You know, I believe that the first court case that I handled without legal representation could have been completely avoided. Of course, that’s ridiculously easy to say now and it no longer matters. There is a lesson in it, though.

Several factors played a role, but the one thing that really could have made a big difference was ticking a particular box on a particular form. I was the one who didn’t tick it, so I am to blame for that, but I also feel that someone should have pointed it out to me.

Good assistance can be hard to find.

I had asked the local CAB for help a few times, but they had nothing useful to offer. (I have had great help from the CAB with something else later, but I think that it depends on who you talk with and what about. When it concerns legal matters, many organizations deliberately hold back.) Prior to that, I had asked the local city council (civic offices) for help several times. Their response was to wish me luck, refer me to the Salvation Army and things like that.

In essence, I got steamrolled by events.

(In my own country, the entire situation would never have occurred in the first place because my own country works vastly differently.)

So, I had no idea what to say in court. Also, some court staff treated me quite rudely, in what already were very threatening circumstances to begin with. That didn’t help. Some people love kicking at what they see as underdogs – which mainly conveys how miserable they must be feeling about their own lives.

What didn’t help either is that I was being bullied by neighbours, anonymously. Bullying, too, works differently in Britain, as the target is almost always seen as the offender, in Britain. Someone later told me that the fact that I am from Amsterdam explains why I get bullied and pranked so much in Britain. I am seen as too “loud” and too confident, certainly for a woman. And that’s just not done. Britons generally prefer women to be shy, soft-spoken and doe-eyed.

For the second court case that I handled without legal assistance, I was entitled to legal aid. It took a long time to find a law firm and then a particular lawyer that handled that specific type of case. More and more law firms had ceased accepting certain legal aid cases at the time. I don’t know why that was the case, but I suspect it was because such cases generally don’t bring them enough money.

I ended up deciding:

“Sod it, I’ll do it myself.”

I remembered how encouraging a young trainee lawyer had been whom I’d spoken with when I visited law firms to find out who could take my case as legal aid. I’d explained to her that I had handled some legal matters on my own in the US as well, and had been informed many times -by test results as well as persons- that I would make a good lawyer. I should act for myself, bring legal proceedings myself, she said. I later went back to thank her for her encouragement, but she’d moved on by then.

You know what? I did much better on my own than I would have done with my legal aid lawyer. For starters, he was not very willing to give me useful information (though I can see why because many people really have no clue of how the law works and that can be bloody frustrating so it’s often easier to avoid all discussion). I’ll spare you more details.

It’s true that for many cases you really do need good legal representation, but it’s also true that legal aid has been considered a “gravy train” for lawyers for a long time.

In the criminal realm too, you shouldn’t always blindly rely on what your duty solicitor says. His or her main aim usually is to be out of there asap and spend as little time on you as possible, so duty solicitors are not necessarily looking after your best interest. Here too, having the right information can be crucial. It can make the difference between acquiring a criminal record or keeping a nice clean slate.

One special problem we foreigners in Britain face when looking for assistance is that we are not part of one of Britain’s peculiar “classes”. We can therefore be seen as part of the wrong “class” because our circumstances don’t match what is usual in Britain. Being perceived as from the wrong “class” can make Britons at various organisations refuse to help us. They may for instance think that we’re just being cheap so they refer us to our solicitor when we can’t or can no longer afford a solicitor and ask for help. Then they hang up on us. But, thankfully, it does not occur very often.