Following legal aid cuts,plans to bar McKenzie Friends from charging fees will build help beyond financial reach for manyFolake Ekunbayo ran out of money to pay divorce lawyers. As she struggled to turn herself into a litigant in person, she eventually, and for a relatively small fee,hired a McKenzie Friend – a lay legal adviser – and settled the protracted dispute. She is not alone. As the cost of representation spirals and legal aid disappears, the role of these professional courtroom advisers who are not fully legally qualified has expanded to fill a cavernous gap in the market. Cheaper lay advisers have become so widespread that the judiciary is now considering imposing strict regulations that will ban them from being paid in England and Wales.
The term McKenzie Friend derives from a 1970 London divorce case. The husband could not afford representation but was if with an Australian barrister – who was not qualified to sit in an English court – to help direct questioning. The judge barred the Australian from sitting beside McKenzie. The husband appealed, or arguing he had been unfairly deprived of help. The court of appeal agreed and thus broke lawyers monopoly on providing legal representation.
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Source: theguardian.com