JERSEY Law and Practice Contributed by: Marcus Pallot, Eleanor Davies and Christopher Tan, Carey Olsen
3. Initiating a Lawsuit 3.1 Rules on Pre-action Conduct
Unlike jurisdictions such as England and Wales, there is no statutory regulation of damages- based agreements (or indeed of litigation fund- ing generally). 2.2 Third-Party Funding: Lawsuits There are currently no express restrictions as to which civil lawsuits are available for third-party funding, except that any litigation funding agree- ment must meet the requirements set out in 2.1 Third-Party Litigation Funding . 2.3 Third-Party Funding for Plaintiff and Defendant Third-party funding is available for a plaintiff in Jersey. The availability of third-party funding for defendants has not yet been considered in Jer- sey. 2.4 Minimum and Maximum Amounts of Third-Party Funding Please see 2.5 Types of Costs Considered under Third-Party Funding . Jersey law does not presently stipulate any minimum or maximum amounts of third-party funding in the context of Jersey litigation. 2.5 Types of Costs Considered Under Third-Party Funding It is open for a third-party funder to finance all or part of the costs associated with the legal action in question. 2.6 Contingency Fees Contingency fee arrangements are not presently permitted in litigation in Jersey. 2.7 Time Limit for Obtaining Third-Party Funding Currently, there are no particular time limits in Jersey by which a party to a litigation must obtain third-party funding.
Prior to commencing any legal action in Jersey, potential litigants need to comply with the pre- action requirements stipulated in Practice Direc- tion 17/01 (PD 17/01). PD 17/01 requires the fol- lowing as pre-action steps. • A prospective plaintiff must issue a claim letter to a proposed defendant, which must include, amongst other things, a summary of the facts and legal basis of each claim being made. • A defendant must acknowledge receipt of the claim letter within 14 days of receipt, failing which the plaintiff may commence proceed- ings with no further need to comply with PD 17/01. • If the defendant wishes to provide a substan- tive response to the claim letter, it will have a further 14 days (or up to three months in complex cases) to do so. • If the defendant’s response contains a coun- terclaim or allegation of contributory negli- gence, the plaintiff must respond within 14 days (or within six weeks in complex cases). • The parties must thereafter consider the pos- sibility of the dispute being resolved by ADR rather than court proceeding. • If no settlement is reached and proceedings commence, the court may take into account the extent to which each party took reason- able steps to comply with the requirements of PD 17/01. Failure to comply with PD 17/01 may lead to adverse cost orders being made against the party in question.
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