Failure to attend FDA due to health issue. Urgent

Well done to your friend for getting there and kudos to the judge for being helpful.

If she is finding it hard as a litigant in person, she may need to seek support from a solicitor. If that is unaffordable, she could look at the services offered by this site as well as joining it herself.

Hadenoughnow

Concerning the next stage, something completely unexpected has come up in the Judge's directions from the FDA.
I says that the respondents costs for the next hearing must be met by the applicant, (my friend). There was absolutely no mention of this at the FDA, and the directions give no explanation or reasoning.
This is a serious blow as my friend as she is in a very poor financial situation. Is it possible to seek further information from the court or appeal the decision?

It is possible to appeal but in all honestly it will make matters worse. An appeal is likely to fail (if permission to appeal is granted which is unlikely) and the costs of the appeal will be payable by your friend, along with the costs as originally order.

It is possible to question the order on the grounds that this was not mentioned at the FDA but you may have missed the point when the judge covered the issue.

From my point of view I would expect the order to be an order for 'costs thrown away by today's adjournment' rather than 'costs of the adjourned FDA' as the former can be quantified now whereas the latter is an unknown quantity.

It may be the case that the judge will perform a summary assessment of costs at the next hearing which means that the costs would technically be payable within 14 days of the date that the court determines the amount payable.

In any event your friend can ask that the payment of the costs be delayed until the end of the case due to her financially straightened position. It's not guarantee but if she obtained a doctor's note to confirm her current fragile condition it may help.

Charles

Had all the paperwork for the hearing been completed?

The FDA wasnt adjourned and the next hearing will be FDR. There was definately no mention of costs at the FDA...
FDA documents were filed a little late because the other side werent ready to exchange by the due date.
Question: Should my friend be receiving the FDA directions from the court in writing? It has been a week an nothing has been received directly.

Yes, the order will be sent out as an order. A week is a very short timeframe to expect documentation from the court - they don't work very quickly at all.

Charles