Report comment

Under the Lay Representatives (Rights of Audience) Order 1999, any person can represent a litigant in a small claims hearing, and address the Court on their behalf.

I've done this dozens of times for various people, and when the SC limit for PI cases goes up to £5000, which will be around the time I complete my LLB, I would expect to deal with some lower value PI claims as well.

I've also acted as a MF in some Magistrates' Court motoring cases (and won most of them), and in most cases have ended up directly addressing the bench, because the Mags got fed up with the ventriloquist act.

I'd be quite happy to have to join a professional body and pay the relevant fees, and sign any undertaking to act as an officer of the Court, but I would oppose any restrictions on fee charging to clients. I only charge a fraction of what a solicitor would cost, and many clients would be unable to afford what a solicitor would charge.