Delay within the limitation period after the issue of a writ is treated equivalently to pre-writ delay for the purposes of the Chris Smaller principle, so that post-limitation delay is scrutinised more critically. A plaintiff's prolonged inability to formulate a proper pleading, with successive statements of claim being struck out, constitutes inordinate and inexcusable delay even though the plaintiff was not wholly inactive. In professional negligence claims against auditors, the defendants' case may depend on witnesses' recollections beyond the documents, and the characterisation of a case as 'documentary' will not negate prejudice from delay.
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