Service Of Proceedings On A Solicitor

The thorny issue of service of proceedings continues to take up Court time with applications when it goes wrong. This article is intended as a timely reminder of a wrinkle of the service rules that can be overlooked. In the event that the service of proceedings is defective, the Defendant has an opportunity to apply to strike out a claim which, save for the procedural failure, would be allowed to proceed.

Nomination of a solicitor to accept service on behalf of a named party is a regular occurrence when proceedings are anticipated.

Rule 6.7 of the Civil Procedure Rules 1998 sets out that, where the Claimant has been given notice in writing of the business address within the jurisdiction of a solicitor as an address at which the Defendant may be served with the Claim Form, the Claim Form must (subject to one exception) be served at the business address of that solicitor. Service on any other address would be defective.