Good practice for lawyers towards litigants in person

Despite there being a variety of reasons why someone may choose to represent themselves in the family courts – this decision isn’t an anomaly. Now only 20% of family court cases have both parties represented. It’s a trend we’ve seen grow in recent years.

Unrepresented parties in family proceedings are litigants in person (LIP’s) due to multiple factors. Usually it’s because they cannot afford to be represented yet in the past they would have been eligible for legal aid - which now feels a distant memory. Comparatively some LIP can afford to be represented but choose not to so they can elongate the process so their former partner incurs considerable expense to be represented. They taunt their former partner with the fact they are not spending any money other than the court fee (if they are the applicant). We also see the LIP’s who believe that family lawyers are just wanting to make money out of the sad circumstances of family breakdown. Others may take the view that they know what they are doing and do not need a lawyer. There is the well-known adage: anyone who represents...

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