Rude lawyers slated

More than a quarter of witnesses who feel intimidated in court pinpoint lawyers as the reason, according to Home Office research.

A satisfaction survey of 2,500 witnesses found one of the most common reasons for dissatisfaction was a lawyer being intimidating or rude.

Rodney Warren, vice-chairman of the Criminal Law Solicitors Association, said: This is not necessarily a bad thing.

The court is not supposed to appear too user-friendly.

If it does, it may cease to have the majesty and respect that is necessary.While Mr Warren said he could not condone rudeness by lawyers, he was not concerned that a witness may find the aura of court to some small extent intimidating.

He said: There is, however, a fine line as communication with witnesses and clients is of fundamental importance.Despite the fact that 76% ofwitnesses were happy with their treatment in the courts, almost 40% said they would not be happy to appear again.

Less surprisingly, it revealed that victims were largely dissatisfied by the performance of defence lawyers, while defence witnesses showed a similar disdain for prosecution lawyers.

Another survey, investigating customer satisfaction with the Court Service, showed lawyers split over the effectiveness of the civil justice reforms, with 42% saying they had had the intended effect.

An equal number said they had not.

The survey also showed that out of all users, criminal lawyers were the most dissatisfied with both the restaurant and toilet facilities at courts, and twice as dissatisfied as civil practitioners.Andrew Towler