I understand that as I am not a lawyer, whatever it is that I have to say about lawyering and the courts will not be too convincing. But I used to be a claimant. Therefore, even if I might not possess the technical knowledge requisite in performing legal duties, I have had the experience of watching the same duties performed firsthand.
And from what I saw, our justice system is still far from perfect. Although it is public knowledge that our courts, because of their excruciatingly slowness, will require years to finish a case, this piece of information can only obliquely strike the heart. You must experience this maddening slowness for yourself before you can say that you truly understand it. And be outraged about it.
But I am not here to talk about the courts. Rather, I am here to offer some simple solutions to overcome the indignation which naturally rises up in the soul of any justice-seeking claimant whenever he contemplates our courts’ tortoise speed.
The first is to encourage legal advisors, especially No Win No Fee solicitors, not just to talk about their clients’ cases but to talk about their lives as well. Many such people are so concentrated on whether or not the claimant’s case has a chance in court that they forget to orient him as to what he should expect when he pursues his claim. My advice is simple: such advisors should make an effort to be extra-honest, the kind of honesty which will leave no room for obfuscation. Nothing could be more depressing and disorienting for claimants that the treatment some No Win No Fee solicitors today are now giving to them. Instead of being talked to as people, they are talked to as potential money-making schemes. Instead of understanding the pain of the client, surveying the emotional terrain so to speak, they jump straight onto the statistics and probability of winning, seeing in the people in front of them not people but pieces of meat that are either plump and juicy or old and dry.
Finally, such advisors should also not raise false hope in their clients. This is what happened to me. My solicitor told me that my case had a good chance of winning. Apparently, the courts thought otherwise. I lost quite a lot of money, but I don’t regret it. I like to think that I did not waste my money, but instead used it all up to buy experience in life.
And from what I saw, our justice system is still far from perfect. Although it is public knowledge that our courts, because of their excruciatingly slowness, will require years to finish a case, this piece of information can only obliquely strike the heart. You must experience this maddening slowness for yourself before you can say that you truly understand it. And be outraged about it.
But I am not here to talk about the courts. Rather, I am here to offer some simple solutions to overcome the indignation which naturally rises up in the soul of any justice-seeking claimant whenever he contemplates our courts’ tortoise speed.
The first is to encourage legal advisors, especially No Win No Fee solicitors, not just to talk about their clients’ cases but to talk about their lives as well. Many such people are so concentrated on whether or not the claimant’s case has a chance in court that they forget to orient him as to what he should expect when he pursues his claim. My advice is simple: such advisors should make an effort to be extra-honest, the kind of honesty which will leave no room for obfuscation. Nothing could be more depressing and disorienting for claimants that the treatment some No Win No Fee solicitors today are now giving to them. Instead of being talked to as people, they are talked to as potential money-making schemes. Instead of understanding the pain of the client, surveying the emotional terrain so to speak, they jump straight onto the statistics and probability of winning, seeing in the people in front of them not people but pieces of meat that are either plump and juicy or old and dry.
Finally, such advisors should also not raise false hope in their clients. This is what happened to me. My solicitor told me that my case had a good chance of winning. Apparently, the courts thought otherwise. I lost quite a lot of money, but I don’t regret it. I like to think that I did not waste my money, but instead used it all up to buy experience in life.
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