I wanted to share an update on how our clients are getting on in Court. We have added a new page to our website about attending Court without a solicitor and your rights as a lay litigant: https://misselling.ie/going-to-court-without-a-solicitor/.
We have now received a substantial body of feedback from clients about their recent court experiences. On the whole, feedback has been positive, but there have been a small number of occasions where Registrars or Judges have shown impatience with lay litigants.
To provide some context, for the past number of years the vultures, their solicitors and their counsel have operated a system of regularly seeking Possession Orders with minimal opposition or defence. These orders are then used as leverage to pressure consumers into paying more.
When our clients serve our template affidavit requesting that the Registrar or Judge defer, stay or adjourn the court proceedings pending investigation by the FSPO, it is often apparent that the respondent solicitor has not fully read the paperwork served on them. When counsel reads the affidavit (often shortly before the hearing), they typically seek an adjournment, arguing that the risk of a Stay being entered would be prejudicial to their client. The reason is straightforward: if a consumer has lodged a valid complaint with the FSPO and the Court grants a Stay, the dynamic changes — the consumer then becomes the effective claimant and is in a stronger position.
It is important to understand that, as a lay litigant, you are NOT in Court to present a case or defence. As a client of Misselling.ie, your role at a hearing is not to argue complex legal points but simply to ask the Court to defer to the FSPO, the statutory body established by the Oireachtas to protect consumers from misconduct.
When a Court is presented with such a request via a lay litigant’s affidavit, the typical judicial responses may include:
- Granting the Stay;
- Adjournment to allow the opposing counsel to consider the affidavit and, if appropriate, file a responding affidavit;
- Such other relief as the Court considers just in the circumstances.
I hope this is helpful. If you have specific questions about attending Court, please email info@misselling.ie. Before doing so, please read our new guidance on attending Court without a solicitor.
Regards
Ben Hoey