Power of attorney?

[Barbarah]

Hi,

I have a friend handling a claim on my behalf, against a scummy airline, as he is much more capable and legal-savvy than I am, and I get the impression the airline are using tactics to shoo me off. They have definitely already lied twice to me. He definitely does not stand for any nonsense whereas they have already worn me down.

I wrote a letter informing them of this. Signed it and mailed it. Month later we both emailed their legal department the letter chasing a response. They called me and I told them my friend was now handling this as they totally blew their chance to deal with me.

They then called him, spoke to him, and he sent them the claim.

Nothing for a month. He then emailed them again. I was copied in on both.

They then responded, again only to me - to tell me they will only speak to me, don't have to speak to my nominated third party, but then responding to all the things my friend detailed in his email, basically lying through their teeth again.

Do they have a legal right to insist only I speak to them? Is the letter, emails and call I had not sufficient to inform them he is the one to talk to?

Do I need some sort of official power of attorney? If yes, how, without incurring costs?

[Barbarah]

Up,,,

[Barbarah]

Please help!

[HarryJackson]

Maybe R0b can help?

[R0b]

Pretty sure I've already answered this before for the OP as the name sounds familiar but I could be wrong.

First of all, the title of this thread is misleading but it has nothing to do with lasting power of attorney which is something in law that allows someone to make decision on behalf of someone else as to their welfare and financial status. Typically LPAs are granted because the individual does not have the mental capacity to make decisions themselves. LPAs have nothing to do with civil disputes.

There is a similar thing in civil litigation called a litigation friend which the court grants to a person where the claimant or defendant to a claim is unable to conduct their case properly such as lacking the mental capacity. An application would need to be made to the court in order for a litigation friend to be appointed.

It seems to me that the OP is appointing someone to handle their claim against the airline because they appear to understand the law better than they do, which is fine in principle, but there seemsto be one big problem. The OP's friend appears to be 'acting on their behalf' and therefore conducting litigation. The Legal Services Act 2007 sets out in law certain reserved legal activities that must be carried out by an authorised person e.g. a solicitor, barrister or other legally recognised lawyer - and conducting litigation is one them. Performing a reserved legal activity without authorisation is a criminal offence and the OP's friend would be wise to stop acting on the OP's behalf immediately in this capacity.

What has all of the above got to do with the question? Well, I am going to assume that OP's friend is not a qualified lawyer and therefore not acting in an official capacity on the OP's behalf, so the airline (or their legal representatives) have to correspond with the OP directly as the claimant in proceedings, and as a courtesy, they are also copying in the friend.

Therefore, the OP either needs to get proper legal representation and pay for it, or deal with the airline directly. Of course, it is not a criminal offence for the friend to help you write and draft responses or guide you through your claim, but the friend cannot put their name to any formal court documents or ancillary functions such as the claim form, the witness statement (unless they are giving evidence themselves), directions questionnaire, giving their address for service of documents etc. That all needs to be in the name of the OP and signed by them.

By the same token, the friend could represent the OP on their behalf at the hearing under the Lay Representatives (Rights of Audience) Order 1999 which allows a non-qualified person to represent a party in the County Court for small claims cases ( the right to represent someone in court is another reserved legal activity, called rights of audience). The condition for this right is that the party to proceedings must also be in attendance. No attendance = no right.

[Barbarah]

Thank you so much.