Two years. Two counsel and one of the City's oldest law firms on the other side. No barrister. No solicitor. Just preparation, strategy — and the conviction that nobody cared more about the outcome than I did.
In 2022, a £40 million High Court claim was issued against me personally. The claimants were represented by two counsel and one of the oldest, most prominent law firms in the City of London.
I had no barrister. No instructing solicitor. No litigation team. What I had was a law degree, an MBA, over two decades of legal experience — and the absolute certainty that nobody cared about my case more than I did.
For two years I represented myself at every stage. Procedural hearings, witness statements, disclosure battles, skeleton arguments, position statements. I learned — sometimes painfully — what works and what doesn't when you face experienced advocates across a courtroom.
Most people in litigation without a lawyer are not there by choice. They've been priced out, worn down, or abandoned by a system that costs more than most people can bear.
I was a qualified solicitor — and I found it overwhelming. For someone without legal training, the courts can feel impenetrable: the language, the forms, the procedures, the unwritten rules of how advocates behave and how judges expect to be addressed.
But here is what I know: the skills that make a good litigant are learnable. They are not mystical. With the right preparation — a well-crafted witness statement, a clear position statement, a thorough understanding of your own case — you can be formidable.
EqualJustice is my done-with-you McKenzie Friend service. If you need someone alongside you in court, that's where to go.
Be Your Best Lawyer is different. This is a do-it-yourself education platform. Courses, templates, community. The tools and knowledge to make you as effective as possible — on your own terms, at your own pace.
The philosophy connecting both: access to justice should not depend on the size of your wallet.
That fact — which lawyers sometimes forget and litigants sometimes doubt — is actually your greatest asset. Channel it into preparation, precision and persistence.
Court is the last resort, not the first. Litigation is expensive, unpredictable and emotionally destructive. We teach both: how to settle wisely, and how to fight when you must.
A LiP who has prepared meticulously will outperform a represented party who hasn't. Judges notice. Documents, bundles, chronologies — these signal whether you are someone to be taken seriously.
The law belongs to everyone. Courts are public institutions. The skills that make an advocate effective — clarity, structure, composure — are human skills. They can be taught.