There is an old legal saying that says “a lawyer who represents themselves has a fool for a client.”

The reasoning behind this saying is that it is extremely difficult to represent yourself in court even if you are a trained in the law. It is essential to remain emotionally detached from a case in order to run it as effectively as possible in a court trial. If you are clouded with emotions such as anger and anxiety as a result of the circumstances of your case you will not be able to fully concentrate on running your court trial effectively and in accordance with the laws and rules of evidence. For this reason even people who are legally trained and happen to find themselves a party to a court trial tend to make sure they have another lawyer representing them.

A lawyer can help present a case in a court trial as they:

• have been trained specifically to do so;
• know the law;
• know how to represent clients;
• know how to comply with the rules of evidence in the state or territory in which the trial is being held;
• know the ‘ins and outs’ of court processes which can be daunting and confusing if you are not familiar with them;
• know what to do when the other side does not ‘play fair’ and how to identify that this is happening;
• are familiar with judges and how they like to run their courtrooms;
• understand legal language; and
• for jury trials they know what juries are like and can estimate what a jury may possibly do in your case.

Lawyers are also required to stay up to date with cases that set the various standards affecting the laws and rules that will be relied upon in court.

It takes a lawyer a number of years to be trained in all of these respects. Anyone who is going to go through a court trial should speak with a lawyer first. The lawyer will be able to present your case and advocate on your behalf. Legal representation is a significant advantage to anyone who is faced with the daunting prospect of a court trial.