'“With a Little Help From a Friend”: Unrepresented Litigants, Friends and the Question of Payment'

'“With a Little Help From a Friend”: Unrepresented Litigants, Friends and the Question of Payment'

Abstract: “With a little help from a friend”: Unrepresented litigants, friends and the question of payment

This paper will review legal professional practice legislation, case law and policy regarding the tasks and activities which constitute legal work and the people who are permitted to carry out such work. It was prompted by a Queensland Court of Appeal application entitled Wilson v Raddatz [2006] QCA 392, during which the court heard that the self-represented applicant had paid a friend who was not a legal practitioner to prepare his written submissions for court. This paper considers whether such payment is indeed a problem. After all, wouldn’t a person with no legal representation take any assistance he can get from friends or acquaintances? And, if he is grateful for the assistance, why shouldn’t that person pay his friend for any time and effort expended?

The paper will examine Australian case law and policy and Queensland legislation to assess whether the applicant’s friend breached relevant law or policy by, firstly, preparing the court submissions and thereby engaging in legal work or legal practice when not a lawyer and, secondly, by receiving payment for his assistance. The paper also considers whether legal practice law disadvantages self-represented litigants by preventing them from reimbursing a friend or acquaintance for any outlay of time or effort.