[Solved] When to consider self representation

If you stick with a solicitor, then the costs are likely to be considerably higher than you have hoped for. There is no problem at all with you continuing on your own, and we'll help you as much as possible. You can use your solicitor for occasional ad-hoc advice on an hourly basis, or you could look at using a mackenzie's friend to assist which will cost you much less (MF's aren't regulated, so get one by recommendation to make sure you get a good one - if you need to, send a PM to one of the moderators, and we may be able to point you in the right direction).

If you speak to your solicitor to say that you simply can't afford to continue with legal fees, he should be understanding and help to transfer the paperwork to you.

I'd recommend self rep even if you can afford to blow upto £20000 on useless solicitors

Hi There,

I agree, there is no reason for you not to represent yourself, unless you have signed a contract with the solicitor committing the court case as well which I wouldn't have thought you would have then you are free to stop using their services.

As actd has said you could keep them on, but inform them that you do not require them to attend court just be on hand if required moving forward, that way you haven't burnt your bridges and if things do get complicated once you have been to court then you still have a solicitor that knows the case.

I would as already said state that you won't be able to afford the costs of court attendance.

GTTS

Hi, my partner wanted a solicitor for the 3/4th time back in court due to allegations etc and it seems the court room lost focus on the actual topic of him seeing his child and was more focused on the mother's allegations (which they do need to take into consideration and check all safeguarding issues in their defence to ensure the child is actually safe).

When we asked a solicitor, they said we are looking at 5000-10000 with fixed fees involved for attending court. Also don't forget your time slot may be at 10 and you may not be seen for hours later (our experience every time) and this will be racking a bill for your solicitor just sitting there!

Prior to this we got a solicitor to send a letter to the mother when she was disputing what the order stated and this alone with 1 meeting cost us just under £400.

I mean they are very expensive and if you continue you never know how long the case may go on for. My partner applied march 2018 (this year), and they are still waiting for their final hearing which will take place in April 2019 (next year). This is because mother and father couldn't agree contact, mother made allegations, court instructed s7 report. S7 report wasn't submitted to the court in time for the next hearing, then at the following hearing as they still couldn't agree contact and after waiting 3 hours they were in the court room for just 10 minutes when the judge pushed it to a final hearing. Why they didn't follow recommendations during that hearing and close the case is beyond me but just goes to show what we thought was reletively straight forward is still going on a year later, so this is something to consider.

Due to the costs my partner has always self represented. I have been on this forum since finding it to support him and there's great people with advise and experiences to share to help you through your court case.

Personally I'd say self represent, there's no one better than you that knows your case and history behind it etc than you. Im sure many fathers get nervous but like I said there's many to help and as others have suggested you can have a McKenzie friend for support.

Thanks everyone I'm slowly becoming used to the idea that self representation may in fact work for the best

I have a different view on this, money is not the only cost to be considered.

You need to also consider how good you are at learning how the process works, making yourself heard and dealing with the stress involved while remaining clear and focused.

The other problem I think exists is, if the other side is represented and you are dealing with the lower courts, chances are they will subconsciously not take you as seriously as a LIP.

A poor barrister is very expensive no matter how much they charge, and a good barrister is worth it.

A good solicitor can be good too, not so much for the letters they write which aren’t worth much, but for helping out in drafting statements and applications.

If I had to do it again, I would have dumped the solicitor but not the barrister, he did a much better job than I could.

I echo what SPD has said if you can afford it.

if i had my time again and knowing very little i would have gone with a MacKenzie friend for the first few hearings to get a feel for way the system works, i'd have probably sacved myself at least £4k, the money saved by not using a solicitor could have then gone on a barrister for the Enforcement and Committal hearings and likely have saved me the heartache of not seeing my child for the last 3yrs due to blundering cafcass officer who ignored the ex's previous stunts and order breaches.

If i could have afforded it....a direct access barrister would been a better choice for me

I would say that most of our members have self repped, at least for part of their case. If you only have linmited funds I would say use them for a barrister at the final hearing.

As straightforward as your case should be, the possibility of a Section 7 report indicates that there have been some safeguarding issues/allegations made... if this happens it will extend the length of your case and. When factoring in the waiting time between hearings, a year is quite common in length of case terms.

As said we will do as much as we can to advise and support you, many of our members have self represented with much success.

All the best

My case was 15 years ago, I had a good solicitor and a good barrister, and with family connections, I got a 20% discount on the solicitor's cost, but it still cost me over £40k - my ex didn't show up to court, or didn't comply with court orders, so requiring more hearings and more time spent by my solicitors, and my ex knew this so was almost certainly deliberately driving up my costs. This is a warning as to how much it can cost you using solicitors, so if you can self rep, then I'd do so, and a MF is a good way of making sure you are thoroughly prepared.