CEL taking my wife to court

simonsmart111

We won!

Bit of a strange day!

We turned up and introduced ourselves. I mentioned that I was present to act as a Lay Rep on behalf of my wife, but was told that she would have to do all of the talking, and I could only sit in and act as a McKenzie Friend (pointing to what to say, light conferring etc). Is this the norm, and was there something that I was supposed to inform the court of prior to the hearing?


My wife managed to communicate most of the main points, and managed to answer questions regarding the case from the claimants barrister.

In closing, the judge acknowledged that due to the circumstances under which we were forced to enter the car park, and the short amount of time that we were there, that we did not enter a legally binding contract with CEL.

��

On our way out, I mentioned to one of the court staff (sitting by the magnetic barriers) about claiming costs. He said it was barely worth claiming, and no form was presented to us, so we just left. Can costs still be claimed, as we have had to travel 14 miles each way to court, plus parking and lost days work.

Thanks again to all those who have offered help and advised on the paperwork process - we wouldn't have had a clue if it werent for this forum!

simonsmart111

Oh, and the court staff were very surprised that we won - apparently the barrister representing CEL was a top guy, and is regularly there winning cases!

KeithP

Well done!!

You should've mentioned costs while in front of the judge. Too late now.

tboo

simonsmart111 wrote: »

Since then we received a number of letters from a few different companies, but, incorrectly, ignored them/fed them to the dog...

Well done on the win :T



If this happens again please don't ignore letters etc. Nip it in the bud from the start

Coupon-mad

We turned up and introduced ourselves. I mentioned that I was present to act as a Lay Rep on behalf of my wife, but was told that she would have to do all of the talking, and I could only sit in and act as a McKenzie Friend (pointing to what to say, light conferring etc). Is this the norm, and was there something that I was supposed to inform the court of prior to the hearing?

Nope, the Judge was wrong to refuse your wife the right to use a lay rep. What we normally suggest is to show the Judge a copy of the Lay Representatives (Rights of Audience) Order and explain that you are not just a McKenzie friend.

And you needed to ask the Judge for your costs at the end, in the room. But hey well done, you beat a scam and you beat a legal rep on his own patch at his own game!

ANOTHER ONE BITES THE DUST!

:T