Most small business owners 'prepared to represent themselves'

Most small business owners are prepared to be litigants in person, a survey has suggested.

Costs lawyers Kain Knight spoke to 70 owner managers of businesses employing fewer than 50 staff, and with a turnover of below £5m.

A majority, 60 per cent, said they were prepared to represent themselves, while nine out of ten said they got a bad deal from the legal system because they could not afford to take on expensive legal battles, particularly against better funded opponents.

Almost a third, 30 per cent, said they unaware that solicitors could act for them in commercial cases on conditional fees. Only 62 per cent were aware of ATE insurance.

"Small business owners were frustrated about the length of time it would take to get a case heard in court," Matt Kain, director of Kain Knight, said. "Most of the business owners we surveyed felt that waiting anything over six months for a court slot would be stressful and frustrating.

"Since Lord Jackson's reforms began in April, we are aware of the increasing time it is taking to bring cases to court, and that there is insufficient capacity in the legal system to truly serve justice. "

Kain said courts lacked the "time and resources" to deal properly with the Jackson reforms, particularly costs budgeting.

"So many changes have happened that everyone is trying to work out which way things are going," he said.

Referring to tomorrow's eagerly awaited Mitchell ruling, Kain said the firm had a case where one side failed completely to file a costs budget, but then made a Part 36 offer.

"If they beat it, will they get their costs?" he asked.

Kain added that solicitors who ignored costs budgeting would "do so at their peril" and could be vulnerable to negligence claims.