What is the next step following the First Directions Appointment (FDA)?
At the FDA directions will have been made.
Both parties will need to comply with these court ordered directions to ensure the case continues to progress.
Either at the FDA or shortly after it, the next hearing in the process will be listed. The next hearing is known as a Financial Dispute Resolution hearing (FDR).
The FDR is designed to further narrow the issues that are preventing the parties from reaching agreement, with the aim of encouraging settlement.
Prior to the FDR, both parties should have put forward without prejudice proposals for settlement. These proposals must be lodged at the court in advance of the hearing. Without prejudice proposals are only looked at by the court at the FDR- this is because the FDR itself is without prejudice. Without prejudice offers enable parties to freely negotiate without being held to the terms put forward if agreement cannot be reached.
As FDRs are treated as without prejudice, the judge who deals with this hearing will not be allowed to conduct any final hearing that may be necessary if the parties have not been able to achieve settlement.
Both parties’ positions will be set out to the FDR judge.
The judge will then offer an indication as to what they believe would happen if the matter were to proceed to final hearing. The indication is key as it can often help focus the parties on the primary aim of reaching agreement.
Often agreement is reached at FDR or shortly thereafter. Failure to settle at FDR does not necessarily mean that a final hearing WILL happen, but simply that a final hearing will be listed.
If agreement cannot be reached, despite the indication given by the judge, a final hearing will be listed and further directions set in place to ensure the case is fully prepared for this concluding step.