Welcome to litigant-in-person.com

We are proud to announce a brand new website dedicated to providing useful information and resources for Litigants in Person (LIPs) pursuing justice through the Courts in England and Wales.

What is a Litigant in Person?

A Litigant in Person is someone who is engaged in litigation but is not represented by a solicitor or barrister. Instead, they do all of the legal work themselves, from writing letters before claim to issuing proceedings and representing themselves at court hearings. Unfortunately, the English legal system is a complex and confusing institution, littered with stumbling blocks for the unwary Litigant in Person that could all too easily cost them their case.

How does this site help?

Many cases are lost, not because they are inherently bad cases, but because LIPs may make technical or procedural errors that are then exploited by their legally trained opponents. Despite reforms introduced by the Civil Procedure Rules (CPR), there is still a tendency for some Judges to pay more attention to professional lawyers than to Litigants in Person – a situation that the lawyers are, of course, quick to capitalise upon. We hope that this site will help LIPs to avoid these pitfalls by providing background information on court procedures, the English legal system, the CPR and, where appropriate, statues and case law. We also aim to provide a one-stop source of contact information for support groups and information services of use to LIPs.

Are we lawyers?

No. The authors of this website are not lawyers, and the information contained on the site cannot, and should not, be taken as legal advice. If you want, or need, legal advice, you should consult a solicitor. We have, however, been involved in litigation as LIPs for a number of years, and, through hours of research, have amassed a wealth of useful information. We would like to share that information with other Litigants in Person, and have set up this website to do just that - we hope you find it useful.

Kind Regards,

The litigant-in-person.com Team.