A potential claimant consults a solicitor about a personal injury claim arising from a road traffic accident that occurred 34 months ago. The claimant has one witness who supports the claimant's version of events, but the defendant has two witnesses who provide a different account. The claimant's witness is the claimant's brother-in-law, who was a passenger in the claimant's vehicle. The defendant's witnesses are independent motorists who were traveling in the opposite direction. The solicitor is assessing the merits of the claim before advising whether to commence proceedings. Medical evidence clearly establishes the extent of the claimant's injuries.
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AThe claim has strong prospects of success because the claimant has a supporting witness and clear medical evidence of injury, and the solicitor should advise issuing proceedings after obtaining further witness statements to strengthen the case over the next few months.
BThe claim faces significant evidential challenges due to conflicting witness accounts, and limitation is about to expire, requiring urgent consideration of whether to issue protective proceedings despite witness reliability concerns.
CThe claim should proceed to litigation because the court will give equal weight to all witness evidence regardless of the relationship between witnesses and parties, and one supporting witness is sufficient to establish liability on the balance of probabilities.
DThe solicitor should advise the claimant to issue proceedings immediately because the strong medical evidence of injury outweighs any concerns about conflicting witness accounts, and damages can be recovered even if liability is contested at trial.
✓ Correct answer: B. The claim faces significant evidential challenges due to conflicting witness accounts, and limitation is about to expire, requiring urgent consideration of whether to issue protective proceedings despite witness reliability concerns.The correct answer recognizes both the critical limitation issue (the three-year limitation period for personal injury claims is nearly expired at 34 months) and the witness reliability problem (the claimant's only witness is a family member passenger, while the defendant has two independent witnesses). A solicitor must not neglect limitation when advising on proceedings, as specified in the assessment criteria. The answer balances the need to preserve the claim by issuing protective proceedings with the evidential weakness on liability. Distractor 1 ignores the imminent limitation deadline. Distractor 2 wrongly dismisses the relevance of witness relationships to credibility. Distractor 3 incorrectly suggests that strong medical evidence on quantum overcomes weak liability evidence. Distractor 4 wrongly implies that limitation can be easily extended.
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