Should I Represent Myself In Court?
There are a variety of reasons to why some people chose to represent themselves in court, the common misconception is that it is done out of choice but the main cause is usually money; low income individuals qualify for legal aid and wealthy defendants can afford high priced lawyers, middle-income people do not qualify for legal aid but often cannot afford the representation required. To become a fully qualified lawyer with no experience takes at least seven years so consider if you would perform surgery on yourself after a few weeks research and you are looking at the same sort of impact it might have on your success.
To represent yourself you will need to have an in depth understanding of the law relevant to your case/offence to even begin considering how you will defend yourself. If you are being charged you will need to understand the details of your offence and the punishments you could receive. If you are acting in a civil case, you will need to consider the arguments you may come up against.
Once you have researched and understood the law, your case and your chances, you will also need to acquaint yourself with the usual court procedures, court etiquette and anything you will need to provide and prepare beforehand.
If it is a civil case, you should consider how it might feel to stand face to face with your opposition and cross examine/be examined by them. If the matter is serious enough to be brought to court it would probably take an individual of strong character to remain calm and not let personal feelings get in the way.
In a criminal case, you would be up against a highly experienced barrister, who would stop at nothing to convict you. This would be intimidating to say the least and losing your confidence in a situation like this could end up in you losing your freedom, or at least a substantial amount of money.
If you think you might do better with a legal representation and need to know about cheshire solicitors then visit Oneill-Morgan for experts in all areas such as cheshire divorce solicitors
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