Litigation

What is a McKenzie Friend?

Court signs contract when someone refuses

Ambrose Appelbe recently became involved with a “McKenzie Friend”.

A “McKenzie Friend” is a person without legal qualifications who seeks to help in court a litigant in person who would not otherwise be legally represented. Such a person can at least give comfort to the unrepresented party. There is a danger, however, that their lack of legal training and the limited scope of their knowledge can work against the interests, including the financial interests, of unrepresented individuals.

Ambrose Appelbe had a recent experience of a McKenzie Friend. We were given conduct of the sale of a property by virtue of a Court Order. Following a request from the buyer’s Solicitor we sought to arrange for the vendor’s former partner (who had no legal interest in the property) to sign a contract to provide peace of mind to the buyer’s Solicitors. Despite strenuous efforts, we were unable to persuade the former partner of the need to sign the contract and so avoid repossession of the property by the mortgagees. A misunderstanding by the McKenzie Friend resulted in the non-owning partner refusing to sign the contract and so formally release the rights he was claiming. Those rights were already covered by Court Order.

Ambrose Appelbe were left with only one alternative, namely to apply to the Court for a hearing at short notice. The District Judge did her best to explain the position to the McKenzie Friend and the unrepresented party. The vendor’s misunderstanding of the position was exacerbated rather than resolved by the assistance of the McKenzie Friend and the District Judge herself signed the contract.

We made it clear that the Hearing would have been unnecessary had the unrepresented party co-operated and followed the terms of the Court Order. The District Judge made an Order for costs against the unrepresented party, who would have been better off had he chosen to engage lawyers rather than try to stall the transaction with the “help” of his unqualified Mackenzie Friend.
 

For more details contact Felix Appelbe or Andrew Penfold on 020 7242 7000 or use the Contact Request Form.
 

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