend can’t stop hassling you and sending you insulting or obscene texts, that may be unreasonable (an example of the tort of harassment). If the local newspaper confuses you with the convicted criminal of the same name and says, in print, that you are dishonest, that may be unreasonable (an example of the tort of defamation). If the police wrongly arrest and prosecute you when you are innocent, and it was always clear that you are innocent, that may be an example of the torts of wrongful arrest, false imprisonment and malicious prosecution. If you are playing football on a Sunday and somebody from the opposing team tackles you for fun, that may be the tort of assault.
While these are all personal situations, tort can take a business perspective as well. You can be harassed by your gas company as well as your ex. An agreement between your business competitor and a disloyal employee to hire your employees and poach your customers can be the tort of conspiracy. If the bank suggests that you take a product that is unsuitable for you, that can be the tort of negligence, and you may be able to recover what you have lost from them.
All of these issues might allow you to take legal action, or to defend legal action brought against you. Our civil law barristers are experienced and expert in such matters. They will be able to tell you if you have a claim, if you have a defence, what your prospects of success are, and what next steps you should take to get where you want to be.
The barristers in St Paul’s Chambers will give you independent, sensible and business-focused civil law advice, enabling you to know where you stand and make informed choices about what to do in your business or personal dispute. If this is your first dispute, you can rest assured that our barristers will have seen these issues before, and will be practised in knowing how to deal with them efficiently. We understand that disputes can take over your life and aim to make sure that they don’t. We put things into perspective and ensure that the case is run by you, not you being run by the case.
Anyone wishing to instruct counsel is encouraged to contact our clerking team. They will be happy to assist, and make sure that the choice you make is appropriate to the weight and size of the case, and that you receive the advice you need as quickly as possible. Further information concerning particular counsel is available on our counsel profiles, copies of which can be downloaded from our site.
