Well the situation is quite simple and I do in fact have a good case (I do a lot of medico-legal work as a translator/interpreter and I'm not totally daft either!!), he seriously and mysteriously defamed me in an e-mail on 12.11.11 (if you really want the wording I can provide it), I asked him to apologise (he sent the e-mail to me but copied it to my husband, my new rector and 4 other people), it was not in anyway sustantiated and ws in response to a courteous polite request for some minutes of a local meeting where certain local funds were being appropriated to a local projecd I politely opposed. Eventually in accordance with pre-trial protocol I sent him a Letter of Claim on 9.3.12, he did not respond within 14 days and therefore I visited the High Court in London they approved the claim (though they asked me to adjust my Particulars which I did and they accepted these by e-mail and served him with a writ). He then employed a firm of solicitors specialising in libel in the West End who have tried to frighten me off but at the risk of immodesty I know my story back to front and I have responded to them with (kind) but extremely rational responses. He has offered mediation (and eventually to pay for my side) but I know that all that will happen during this mediation is that (he's an odd guy) he will just use it to justify his awful persecutory untrue comments about me. I have told him I will drop my claim if he sends a simple (and I have suggested nice proper wording) e-mail to me copied to those copied apologising for my distress and retracting his awful comments and strangely and no-one understands this, nor my husband,nor doctors, nor friends,nor family, he simply refuses to write such e-mail (and because I am a litigant in person my costs are only £350. He has till 3/7 to serve Defence Partics and then of course I can respond to those but I know he is going to make an application to strike the claim out even though in black and white he has seriously libelled me. I know the Master/judge will eventually issue allocation questionnaires, then there may be a directions hearing or it may go straight to trial - is it definitely in front of a jury or can it just be before a Judge? So 2 questions, that last one but also when he applies to strike out my claim presumably I just rationally argue my case? I have doctors letters denying his claim plus a witness statement from a friend who has known me 30 years was outraged when she saw his comments and she is also a magistrate. She has written me a Witness Statement. Your comments please, million thanks : Ffion