PEOPLE representing themselves in court could soon receive additional help through a newly launched “McKenzie friend-style” service.
Support for Court aims to help Islanders navigate the legal system, understand terminology and complete forms without paying a lawyer several hundred pounds an hour.
Emma Vautier launched the service last week after experiencing difficult court proceedings herself and later helping friends with paperwork and decisions about whether to instruct a lawyer.
“Just a divorce petition is 36 pages, and a lot of it you don’t need. You just struggle through,” she said.
“When you’re on your own filling out a form that’s 36 pages long, it’s horrific. Court greffiers will help, but it’s still really overwhelming and daunting.”
Unlike lawyers, McKenzie friends cannot represent clients in court. They can offer advice, take notes and provide prompts, and are commonly used in family-law cases in England and Wales, Scotland and Australia.
Ms Vautier said divorce was currently the “most-asked-for” area, although she had also helped someone navigate Petty Debts proceedings.
Clients who retain a lawyer could use the service for “back-up” assistance with compiling files, meeting deadlines and uploading documents.
Support for Court also plans to work with a “trusted panel” of lawyers, an accountant, a GP and counsellors while keeping its fees below those charged by lawyers.
Ms Vautier, who is now being supported by Northern Irish incubator CynestX, said lawyers she had worked with “all see the problem – it’s gaping”.
She believes victims of abuse could particularly benefit and hopes eventually to establish a corporate arm to fund free advice for them.
