This work provides how-to guidance on all types of litigation in the Queen's Bench Division and the county court. It takes practitioners through every stage of an action, from the preliminary stages of litigation, through the directions stage to trial, costs, enforcement and appeals. This edition has been expanded and updated to cover the Arbitration Act 1996, the Civil Evidence Act 1995, the Civil Procedure Act 1997, the Criminal Injuries Compensation Act 1996, the Damages Act 1996, the Social Secutiry (Recovery of Benefits) Act 1997 and 1996 and 1997 law reports. Also new to this edition are sections on: the new approach to time; the new law of hearsay; applications for assessment of damages or value; and costs orders where litigation is funded.