We Help You Represent Yourself
Auriga Advocates can help you represent yourself
We understand that there are some cases where it is not cost effective to pay for our services and therefore you may wish to represent yourself either by writing letters of representation to the police, letters of a guilty plea and mitigation or even represent yourself at court at trial.
There is a book that can help
Andrea Clegg our CEO has written a book entitled “Defend your Licence” to assist people who want to know more about helping themselves when it is appropriate to do so. She helps motorists level the legal playing field so that they are not at such a disadvantage. The book is available from Amazon or any good book shop for £9.99 or £6.49 on kindle. The book will help you understand more about what you are facing and how to tackle it. It will give you the knowledge you need and the confidence to deal with the case in court in the most simple and straightforward cases.
And if you are still unsure or do not feel confident enough to tackle your case yourself after reading the book you can still call one our specialist road traffic defence solicitors for free initial advice.
There are videos you can watch
We have developed a number of videos on key areas which we think will be of interest to you particularly if you are representing yourself but also if you wish to understand more about the offence you are facing and what will happen. These will help to reassure you by giving you a better understanding of your case and what your next step should be Take a look.
We are always adding to our video library and would appreciate any ideas from you as our client as to the subjects you would like to see covered.
Auriga Academy offers a series of courses for:
- Guilty plea
- Guilty plea with exceptional hardship
- Trial in Magistrates Court
All designed to provide with step by step guides to prepare your case from the day you receive the court papers through to a successful result at the end of your case.
You will not be alone because Auriga Academy works alongside Auriga Advocates who provide specialist legal advice specifically geared towards your case.
Please note that the services being given under these courses do not fall within the Solicitors Regulation Authority.
Represent Yourself on a Guilty Plea in the Magistrates Court
This course aims to help you prepare your case on the basis of a guilty plea and develop effective mitigation to achieve the best sentence from the court. (Please note that this only covers the Magistrates Court) After the course you will:
- Understand how to work out the likely sentence in your case
- How to prepare evidence in mitigation
- Court procedure on sentence
- How to present your mitigation in court
Price £175 +VAT total £210
You will have to register on our Auriga Academy Website to register on this course.
Representing Yourself on a Guilty Plea with Exceptional Hardship Arguments
This module aims to help you prepare your case on the basis of a guilty plea and develop effective exceptional hardship argument to achieve the best sentence from the court and avoid the totting up disqualification (Please note that this only covers the Magistrates Court) After the course you will:
- Understand how to work out the likely sentence in your case
- How to prepare evidence in mitigation
- How to develop and exceptional hardship argument
- Court procedure on sentence
- How to present your mitigation in court
The course includes 30 minutes specialist legal advice geared specifically to your case.
£250 + VAT total £300
You will have to login into our Auriga Academy Website to register on this course.
Representing yourself at trial in the Magistrates Court
This course aims to help you prepare your case on the basis of a not guilty plea. (Please note that this only covers the Magistrates Court) After the course you will:
- Understand the court procedure from first plea to your trial date
- Learn how to manage your case
- How to prepare evidence in defence
- How to run a trial in court
- Understand how to work out the likely sentence in your case
- Court procedure on sentence
- How to present your mitigation in court
- How to appeal conviction and/or sentence
Cost £450 + VAT total £540
To enrol you will need to login into the Auriga Academy website (see below)
Click to logo below to enrol onto any of our courses.
Please note that the courses and the advice given with these courses is not governed by SRA.
Is it cheaper to represent yourself?
Of course, whilst it is cheaper to represent yourself on the face of it , it can prove to be a false economy.
We have clients who have tried to save money by doing the first stages of the court proceedings themselves and have dug themselves into a hole they cannot get out of. If you do this it will cost more than the fees incurred if you had instructed us at the outset. To avoid this you should always call for free initial advice which would help you with the initial stages and avoid the pit-holes.
The courtroom is a daunting experience for most non-advocates and there are rules of evidence to follow and certain lines of questioning which are not allowed. You would be given some assistance by the Court Advisor, but they will not present your case for you. You should also remember that you are likely to be against a trained legal representative on the prosecution and in the case of a trial it will be a trained lawyer. If your matter is contentious then getting Auriga Advocates to support and represent you will always be the preferred option.
Unsure whether to do it yourself or get representation, let us help call and discuss your concerns with one of our legal team who will help you to do the right thing for you.