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I saw this coming, tbh. I do think it odd that a legally qualified law grad and practitioner trainee should be expected to learn and gain experience from the very person they are being enlisted to help, who manages their own case. That means the LIP is the assistant to the trainee just as much, which is bizarre. I think it equally odd that a newly qualified law graduate would be expected to and hired to 'represent' those LIPs who need help, making them no longer LIPS, whilst not being carefully monitored and supervised by those who've been legally qualified for a long time and know their way around the system through years of experience. Neither model works. The idea of McKenzie Friends is to assist and help those who ask for it and on their own terms not the mcKenzie friend's terms, which is why they don't need to be insured. But if LIPS now want more specialised help, or to be properly represented so that they are no longer LIPS, they pay more to see a solicitor or direct access barrister who is insured and regulated and can take control to manage the case. Why is it so hard to understand that these novel half baked suggestions will not remove the denial of access to justice it will just result in mismanaged expectations, poor outcomes and emptier pockets. The only thing that will increase quality access to justice is quality legal advice gained through ones own level of confidence and research as a LIP or Legal Aid properly funded by the State to those who have no such confidence that can't afford to pay the going rate.

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