I’M DUE IN COURT – SO PASS ME MY!

I know that lockdown was a disaster for some, and a blessing for others.

Some have spent years building up businesses only to see them destroyed over night by closures.

Others have reaped the benefits of people being stuck at home needing their goods and services.

I’m probably somewhere in the middle. For me lockdown certainly had it’s advantages.  I loved a slightly more relaxed way of life, less cars on the road and more sleep, but I missed seeing family and friends and networking.  What I gained from not eating out as much, I lost from not going to the gym at all!

For me, however, there was one huge plus, and that was the move to doing on line hearings.  I personally think that the ability to just walk into my meeting room, do a 15 minute hearing by zoom or phone, and then leave again, is amazing.  Not just for me, but for the clients and therefore for justice generally.  Previously that 15 minute hearing would have taken half a day, because I’d have needed to travel to the court, allowing enough time for hold ups on trains etc, sat around and waited for my hearing whilst unable to do anything else, and then travel back again.  How can you charge a client for 2 hours of travel time, for a 15 minute hearing.  On the other hand, how can you make money if half your day is taken up with travel for which you cannot charge.

So I was hoping that this was a sign of a new and progressive chapter in litigation work, at least in terms of interim hearings such as directions and applications.

I was therefore slightly surprised to see that the majority of magistrates disagree with me (outrageous I know!) until you start reading some of the things they’ve had to deal with.

In amongst all the usual complaints about poor IT (both in terms of reliability of and ability to use!) there were a few more unusual cases.  Such as people coming on line in their underwear, or the Defendant who wanted to give evidence….from his bath!

Let’s just hope that they were not being prosecuted for any form of public indecency as that might have worked against them!

And perhaps this is why we aim for blind justice!

Kleyman & Co Solicitors.  The full service law firm.  We’ll keep our eyes open for you, so long as you keep your clothes on.