Question 1 of 10

You are acting for a claimant in a personal injury matter, following an accident at work he was left with serious head injuries and now suffers significant neurological deficits and finds stress extremely difficult to cope with, he attends each hearing with his wife who is his main emotional support. You appear at a directions hearing in the County Court. The Judge takes a robust view of the case and addresses you in clear terms, he says that your client’s case is speculative and the claim overvalued and that the parties should go outside immediately and “agree something instead of wasting the court’s time with a trial”, the Judge then rises. Your client’s confidence in his case collapses, before you can speak meaningfully with him, he becomes emotional and tells you to go and settle the case for a fraction of what you think it is worth immediately. His wife agrees and says they both “just want this over with” and that they can always return to court later if they consider, on reflection, that the amount involved is insufficient. What is the proper course of action in these circumstances?