Exchange of Skeleton Arguments

Brown and another v Bennett and others (Ch D TLR 13 June)

Should skeleton arguments be exchanged sequentially or simultaneously? The answer depends on the particular case, however, in complicated cases sequential exchange with the claimant serving his argument first, might be appropriate. On the other hand, on a construction application, for example, it would normally be appropriate to order simultaneous exchange. Sequential exchange should not operate in such a way which was unfair to the claimants. The defendants were entitled to time, not to formulate their skeleton argument, but to re-fashion their draft, in order to reflect the claimant’s argument.