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I declare an interest, in that my CV contains the following entry:

66

1 June 2010 – 18 November 2016 self-employed or working pro bono [as a] freelance paralegal

This work involved me in both of the following roles:

(1) assisting minor clients of my own who were litigants in person, as their only legal help,

(2) working as part of a team that included myself and two barristers and two solicitors, all assisting one particular common client of ours, all accountable to that client separately and directly, whilst liaising with one another as required.

In the unlikely event that I wanted to come out of retirement and do this sort of work again, any measure with the tabloid misnomer of "McKenzie friends ban", might hit my pocket.

99

Of:

"a High Court judge ruled that unqualified ‘legal adviser’ George Rusz, of Romford business Troy Lucas & Co, was negligent in his handling of a clinical negligence case and should be held to the same standard as a qualified lawyer."

A careful reading shows that this case was decided on its unique (and quite appalling) facts. (For example, Rusz purported that his firm was able to conduct litigation because it employed solicitors that supervised staff like himself.)

Admittedly there is some small overlap between services solicitors offer, and those which people like me used to be offer, but the overall services are fundamentally different. It is not a case of competition in a single market, or unqualified undercutting as suggested. We are not qualified surgeons, who operate on anaesthetised patients, like solicitors. We are first aiders, who help people get back on their feet when life has knocked them over, and a tribunal or court can put that right for them.