West Mercia Law, based in Whitchurch in Shropshire and serving the West Midlands area, is a Community and Private Client Legal Consultancy offering legal help to individuals and community organizations who are referred to us via community resources or by existing clients. Our experienced Legal Consultants offer a straightforward service tailored to the customer who is either unable to engage a Solicitor because of the costs involved or who prefers a more flexible approach.

We provide Lay Representation in Small Claims cases under the provision of the Lay Representatives (Rights of Audience) Order 1999. We also provide a Mackenzie Friend service for litigants in person who would benefit from an adviser in Court.

The senior legal consultant is Professor John Kersey, whose doctoral submissions included work in law and whose background and credentials are explained in this website. He has twenty years of experience of advising and working with law firms both in Britain and the United States. He is an experienced Mackenzie Friend and drafter of wills and other legal documents, and has advised on numerous legal cases before the English Courts, particularly in the area of family law. Our other legal consultants include an experienced adviser on family law and campaigner for fathers’ rights.

Acceptance of clients

At present, we accept clients only where they are referred to us by existing clients or other community contacts. We do not accept and cannot respond to legal enquiries from members of the general public.

Our introductory online consultation is free of charge. If we believe that we can assist the client, we will reply giving details of the service we can offer and our proposals as to the next steps in the case. Our standard fees are charged based on an hourly rate, with fixed fees for specific documents and services, and these fees will be stated clearly in any initial correspondence. We maintain contacts with a number of Solicitors and Barristers, and will refer enquirers to them if we believe they are the best person to assist them or the services they require are not among those provided by us.

We offer video/telephone conferencing and electronic review of documentation as well as traditional face-to-face meetings.

Practice areas

We provide legal advice, assistance and representation in connection with the application of the law and with any form of resolution of legal disputes. Our practice is general rather than specialist, and our Legal Consultants have experience in handling a wide range of legal matters. We also have a number of practice areas that are of particular interest and these are listed below:

• Family law, CAFCASS preparation, fathers’ rights and access issues
• Civil Claims (see below)
• Money Claims
• Deed Polls
• Lasting Powers of Attorney
• Will writing and estate planning
• Drafting of legal documents

Lay Representation in civil cases in the Small Claims track

Any case where the claim is for £10,000 or less is now automatically allocated to the Small Claims track. In such cases, the expectation is that the claimants will usually represent themselves in Court. However, such cases are often daunting for anyone who is not an experienced litigant, and it is understandable in such situations that some people prefer to seek the help of a suitably experienced person. Unlike larger claims, where costs may be recovered by a successful litigant, there is no provision for costs in Small Claims cases and therefore the claimant must meet those costs themselves whether they win or lose the case. Many people go to a Solicitor in such situations only to be told that it is not worth pursuing the case because the legal costs would eat up most if not all of the settlement.

In many legal cases, representation may only be provided by a Solicitor, Barrister, or Fellow of the Institute of Legal Executives. However, in Small Claims cases there is also provision under the Lay Representatives (Rights of Audience) Order 1999 for another person to represent the claimant in court. Those people may include those who are not registered on the professional rolls for whatever reason, who are retired members of the legal profession, or who have legal expertise gained within Trades Unions, Citizens Advice Bureaux or through paralegal work. The use of a Lay Representative may considerably reduce the legal costs of a case and offer greater flexibility in the way it can be handled.

Legal operating framework

West Mercia Law’s Lawyers are qualified and experienced Legal Consultants, but they are not Solicitors or Barristers and undertake only non-reserved legal activities. The regulation of the supply of legal services in England and Wales has undergone significant change during the past decade and this means that there is now a much greater range of legal professionals – not only Solicitors and Barristers – who are involved in this area.

Traditionally, legal practitioners in England and Wales were either Solicitors or Barristers. This situation changed with the Legal Services Act 2007 (the LSA), which opened the provision of non-regulated legal services to a much wider range of legal professionals, including paralegals and legal consultants.

Unregulated activities include providing legal advice, assistance and representation in connection with the application of the law and with any form of resolution of legal disputes. This is what West Mercia Law does.

Section 12 of the LSA defines the activities that are regulated and that may only be carried out by a Solicitor, Barrister or other regulated professional. The areas that are reserved are as follows:

• Exercise of a right of audience. This means that West Mercia Law cannot represent you in court. You will need a Solicitor or a Barrister to do this. However, we may be able to assist you in representing yourself in court as a Mackenzie Friend, provided the court agrees to this.
• Conduct of litigation. This means that West Mercia Law cannot issue, prosecute or defend court proceedings or do any ancillary function connected with the conduct of litigation. You will need a Solicitor and/or a Barrister to do this. However, we can advise you in the event that you wish to issue or defend proceedings yourself.
• Reserved instrument activities. We cannot prepare instruments or make applications for the purpose of the Land Registration Act 2002, or prepare instruments relating to real or personal estate, or relating to court proceedings. You will need a Solicitor or a Licensed Conveyancer to do these things.
• Probate. We cannot prepare probate papers. You will need a Solicitor to do this.
• Notarial activities. We cannot act as a notary. You will need a Public Notary to do this.
• Administration of oaths. We cannot administer oaths. You will need a Commissioner for Oaths to do this.

We are also not able to conduct mediation in legal disputes, as this is considered to be a quasi-judicial function.

There are certain limited exceptions to the list above. Further information is given on the website of the Legal Services Board which can be accessed here: https://legalservicesboard.org.uk/enquiries/frequently-asked-questions/reserved-legal-activities

West Mercia Law’s lawyers are not Solicitors or Barristers and consequently our practice is not regulated by the Legal Services Board, the Law Society, the Solicitors’ Regulation Authority, the Bar Council, or the Bar Standards Board. There is at present no government scheme or authority in place in England and Wales that regulates paralegals or other legal practitioners. West Mercia Law is not part of the Legal Ombudsman scheme, which covers only regulated legal service providers.

Fees and Pro Bono

Because we are not Solicitors or Barristers, we are not part of the Legal Aid system and our fees are paid directly by our clients – they will generally not be recoverable from the other side in any case that we become involved in.

However, we do undertake a limited amount of pro bono work in the area of family law for those who are genuinely unable to afford either to instruct a Solicitor or to pay our own fees. Typically, we assist clients in matters relating to access, including CAFCASS preparation, preparation for court hearings, and where the court will permit, as a Mackenzie Friend during proceedings.

Where pro bono work is undertaken without fees being charged it may also be done under the auspices of the San Luigi Charitable Trust, which is an unincorporated association and unregistered (since it has no income) charity under the terms of the Charities Act 2011 section 30 (2) (d) with community service as one of its aims.