McKenzie Friend

Anybody help ?? I have a paid the fortune and got a barrister, but my ex has run up so many debts he cannot afford any legal help so he is having to self rep and has told my barrister that he will be taking a McKenzie friend to Court in May for the Final Hearing.

But.....the McKenzie friend is his girlfriend of 2 years ( who is doing her best to help him grab as much of my inheritance as he can).

I have read that people who are personally linked to the case, or affected by the outcome and it''s outcome, are not allowed to take this position.

Can I write to the ex and ask him to instruct his ''MF'' to submit a CV or statement that she is not involved with the case in any way ( and she would be lying to say she was not )and give her CV??

My Barrister is very slow in getting back to me on things and often does not acknowledge my e-mails or reply at all, so I''m getting fed up with him a wee bit.

I don''t see why I cannot write to the ex myself (have already done this several times for different things )and ask officially for this anyway. It is in my interest who he has as a MF and if I''m allowed to get this info then surely I will have a right to object, on the grounds of her ''interest'' in the case on a personal level and her potential gain.

So far my Barrister has not mentioned me
(or him) making an objection or asking pre- case date for a letter with her ''credentials'' and her ''interest'' in the case.

Does anybody know if I can just get on with this myself and then present it to the barrister to act on ( hopefully to lodge an objection ).

Thanks to anybody with the know how on this.

Hello,

If I was in your shoes I would keep quiet.
Why would you want to give your x the heads up?

I did think that permission had to be granted from the court to take a mckenzie friend in. But it''s really not your look out.
The most important thing is that you have told your barrister.

Another point about your barrister i was led to believe that they are clever little stars that basically get your file the week before your court date, study and gather what they need and run with it. I relly thought that no one could tell me anything about my case, no one knew it or could pre empt the next move better than me but my barrister was awesome and plucked some stuff out. I beleive that they are expensive (and well worth it, in my case) so they don''t want to be picking over things for you early.

I used my barrister twice and both times when my bundle was going to her I bullet pointed a 3 page letter to her every thing that I absolutley did not want her to miss. I also took my own bundles in just in caes we were asked for something and she couldn''t find it.

Do they live together?
Are you able to get your hands on anything that shows they do? (if they do)

Can I also say that on my first court case i went with a friend for moral support. My sol advised that he would not be allowed into court and that he would have to wait in the waiting room (which was fine) she also advised that if my x objected then he would definatley have to leave as the bundles contained my x''s personal information so as a kiind of data protection thing my mate could not view any of my x''s doc''s.

Good luck with the Hearing xx

Thanks for that. Yes he and her do live together and it is recorded on his various statements. I had a large inheritance and he wants to have a 50/50 split in which case he will get 50% of my inheritance. She has a vested interest in his side of this case, and I want to object to her being there.....if I was allowed to request from her a statment about her interest and what credentials she has to offer I think she would be turfed out, I just don''t know if I can ask her myself for this information.

I may try the barrister and hope he has a view on it. Thanks for your comments.