Is it Better To Represent Myself?

Question:

Is it more sensible for me to represent myself? Is the magistrates/judge likely to think that I have money to burn or that I am hiding behind a lawyer if I employ somebody to act on my behalf? Is it likely to do more harm than good?

Emma Says:

There is a maxim in the legal world where lawyers state ‘only a fool would represent himself’. There was a time that being represented in road traffic cases was unusual. However nowadays it’s very common. We represent around 15 to 20 cases in court’s across England and Wales every day of the week.

We are extremely well-known and very well respected. We do not have a reputation for being ‘loophole’ style lawyers. We agree that certain types of lawyers can do more harm than good, especially if they try to raise arguments on your behalf without merit. We do not do this.

It’s important that you instruct a law firm that gives you honest, reliable advice on your prospects of success so that you can make an informed decision as to how to best present your case to the magistrates. Our statistics suggest that people do considerably better with our help then without.

Magistrates are now used to seeing people represented in relation to road traffic offences, especially when they need to be able to drive in relation to supporting their families and being able to fulfil their responsibilities to their role at work.

It’s about being proportionate and not raising spurious arguments with little prospect of success. If you are genuinely a specialist road traffic offence law and you handle cases appropriately them being represented should have a really positive impact on the outcome.