Services

How we can help you

McKenzie Friend

For each court hearing it is generally imperative that you provide a succinct professional Position Statement which will get your view and requests before the judge. Our experienced and knowledgeable McKenzie Friends will assist you in drafting a relevant Position Statement that will get your position over to the court in an effective way. They will also sit next to you in court and can provide advice on any aspect of the conduct of your case, including: (i) Points of law (ii) Issues that you (litigant in person (LIP)) may wish to raise in court. (iii) Questions that you may wish to ask witnesses.

Free initial phone consultation

When you Contact Us if we are not able to speak to you immediately, we will call you back shortly afterwards and provide a free initial phone consultation on the general aspects of your case. No cost and no obligation.

Assessment and advice session

For more specific information and support we can provide assessment and advice sessions either face to face or by telephone/Skype. Generally depending on the complexities of the case a one or two hour session is suitable. At the end of that meeting you will have a good idea of the options and practicalities of any course of action you may be considering.

Telephone and email support

With our fixed prices we include reasonable telephone and email support. Or we can provide any extra support at a low cost.

Assistance in court

Even if you are a confident speaker in other situations and are well informed regarding the court process, going alone is not generally recommended. A supposedly simple hearing can throw up technical points and important decisions you have to decide on fairly quickly with little or no support available. Our McKenzie Friends who accompany you into court will ensure you are making decisions and putting forward your case to the court in a manner which is far more likely to get you the results you want. We will help you to stop making the mistakes that many parents do when they enter the rather bewildering system.

Court documents

The documents that you may wish to put before the court include statements, skeleton arguments, opening and closing submissions are tremendously important. To ensure they will be well received by the judge and anyone else reading them we strongly recommend you have the assistance of our McKenzie Friends. Too often parents will damage their case somewhat or even sabotage it completely by filing and serving documents which are counter-productive in content and poorly drafted. We help you get your view over to the court in an appropriate and an effective way.

Informal mediation

At times if there is enough communication between the parents we can provide a realistic plan that will save you money, time and stress. A simple get together in an independent venue with an experienced McKenzie Friend can be enough to reach an informal agreement setting you on the right path.

I first came in to contact with Colin Brealey, through McKenzie Friends, having not seen my daughter for over 9 months and having been to the family court 3 times. At this stage a section 7 report was being completed by Cafcass.

Colin made himself readily available at the end of the phone or by email and always gave good, practical advice. It was clear that his knowledge of family law was vast. He attended the next court hearing with me, arrived early and, again, gave good, clear and practical advice on how we should proceed. In addition to the advice on how to proceed at the hearing, he also advised me on how to contact my daughter’s GP and nursery to ask for details of matters relating to her and gave me copies of template letters for this purpose.

Thanks to Colin’s vast knowledge of family law and his professional manner, he was able to negotiate with my ex-partner’s solicitor resulting in a final order which I was very happy with indeed. Colin continues to be available to me for advice by email or phone and I would not hesitate to contact him in the future if I had any further problems regarding contact with my daughter. I would also highly recommend Colin to anyone experiencing problems with regard to contact with their child or children.
– Mr K. (Suffolk)
Jeff Botterill is a highly experienced and technically skilled McKenzie Friend with experience at all levels of court, including appeal. Jeff's knowledge of case law and court procedure is impressive. Such knowledge is essential in more complex cases, as is an ability to help construct effective, fact based and child centered arguments. In technical areas of law such as leave to remove, Jeff's name readily comes to mind as someone I can recommend with confidence. I am often asked if I can recommend a McKenzie Friend to assist a parent or grandparent in court, and Jeff Botterill is someone whose name I have no hesitation in putting forward.
– Author and Creator of The Custody Minefield
I used Jeff Botterill as my Mckenzie Friend for my case. After experiencing the expense of using a solicitor the initial attraction of using a Mckenzie Friend was the price, however the advice and support I received was invaluable.

Going to court is a nerve racking experience in any situation and representing yourself seems like an extremely daunting task, questions like what to prepare? where to stand? what to say? Were just a few of the things I was concerned about but having Jeff with me gave me the knowledge and confidence to successfully represent myself.

I am now enjoying regular and increasing access to my daughter
– Mr O. (Essex)