You’ve never been in court before. You don’t know what to expect but images of legal wrangling and bitter disputes fill your head. You know there’s a good chance you may break down. You may even forget your story because deep down, whilst you know you’re right, you also know that if you lose, you’ll lose a lot and you can’t even bear to think about that.   

 

We offer help and support for anyone facing a family court hearing or courtroom appearance who wishes to improve both their performance in the family court and their chances of success. We also offer McKenzie Friend Support if you are representing yourself in court (a litigant in person) and if you wish to have someone to support you in court.

 

How Do I Prepare For Court? is a mentor programme for people going to court. They may have legal representation or they may be representing themselves in court as a litigant in person. This may have come about because they have run out of funds for legal representation due to the adversarial nature of the case.

 

Who offers emotional and practical support to the person going to  court? If they’re lucky they’ll find some support from:

• Family - but they’ll be worried too and this may exacerbate feelings of anxiety.
• Their friends - have their friends been to court? If they have, what was the reason for the appearance? Was it similar? Are their platitudes designed to genuinely help their friend, or remove themselves from an uncomfortable situation?
• Their lawyer - they’ll be focusing on the legal aspects.    

Many people initially feel confident because they know they are ‘right’ - not fully appreciating that they are going to court because the other side will also be confident about being ‘right.’ They often don’t realise that the judge has the unenviable task of deciding who is the most ‘right’ - based on the facts in front of the court. The reliability of these facts may be dependent on a witness giving clear, factual and honest answers to the questions. Simple? It should be but many people are thrown by rigorous cross-examination which sows doubt as to the evidence in the mind of both the person being questioned - and the judge.

  

Although going to court is not easy, people can learn techniques in advance to make the experience more comfortable. These include:

• Being better prepared in advance about court procedure.    
• Familiarising themselves with the court in advance.
• Learning techniques to deal with emotions when they get flustered or confused. 

Because courts are an alien place for most people it is hardly surprising cases often fall down because of the under performance of the client on the day. People under-estimate how different they will feel. They expect their lawyer to help them but their lawyer will prepare their legal case, but is not normally trained to help them prepare emotionally, or put it behind them afterwards. How many people do you know who still hark back to a court hearing or to litigation from which they have not moved on? If they didn’t ‘perform’ as well as they expected they may continue to beat themselves up, unable to put it behind them. 

The How Do I Prepare For Court?  monthly programme offers help and support for anyone facing a courtroom appearance - to improve both their 'performance' in court and improve their chances of success. Support is focused on the personal experience in court, how the individual and their family are affected by it and how to cope with the process. It provides the client with techniques that prepare them emotionally, psychologically and physically for a court appearance. 

Advantages are:

To the individual: 

• Reduced anxiety.
• Increased control.
• More prepared for court appearance.
• Able to “perform” better on the day.
• Know how to get there and what to expect.
• Opportunity to ask questions.

To their lawyers: 

• Reduced time preparing client.
• Able to focus on the case in hand.
• Reduced cost of preparation of client.
• Considered caring by client by offering this service.
• More confident client will “perform” on the day.

To the courts: 

• Reduced amount of time spent waiting for individuals.
• Parties are more focused on the matter in hand.
• Ability to get through case quicker.
• Parties cope better. 

This is how we can help: 

 

If you are facing the prospect of going to a family court, we can help you to prepare emotionally, psychologically and physically for the event and after. Courts are an alien place for most people and it is hardly surprising cases often fall down because of the under performance of the client on the day.   

 

If you are a lawyer, do you or your colleagues have clients who would benefit from being supported during the case and - if necessary - after by helping them put it behind them once the case is complete? How many experiences do you have of clients going to pieces in court? 

 

Over a month (or more, if time and finances allow) we will focus on how to best to present themselves in court with tips and techniques for leaving the emotions out of court. Mentor support costs £247 per month and comprises an initial tele-consultation, then 3 hours support delivered over the telephone at weekly or fortnightly intervals, plus unlimited email support. Face-to-face meetings and court visitations can be arranged at extra cost if practical.

   

It’s important to note that we prepare clients for their experience in the family court and under no circumstances do we rehearse the evidence, coach or discuss the evidence or detail of the case. 

  

Why not contact us NOW for free to learn more.