Understandably, many people, both employers and employees, plan to represent themselves in preparing cases for a Tribunal hearing and at the final hearings . This may be the right option if the size of the claim is not great, though important, or the issues are self-contained and relatively straightforward.
However, it is impossible to exaggerate the extent to which the legal processes and procedures have become more complicated since the Tribunal system was introduced nearly forty years ago - quite apart from which the number and length of the laws have multiplied by a factor of nigh on one hundred. It is therefore often an advantage to have guidance on the process, if not full representation in preparation and /or at the hearing.
To this extent I am happy to give clients an opportunity to mix and match: whether it is just getting some advice before setting out on a claim; or repeated injections of advice as a case progresses; or fully handing over full preparation to me without representation at the hearing; or just turning up for the hearing; or variations on these options.
The hearing itself can be forbidding to someone who has never been to a court or tribunal before. Adjusting to that and the new environment whilst also trying to put your case in the best possible light is not easy. You can be taken off guard and if the opponent is represented may be put at a disadvantage at least in tactical terms. Having spent all my professional life preparing cases and personally presenting the great majority of them in courts or tribunals I can offer you protection from being browbeaten and also bring knowledge and experience to the difficult tasks of cross-examination, presenting submissions and dealing with the hostile fire of opponents or the Tribunal itself.
