There are no lawyers at the Disputes Tribunal — you present your own case, so your evidence has to do the talking. Most cases are won or lost before anyone sits down at the table, and almost all of that is preparation you can do yourself - if you have time.
This checklist is the whole of that preparation, broken into stages you can work through and tick off. It's free, and it's the same advice as our guides — just in a form you can print and carry.
What's in it
- As soon as you have a hearing date — what is the CIV number, can you attend by phone or video, are support people allowed, etc.
- Gathering — what counts as evidence, and the four kinds most people forget.
- Ordering — the single highest-value hour you will spend on the whole thing.
- Sending copies — to both sides, with the right references.
- The day itself — how the hearing runs, who is in the room, and what to keep in mind.
Free: the hearing preparation checklist
Everything worth sorting before a Disputes Tribunal hearing, in the order it's worth doing it — gathering, dating, numbering, what to send and to whom, and what happens in the room. Six stages, free, no account needed.