Northern Family Law Support
McKenzie Friend
For a fraction of the price charged by solicitors, we can support you in court as a McKenzie Friend. We can sit alongside you, giving you advice, taking notes, and providing you with moral support.
We cover the North East of England, including Tyne and Wear, County Durham, Teesside, Chester le Street, Washington, Consett, Stanley, Newcastle, Gateshead, Sunderland, Durham and Middlesbrough.Â
We offer a free initial 30 minute consultation.
What is a McKenzie Friend?
If you attend court for a hearing and are represented by a solicitor or a barrister, they can speak to the Judge on your behalf. If you attend court for a hearing without a solicitor or barrister, you are known as a litigant in person and need to address the Judge yourself.
A McKenzie Friend is someone who assists a litigant in person in court. They sit alongside you, shoulder to shoulder in the court room. In very limited circumstances they can speak to the Judge on your behalf and exercise what is known as a right of audience. More usually, the role of a McKenzie Friend is to take notes, help you with your paper work, help you prepare for any questions from the Judge and help you prepare what you want to say to the Judge. During the hearing itself the Mckenzie Friend can give you hand written or whispered advice, remind you of points you have forgotten to make to the Judge and generally offer you advice on points of law from a lay persons perspective.
Litigants have the right to receive reasonable assistance from a lay person in court. We can assist you as a McKenzie Friend in all family law hearings. It is very unusual for a family court to refuse a litigant in persons request to have the assistance of a McKenzie Friend.
To get court permission for the use of a McKenzie Friend, on arrival at court you, with the assistance of us as your McKenzie Friend, make a paper application to the court for permission for us to be your McKenzie Friend.
Courts do not usually grant a right of audience or the right to conduct litigation on behalf of a litigant in person to a McKenzie Friend.
The court is only prepared to grant such rights where there is good reason to do so, taking into account all the circumstances of the case, which vary greatly case to case.
Examples of the type of special circumstances which can sway a court to grant a right of audience to a McKenzie Friend, are:
- The McKenzie Friend is a close relative of the litigant in person
- Health problems preclude the litigant in person from addressing the court or conducting litigation
- The litigant in person cannot afford to pay for a qualified legal representative
- The litigant in person is relatively inarticulate and prompting by the McKenzie Friend may unnecessarily prolong the proceedings
It is for the litigant in person to persuade the court that the circumstances of the case are such that it is in the interests of justice for the court to grant a McKenzie Friend a right of audience or a right to conduct litigation.
If a litigant in person wants a McKenzie Friend to be granted a right of audience, an application must be made at the start of the hearing. If a right to conduct litigation is sought such an application must be made at the earliest possible opportunity and must be made, in any event, before the lay person does anything which amounts to the conduct of litigation. It is for the litigant in person to persuade the court, on a case-by-case basis, that the granting of such rights is justified.
Rights of audience and the right to conduct litigation are separate rights. If both rights are sought, their granting must be applied for individually and justified separately.
If at any time you want to apply for us to have rights of audience or the right to conduct litigation, we can assist you in making these applications. We can support you if you live in the North East of England, including Chester le Street, Washington, Consett, Stanley, Newcastle, Gateshead, Sunderland, Durham and Teesside.
Free initial 30 minute consultation
Where to find us:
Northern FLS Ltd,
11 Orchard Terrace,
Chester le Street,
DH3 3JU
Call Us:
+44 (0)7342 979477
Email Us:
help@northernfamilylawsupport.co.uk
Get in touch
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