I had a rare experience this week when I was sacked by a client who told me that they felt that they could look after their family law case better themselves.
Over the years, I have dealt with many cases, normally family law cases where the other side were lay litigants.
I have also been involved in many cases where lay litigants are assisted by “MacKenzie friends” or other supportive individuals.
This generally happens where people become utterly frustrated with the legal system and perhaps with the legal profession and feel they can do a better job themselves. I have yet to come across a case where that was the correct decision to make.
It takes almost 7 years to qualify as a solicitor. That is an awful lot of training. I wouldn’t dream of trolling the internet for cures for my son’s chest infection, I would bring him to a doctor or a hospital. Why then do so many clients, particularly in the area of family law feel that they can troll the internet and read reported law cases and feel that they are now sufficiently expert to run their own case.
Every lawyer knows the sentence “if you act for yourself, you have a fool for a client”. The benefit of a having a solicitor you can trust is that you have somebody with many years of legal training, who can stand back and look at a situation from a legal perspective and give you independent expert advice. If your solicitor cannot do this then the answer is not to represent yourself but to find a solicitor, who can provide this service to you.
Obviously there are cases where matters are entirely straightforward or consensual and it may not be necessary to go to the expense of hiring a solicitor but if a matter is contested or in any way difficult, then why on earth would you adopt a “do it yourself” approach. If your solicitor is hopeless, the answer is get another one, not do it yourself.
Kevin Brophy
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