{"id":471,"date":"2026-04-24T19:22:00","date_gmt":"2026-04-24T19:22:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tswcgroup.co.uk\/?p=471"},"modified":"2026-04-29T12:40:49","modified_gmt":"2026-04-29T12:40:49","slug":"do-i-need-a-mckenzie-friend-or-a-solicitor","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tswcgroup.co.uk\/index.php\/2026\/04\/24\/do-i-need-a-mckenzie-friend-or-a-solicitor\/","title":{"rendered":"Do I need a McKenzie Friend or a Solicitor?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I&#8217;m a McKenzie Friend, and I always carefully consider this question when speaking to my clients. Usually, the answer is that you should have a solicitor if possible. However, for most of my clients, this isn&#8217;t an option due to cost or lack of legal aid availability, even if they have a legal aid certificate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In my area, there are only four solicitor firms that handle legal aid cases for family matters, and they&#8217;re all fully booked. I recently spoke with a solicitor from a leading London law firm that is taking cases from the Northwest of England because the local firms are at capacity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">So if you&#8217;re going to be, or forced to be, a litigant in person, you might wonder if you need a McKenzie Friend. The answer is maybe. While the law is procedural and much of it can be done online, presenting your case effectively can be tough. A good McKenzie Friend can offer several benefits:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>A strong understanding of the law, proce<kbd>s<\/kbd>ses, and how they apply.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Knowledge of wider case issues like the role of CAFCASS, Children&#8217;s Guardians, or costs and disclosure in civil litigation.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Help drafting and preparing statements or responses.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Availability and clear communication \u2013 getting answers to your questions in a way that makes sense.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Since McKenzie Friends are currently unregulated, choosing the right one can be challenging. I work in a number of Law Clinics, and we recommend <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mckenziefriends.directory\/\">The Society of Professional McKenzie Friends<\/a> as they require proof of knowledge, experience and insurance from their members. Even so, it&#8217;s essential to ask the right questions. I&#8217;ve written more about this on my website&#8217;s FAQs at <a href=\"http:\/\/www.tswcgroup.co.uk\">www.tswcgroup.co.uk<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>What is the difference between a McKenzie friend and a solicitor and which do you need?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-471","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-queries"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Do I need a McKenzie Friend or a Solicitor? - James Newport - Mackenzie Friend<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Do you need a McKenzie Friend.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/tswcgroup.co.uk\/index.php\/2026\/04\/24\/do-i-need-a-mckenzie-friend-or-a-solicitor\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Do I need a McKenzie Friend or a Solicitor? - James Newport - Mackenzie Friend\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Do you need a McKenzie Friend.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/tswcgroup.co.uk\/index.php\/2026\/04\/24\/do-i-need-a-mckenzie-friend-or-a-solicitor\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"James Newport - Mackenzie Friend\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-04-24T19:22:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-04-29T12:40:49+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"James Newport\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"James Newport\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Estimated reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tswcgroup.co.uk\\\/index.php\\\/2026\\\/04\\\/24\\\/do-i-need-a-mckenzie-friend-or-a-solicitor\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tswcgroup.co.uk\\\/index.php\\\/2026\\\/04\\\/24\\\/do-i-need-a-mckenzie-friend-or-a-solicitor\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"James Newport\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tswcgroup.co.uk\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/d80ac54f3d720dc215cdcb20a352aa07\"},\"headline\":\"Do I need a McKenzie Friend or a Solicitor?\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-04-24T19:22:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-04-29T12:40:49+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tswcgroup.co.uk\\\/index.php\\\/2026\\\/04\\\/24\\\/do-i-need-a-mckenzie-friend-or-a-solicitor\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":294,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tswcgroup.co.uk\\\/#organization\"},\"articleSection\":[\"Queries\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/tswcgroup.co.uk\\\/index.php\\\/2026\\\/04\\\/24\\\/do-i-need-a-mckenzie-friend-or-a-solicitor\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tswcgroup.co.uk\\\/index.php\\\/2026\\\/04\\\/24\\\/do-i-need-a-mckenzie-friend-or-a-solicitor\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tswcgroup.co.uk\\\/index.php\\\/2026\\\/04\\\/24\\\/do-i-need-a-mckenzie-friend-or-a-solicitor\\\/\",\"name\":\"Do I need a McKenzie Friend or a Solicitor? 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