Lay Advisers in Family law Settings: The Role and Quality of Advice Provided on Social media
| Author | Tatiana Grieshofer |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1177/09646639221090132 |
| Published date | 01 December 2022 |
| Date | 01 December 2022 |
LayAdvisersinFamily
lawSettings:TheRole
andQualityofAdvice
ProvidedonSocialmedia
TatianaGrieshofer
SeniorLecturerinEnglishLanguage,Birmingham
InstituteofMediaandEnglish,BirminghamCity
University,UK
Abstract
Thestudyexploresthequalityofadviceofferedbylayadvisersonsocialmedia
groupsandonlineforums.Thefocusisontheonlineadviceprovisioninrelation
tochild-relatedcases,whicharepartofprivateorpublicfamilylawproceedings
inthecontextofEnglandandWales.Sincemanyaddresseesofsuchadviceare
self-representedlitigants,itiscrucialtounderstandwhatkindofsupportisoffered
bylawadvisers,whoseprofessionalmotivationorlevelofexpertiseareunderex-
plored.Bydrawingoncontentanalysisanddiscourseanalysis,thestudyreflects
onthesubstantivecontentandlinguisticframingoftheadviceofferedonline.
Thearticlecontextualisestheroleoflayadvisersinlightof(1)thechallenges
self-representedlitigantsexperiencewhenaccessingthejusticesystemand(2)
thegrowingpopularityofusingonlineresourcesandsocialplatformsforobtaining
legalinformationandadvice.
Keywords
McKenzieFriends,layadvisers,litigantsinperson,self-representedlitigants,onlineadvice
provision,familylaw,legal-laycommunication
Correspondingauthor:
TatianaGrieshofer,SeniorLecturerinEnglishLanguage,BirminghamInstituteofMediaandEnglish,Birmingham
CityUniversity,UK.
Email:Tatiana.Grieshofer@bcu.ac.uk
Article
Social&LegalStudies
2022,Vol.31(6)941–960
©TheAuthor(s)2022
Articlereuseguidelines:
sagepub.com/journals-permissions
DOI:10.1177/09646639221090132
journals.sagepub.com/home/sls
Introduction
Accessinglegaladviceandrepresentationcanbechallengingwithlimitedfinancialmeans.
Oneseemingalternativetoprofessionallegaladviceistoreachtosocialmediagroupsand
onlineforums,thoughsuchonlinesupportisincreasinglybeingofferedbylayadvisers
withunprovenexpertise(Smithetal.,2017,Melville2017).Thearticleexploresthequality
ofadviceofferedinsocialmediagroupsandonlineforumsrunbylayadvisertoenhance
ourunderstandingofthescope,accuracyandlinguisticframingofonlineadviceprovision.
Giventhegrowingpopularityofonlinediscussionforumswhereanyonecanasklegal
questionsandobtainananswerfromlawyersorotherusers(Maggs2006),thetopicofthe
articlehasaninternationalappeal.Itisespeciallyrelevanttothecontextofcommonlaw
countries(suchasUSA,Australia,Canada,NewZealand,EnglandandWales),whereliti-
gantshavetherighttorepresentthemselvesinperson.Therightofself-representationhas
beenlinkedtotherighttoaccessthejusticesystemandthecourtthusoftencannotdenya
litiganttherighttoself-represent(seeAssy2011forthediscussionwhythelinkbetween
thetworightsshouldbechallengedandGreacen2014onthemythsandrealitiesofself-
representation).Asaresult,manyofthecommonlawcountriesdealwithanincreasing
numberofself-representedlitigants(Richardsonetal.,2012).Mostoftheliteratureonself-
representationfocusesoncivilandprivatefamilyproceedings,thejurisdictionswithmost
unrepresentedparties(Trinderetal.,2014,McKeeveretal.,2018,MacFarlane2013,Lee
andTkacukova2017,MoorheadandSefton2005,Richardsonetal.,2012).
Thefocusofthisstudyisonprivatefamilyproceedings,specificallychild-relatedpro-
ceedings,inthelegalcontextofEnglandandWales,wheretheproportionofprivatelaw
disposalswithatleastoneunrepresentedpartyisashighas79%(FamilyCourtStatistics
Quarterly:JulytoSeptember2021);
1
theaccesstoprofessionallegaladvicewascurtailed
bycutsinlegalaid,whichcameintoeffectin2013and,subsequently,causedtheincrease
inthenumbersofself-representedpartiesbyalmostahalf(ibid).Manylitigantsinperson
(LIPs),thetermusedinEnglandandWalesforunrepresentedlitigants,thushavetoresort
toself-representationduetothelackofaffordablelegaladviceorstate-fundedsupport
withlegaldisputes(Trinderetal.,2014,MooreandNewbury2017,Leeand
Tkacukova2017,MacleanandEekelaar2019,Mant2019).
Theexistingresearchacrossawiderangeofjurisdictionsshowsthatself-
representationisrarelyagoodidea:itimpactstheadministrationandmanagementof
courthearings,theroleofthejudiciary,thedutiesofthelawyerrepresentingtheopposing
party(Trinderetal.,2014);butaboveall,thelackofrepresentationputsLIPsinadis-
advantagedposition(Trinderetal.,2014,LeeandTkacukova2017,Tkacukova2016,
MacFarlane2013,McKeeveretal.,2018).ItisarguedthatLIPs,especiallyLIPswith
disputesaboutchild-relatedissues,tendtobevulnerableandpotentiallysusceptibleto
biasedadviceandunreliableinformation(Trinderetal.,2014;LegalServices
ConsumerPanel2014).Yettheneedforurgentlegalandproceduraladvicefromthe
risingnumberofLIPscreatesamarketforlayadvisers,orMcKenzieFriends(MFs),
thetermusedfollowingthecaseofMcKenzievMcKenzie
2
,whichestablishedthat
unrepresentedlitigantshavearighttoreasonableassistanceincourt(Smithetal.,
2017).MFsarethuslayadviserswhoprovideadviceeitherforfreeorforafee.Asa
generalprinciple,thelayassistanceprovidedforfree(e.g.assistanceandsupportfrom
942Social&LegalStudies31(6)
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