Court case tomorrow and Barrister not coming

[Divorcequestions]

Posting here for traffic

Friend going through divorce she has suffered emotional and financial abuse as well as domestic violence and sexual assault.

Solicitor promised she would explain what the court proceedings would be about before she went on holiday last Friday and said she hadhired a female barrister. Friend because of the abuse cant speak to men.

Friend was yesterday diagnosed with PTSD and trauma she is also dyslexic and has had a brain injury caused by stbexh running her over and is permanently disabled .

She calls the solicitor at 2 pm today only to find out that the female barrister isn't coming to the court tomorrow so they have hired a male barrister.

Friend is in a state she doesn't know which way to turn.

Anyone know what she can do in this sort of situation. I think friend is near to collapse.

If she insists on a change now, any new barrister may not have time to prepare adequately.

Does your friend have to be there?

She can ask for a female advocate to speak to, who can speak to the barrister on her behalf.

She can only speak to the secretary at the solicitors they are refusing to put her through to the person who was supposed to be handling her case and she was told she cant adjourn the court date

Tell her to contact Woman's Aid, they might send someone with her to support her.

Your friend will have minimal possibly zero interaction with the barrister. Any questions the barrister may need to ask can be directed to the solicitor and they can then ask your friend the questions.

Whatever she does, she mustn't cancel, it looks extremely bad to the judge.

Tell her, it's one day, she can do it, it's the final piece of the jigsaw. She can count it down hour by hour.

Wishing her the best of luck 🤞

Is the problem just that she won't be able to speak to her new male barrister directly?

If so, would you (or any other female friend) be able to go with her in order to relay information between her and the barrister?

Ah do you know what, ignore me. I somehow got it into my head that this was some sort of direct access arrangement where the barrister would need to speak to your friend.

Queenie8 is right. It will all go through the solicitor. If the barrister needs an info he will either ask the solicitor to speak to your friend or pass the solicitor a note with the question on. This shouldn't be a problem.

I feel sorry for your friend, but it wouldn't be acceptable to refuse to speak to black people, for example, due to a previous incident with one black person. It wouldn't be acceptable to refuse all contact with muslims if you were caught up in an incident caused by one. Therefore, you cannot simply refuse a service from someone based on gender, skin colour, religion or anything else.

The solicitor is not going to be there she has been on holiday since Friday evening

CalF123 so you would think it perfectly reasonable to accept a male nurse doing the examination after some one has been raped

Does she not speak to any men, ever? That must make day to day life very complicated.

I don’t think she will have to interact with her barrister: that’s the solicitor’s job.

The solicitor is not going to be there she has been on holiday since Friday evening

Are the solicitors not send anyone? When I've been on leave I have always sent someone else in my absence if it was a hearing clients were going to (in one instance it was only a trainee who went but still...).

If the solicitor is on holiday, presumably another solicitor is covering the case. I doubt she would just be abandoned by the firm representing her if she is paying for their services.

I have spent 2 days making notes of all the things that were wrong in her file that was submitted to the court.

No mention of her disability, domestic, and financial abuse.

That the stbexh says he won't complete his form E till he is in court.

There is so much that is wrong she needed that hour to go through everything.

Friend has no idea what is expected of her. Will she be required to speak . Just what this court case is all about

CalF123 stop with that nonsense. Being afraid of men because you’ve been horrifically abused by one, is very different from your examples, that’s why there are WOMEN shelters with inly female workers and clients. If the husband was black, Chinese, Jewish or any of the suggestions you have come up with, the poor woman would still be afraid of men because her husband was a MAN!

I imagine the barrister will be very experienced in dealing with difficult and sensitive cases. It's not ideal for your friend but if she can have some accompany her would that help? Has she looked into the barrister who will be taking on the case and read up about him? I found my male barrister extremely easy to talk to and effective. I haven't experienced the same traumas as your friend of course, but barristers aren't necessarily like they are portrayed on TV.

No she doesn't speak to men. Since the last incident (Sexual assault by her husband) she doesn't come across any men she has to interact with.

No the solicitors are not sending anyone and all she knows is that the Barrister is a man. She doesn't even know his name.

She only knew the name of the female barrister not even where she worked. As there was 2 with the same name .

If she was promised a female barrister and has been let down by the solicitors, then perhaps the best thing to do would be to insist on speaking to a senior partner at the law firm and making a formal complaint and seeing if they can find a female barrister. At this late notice it is not likely though.

Can she get evidence from a professional that would convince the judge that it is not appropriate to proceed?

How can she go through life not talking to men? Doesn't she have uncles/fathers/newphews etc etc.

What will she do if the judge is a man?

Can you go with her?

Personally I can go months without speaking to any males apart from my dh. It is quite easily done.

The issue she feels that everyman who has had input into this has turned out to be on her husbands side and has believed him over her even though she has evidence to the contrary.

I work in this area. I'd strongly advise your friend to attend - with you or another friend if possible. See what he's like. If she can't bear it/him then he'll talk you through the options. One of those would be to sack him on the day, which would be much much better than a no show. But see what he's like first. Most barristers I've cone across, including male barristers, are only going to be very sympathetic to your friend and her distress. They will typically have a lot of experience of your friend's predicament. But not turning up is the worst thing she can do under the circumstances.

Good luck and for your friend. She's lucky to have you.

How can she go through life not talking to men? Doesn't she have uncles/fathers/newphews etc

I don't and she doesn't. It is very easily done.

If she was promised a female barrister and has been let down by the solicitors, then perhaps the best thing to do would be to insist on speaking to a senior partner at the law firm and making a formal complaint

This. They need to be made aware of the PTSD diagnosis and that she can not communicate directly with men. Even if it's not possible to switch to a female barrister at this stage the solicitors ought to send a another female solicitor (or trainee etc). I'd suggest reminding them that they have duties under the Equality Act 2010 to make reasonable adjustments in their provision of services so should send someone even if they would normally just let the barrister communicate directly with the client.