WRC Hearing Rights

Heya!

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So, I have a WRC adjudication hearing coming up imminently. I am self-represented (and pretty comfortable with this).

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I submitted my full evidence bundle (fully labelled, indexed, cross-referenced, hyperlinked for ease of navigation, metadata and chain of custody intact) well in advance. 99.99% of it is documentation generated by the respondent themselves and referenced extensively by date/ title/ timestamp in MULTIPLE pre-WRC filing past correspondence, so nothing in it is new to them or even unexpected. The only two pieces of evidence they haven't *technically* literally seen with theor own eyes before have been extensively explained in detail and referenced in several previous documents/ correspondence. I have sent this bundle (the EXACT same as that which I have provided to the WRC) directly to their solicitors twice, and the WRC forwarded it to them again this week. They have yet to confirm any receipt or indexing of the evidence

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Their solicitors have sent me nothing. No witness list, no documents, no outline of their case. Less than a week out from the hearing, the only thing they've filed with the WRC is a settlement offer, which I declined. I have put this lack of engagement on record with the WRC (and cc'd their solicitors, so that it cannot be claimed that I was leaving them out of communications).

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By the way, the offer was SUPER low-ball (insultingly so), rejected outright ALL allegations (without providing a shred of evidence to support their assertion), raised the issue of complexity and the likelihood that this could drag on for multiple hearings (I don't care... I'm not paying legal fees and I am *extremely* confident in my evidence AND my case), and (craziest of all) required me to sign away significantly more than just the WRC complaints (i.e withdrawing complaints currently being investigated by other regulatory bodies, agreeing to never raising future complaints even if further wrongdoing were to come to light, AND signing a binding NDA), and the figure on the table wouldn't have covered what I'm owed on one complaint head alone.

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Two things I'm trying to get clarity on before the hearing:

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1. Is there any obligation on a respondent to disclose what they intend to rely on before a WRC hearing? I know it's not a court and the rules are more flexible, but if they show up at the hearing with witness statements and documents I've never seen, can I object? Does it matter to the adjudicator that one party submitted a full bundle weeks ago and the other submitted nothing? My guess is that they are going to try for an adjournment, which I am prepared to vigorously object to.

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2. I still don't know who the adjudicator is. It wasn't in the hearing notification letter. I asked in writing and got no response. Is that standard? I'd like to look up their previous decisions and I'd also just like to know who I'm walking in to face. Is there any entitlement to that information beforehand?

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Any help appreciated.