By Louise Mathias -
We all are aware of the long delays in the Federal Circuit Court and the Family Court. As a practitioner, many are beyond your control. However, there are strategies you can take to ensure that you don’t contribute to further delays in client matters.
As a practitioner, you are bound by ethical duties to the court and your clients for the administration of justice. If these duties conflict your duty to the court is paramount, which includes:
- exercising independent judgment (you are not the client’s mouthpiece)
- focusing on the real issues in dispute and having a broader view than just this one specific case
- advancing the client’s case efficiently
- be frank and open with the court
- engaging in forensic judgment of the case
- not bringing unnecessary applications or firing up you client to vigorously litigate every issue.
A failure to apply the above will result in unnecessary delays. Your job is to problem solve and assist the court to progress the matters as efficiently as possible.
