Personal Problems

From time to time issues unrelated to the litigation will affect the running of a case. Employment tribunals are particularly prone to this, since most stem from an employee losing their job, which tends to impact many areas of life.

If this happens, you will probably have to offer an explanation, either to support amending case management directions or to justify having failed to comply with them. When you are doing this it is important to explain what if going on and what problems it has caused. Simply saying “I’m having a personal crisis” or something similar will not be effective. The tribunal will want to know the nature and scope of your crisis.

This can be embarrassing and difficult. It is not nice to have to discuss your personal life with the tribunal, or with the respondent. But if you want the tribunal to take it into account, you must tell them what is going on.

This does not mean that you must, or should, share all the gory details. A brief, factual summary of the issue is likely to be the best approach.

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