Something legal has just landed on you and you are more frightened than you have been in a long time.
Permission to be frightened, a realistic picture of what the next months ask of you, and one thing to do tomorrow.
A senior community legal centre triage solicitor.
About the fear
You are probably going to be more frightened than is useful, for longer than is useful. That is not weakness and it is not a sign the case is hopeless. It is what happens to nearly everyone when a formal process arrives with their name on it. It passes. It passes faster once you have done a few boring things and discovered that nothing terrible happened.
The other side may have a firm, letterhead, and a way of writing that sounds like a verdict. They are people with rules. The court is a process, not a monster. Once losing a round stops feeling like the end of the world, you can think, and the losing a round guide is about getting there.
What you actually need
A great deal of a legal matter is process, dates and documents. A person who keeps good files, keeps their word exact, meets every date and writes as if a judge will read it removes most of the avoidable ways of losing. What it does not remove is the need for advice on the law and on your own position, and the Get help page is for that.
Five things to hold onto
- Keep good files. Everything you receive, saved as it arrived, named so you can find it. The First 48 Hours guide starts here.
- Keep your word exact. Say only what you can prove, and say the limit in the same sentence as the yes.
- Do not fire everything today. Say what must be said, disclose what must be disclosed, and let the rest wait until you have thought.
- Look after your body and the people around you. This is long. Sleep, food and movement are case preparation. Your partner and friends are your people, not your legal department.
- Remember what the goal is. Not to win every exchange. To stop being afraid, and to make the record tell the truth. On both of those, starting to read this is already progress.
Tomorrow
Not tonight, with one exception: look now for any date, court listing or deadline in what arrived, because those do not wait for you. Then tomorrow, with coffee, open The first 48 hours and do the first ten minutes of it. If you cannot face reading the letter, the triage prompt will read it first and tell you only what needs doing. If you need a person rather than a page, call one of the free lines on Get help.