80% of private family cases now have at least one litigant in person
If you can read a broadsheet newspaper or a non-fiction book, you can probably represent yourself in family court.
The legal profession has convinced ordinary people that family court is too complicated to navigate alone. It isn't. What they've done is monopolise the language and charge you to translate it back to you.
The complexity is manufactured. Watch the video and find out what they don't want you to know.
I DON'T HAVE TIME TO WATCH VIDEOS - I NEED HELP NOW!!
"If only I could find someone who's been inside family courts for 30 years, who'll have my back from day one and help me through every step"
Click Here For Immediate HelpSessions from £297 • England, Wales and Northern Ireland
Read the video transcript
Most people walking into UK family courts without a solicitor aren't thinking clearly. They're thinking: I'm worried my ex is alienating our children against me. Will I lose my home? Are those the fears keeping you awake at 3am? Is that what makes you sit in the car park outside the courthouse, hands gripping the steering wheel, unable to walk through those doors. Because you're terrified that one wrong word, one missed document, or one emotional outburst could change everything. Your relationship with your children. The home you've spent years building. Your future.
Here's what most people don't understand. The judge isn't there to hear every part of your story. Not because they're heartless. Because family court has a framework. And if you don't understand that framework, you can end up talking about the wrong things.
In children cases, one question matters above everything else. What's in the child's best interests?
Financial cases follow a different framework. Housing the children. The needs of both spouses. Available resources. What's fair. But both types of case require the same thing. You need to know what the judge sees as evidence, and what they may ignore completely.
This is what happens when you walk in unprepared. You start talking about betrayal. About who did what. About fairness. About justice. And the judge may stop listening. Not because your pain isn't real. But because it may not answer the legal question in front of the court.
But when you understand the framework, everything changes. You know which arguments matter. You know which ones don't. You walk in clear. And clarity changes how you show up.
Meet John Junk. John has spent thirty years helping people understand exactly this. He's sat beside people in family courts across the UK, from magistrates' courts to the Court of Appeal in London and Belfast. Not as a solicitor.
John is a postgraduate access to justice lawyer with an LL.M. with Distinction. He works as a professional McKenzie Friend. A McKenzie Friend helps someone representing themselves in court by offering practical support, taking notes, organising papers, and quietly advising them during the hearing. Over three decades, John has watched what damages cases. And what helps them.
Here's the pattern. Represented parties often understand the framework. They answer the question the judge is actually asking. They stay focused on what matters. Unrepresented parties often argue about justice, resentment, and betrayal. The judge is busy. They don't have time to listen to exes tearing strips off each other. So the important points can get lost.
In children cases, here's what judges actually care about. Where the child lives. How the child feels about both parents. Whether their needs are being met. Whether there's stability. Whether contact with both parents and extended family can continue. And whether the child has suffered harm, or is at risk of suffering harm. That's the framework. Everything else may be background noise.
Here's a real example. John had one family client who was a professional man whose solicitor's fees mounted over months until they were over £50,000. The client was stressed. Confused. And unclear about what was actually being decided.
There were adjournments. Delays. Reports. Expert witnesses. And the costs kept rising. Then he came to John after seeing him on a BBC TV panel discussing family law in Northern Ireland.
John helped him understand the framework. Helped him prepare. Helped him see what mattered and what didn't. The fog lifted. He knew which documents to gather. Which arguments to make. And how to prepare properly.
His total cost with John over four years was significantly less than one month with a solicitor and senior barrister.
More importantly, he walked into court clear. This reflects one case. Outcomes vary depending on complexity and circumstances. It's not a guarantee. But the lesson matters. Preparation changes how you think. How you speak. And how you present your case.
What that client learned is now available to you.
You can book a call with John, someone who's spent thirty years inside family courts, watching what works and what doesn't. Here's what you get. One hour of focused, high-level insight. This isn't a full case review. Full case reviews can take days. This is one hour with an experienced McKenzie Friend and access to justice lawyer.
You can use your hour in blocks. Fifteen minutes now. Twenty minutes next week. Five minutes when something urgent comes up. You have thirty days to use it. After that, unused minutes expire.
You can also book John to attend court with you. Through the booking form, you can arrange preparation before court, attendance at court, and a debrief afterwards.
From terrified and lost, to clear and prepared. You get direct access to someone who's actually been inside these courtrooms. Someone whose job is to assist, support, and help you understand the process. Not to protect the legal profession.
This is not legal representation. It's information, assistance, preparation, and support. England, Wales, and Northern Ireland only.
Stop going in unprepared. You're about to make decisions that could affect your children, your finances, and your future for years. Don't walk into court confused, emotional, and caught off guard.
Get on the right path early and book your session with John now using the green link right below this video. Emergency calls within 24 hours available from the booking page.
Sessions from £297 • England, Wales and Northern Ireland
The Family Court System Wasn't Built For You.
Court Compass Was.
Family court help without a solicitor. Understand where you stand, whether you're dealing with a child arrangements order, a financial settlement, or both. See your case through the eyes of the court. Walk in prepared, not panicked.
Here Is What Happens To The Person Who Goes In Without This.
In the children hearing, they spend ten minutes explaining what their ex did wrong. The judge writes it off as the usual back-and-forth between two parties who can't separate their feelings from the legal question. The contact arrangements, the welfare considerations, the stability issues: decided without the context the judge needed to hear. Not because the judge was unfair. Because the framework has one question and they answered a different one.
In the financial hearing, they argue about fairness. About who sacrificed more. About what they deserve. The judge applies the legal test: housing the children, the resources available, what's proportionate. The fairness argument doesn't appear in the judgment. The number that comes out isn't the number they expected. And by then the money to challenge it's gone.
This isn't bad luck. It's the predictable result of not knowing what the court is actually trying to decide.
The hearing isn't where this is won or lost. It's won or lost in the weeks before anyone stands in front of a judge. That's the window. That's what Court Compass is for.
Meet John Junk LL.M.
Most people who help unrepresented people in family court have read about it. John has been inside it, in both jurisdictions, at every level from magistrates to the Court of Appeal, for thirty years. That isn't a qualification you can study for. It's experience that only comes from being in the room when things go well and when they fall apart, and understanding exactly why.
John holds an LL.M in Access to Justice with Distinction from Ulster University, won the 2019 Department of Justice Northern Ireland Access to Justice Scholar Award, and as a first-year student beat hundreds of applicants from across Northern Ireland's universities in open competition to win an internship at an Ivy League law school. He has been a panelist on BBC current affairs programmes discussing family law in Northern Ireland. He was good enough that a barrister once tried to have him removed from a hearing on the basis that he was "no ordinary man." The barrister meant it as an objection. John took it as a compliment.
A McKenzie Friend supports someone representing themselves in court: practical help, note-taking, organising documents, quiet guidance during the hearing. What separates John from others who offer this service is the thirty years, the LL.M, the Court of Appeal experience in two jurisdictions, and the track record of people who walked in lost and walked out clear.
John Junk LL.M
McKenzie Friend • 30 Years • LL.M Access to Justice with Distinction • DOJ NI Access to Justice Scholar
- As a first year student, beat hundreds of applicants from across Northern Ireland's universities in open merit competition to win an internship at an Ivy League law school
- LL.M in Access to Justice with Distinction, Ulster University
- 2019 Department of Justice Northern Ireland Access to Justice Scholar Award
- Thirty years as a McKenzie Friend in family courts across England, Wales and Northern Ireland
- Granted leave to address the Court of Appeal in both England and Wales and in Northern Ireland
- Panelist on BBC current affairs programmes discussing family law in Northern Ireland
- Court Compass covers England, Wales and Northern Ireland. It doesn't cover Scotland.
"A barrister once objected to John acting as a McKenzie Friend on the grounds that John was no ordinary man. He was right. And he meant it as a reason to keep John out of the room. Because when John is in the room, the other side's chances go down."
The Numbers Tell Their Own Story.
of private family law cases now have at least one unrepresented party (Ministry of Justice)
of cases have neither party represented, up from 13% in 2013 (Ministry of Justice)
increase in cases with neither party represented between 2016 and 2023 (Law Society)
These aren't people who chose to go it alone. Approximately 75 to 80% are there because they can't afford legal fees. The system was built for lawyers. Court Compass was built for everyone else.
Solicitors Are Not Fans Of People Who Represent Themselves.
Major house builders aren't fans of self-build.
The system works better when you buy from them. An individual who builds their own home is exercising a legal right the industry didn't design for.
Estate agents aren't fans of private sales.
You can sell your own home. The industry works better when you need them to do it for you.
Accountants aren't fans of people who file their own self-assessment.
HMRC designed the online service for exactly that purpose. The model works better when the process feels too complicated to attempt yourself.
Family law solicitors aren't fans of people who represent themselves. Not because self-representation doesn't work. Because it threatens their income.
John Works With Four Objectives.
- 1.The best possible result for you in the shortest possible time.
- 2.Leaving you with the most money.
- 3.The most time with your children.
- 4.Your sanity intact.
No adjournments for the sake of billing another session. No fees for going back to court repeatedly. The case concluded as quickly as possible so you can get back to your life.
Wherever You Are Right Now,
Court Compass Was Built For You.
Just starting out
Thinking About Separation
You want to understand what you're walking into before any lawyers get involved. Court Compass gives you that intelligence before you spend a penny.
Already in proceedings
You Need Clarity Now
Whether it's a child arrangements order, a financial remedy hearing, or a first hearing you didn't expect: you need to understand what's happening and what the court actually cares about. Court Compass gives you that clarity right now.
Funds exhausted
The Money Has Run Out
You had a solicitor and the funds ran out mid-case. You aren't starting from scratch. You're continuing with better support than you had before.
No representation
Representing Yourself From The Start
You never had the money for a solicitor. Representing yourself in family court is a legal right. Court Compass is the resource that should've existed the day this started.
"His solicitor's fees mounted until they were over £50,000."
John worked with a professional man. Educated. Intelligent. His solicitor's fees mounted over months until they were over £50,000. The client was stressed. Confused. And unclear about what was actually being decided. There were adjournments. Delays. Reports. Expert witnesses. And the costs kept rising.
Then he found John after seeing him on a BBC TV panel discussing family law in Northern Ireland. John helped him understand the framework. Helped him prepare. Helped him see what mattered and what didn't. The fog lifted. He knew which documents to gather. Which arguments to make. And how to present his case properly.
His total cost with John over four years was significantly less than one month with a solicitor and senior barrister. More importantly, he walked into court clear.
This reflects one case. Outcomes vary depending on complexity and circumstances. It isn't a guarantee. But the lesson matters. Preparation changes how you think, how you speak, and how you present your case.
What that client learned is now available to you.
Knowing The Framework Exists Is Not The Same As Knowing How It Applies To You.
In children cases, the welfare checklist isn't a box-ticking exercise. The way it applies to your specific contact arrangements, your allegations and counter-allegations, is different in every case. In financial cases, the framework covers housing, needs, resources, and what's proportionate. Either way, the position statement you submit before the hearing tells the judge what you want and why. Most unrepresented people write it like a letter to a friend. The court wants it structured in a specific way, addressing the specific legal question the hearing is there to decide.
John has read hundreds of position statements across both children and financial proceedings. He knows exactly what a judge sees when an unrepresented person submits one that doesn't answer the legal question. He also knows what the ones that work look like, and what the difference is between them.
One hour gives you case-specific intelligence. Not the general framework. Your documents. Your situation. The question the judge in your hearing will be trying to answer. And what you need to say to answer it properly.
John isn't a solicitor. This isn't legal advice. It's thirty years of direct experience in these specific courts, translated into preparation that changes how you show up.
Sessions from £297 • England, Wales and Northern Ireland
Two Questions You Should Ask Every Professional Before You Let Them Touch Your Case.
John asks these questions of every professional in a medical setting. A solicitor is about to make decisions that will determine how much time you spend with your children, how your finances are divided, and what your life looks like for the next decade. That's surgery on your family. Ask the questions. The ones who answer confidently and specifically are worth talking to. The ones who look at you like you have no right to ask are the ones to walk away from.
Before You Pick Up The Phone To A Solicitor, Read This.
The Numbers.
What the median UK full-time worker earns per day (ONS Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings, October 2025)
What a trainee solicitor, someone not yet qualified, can charge per hour (HM Courts and Tribunals Service Solicitors Guideline Hourly Rates, January 2026)
One hour of a trainee's time costs more than a full day of yours. A qualified partner can charge £400 an hour or more. And every one of those figures has VAT added on top.
The Qualifications.
In England and Wales there's no legal requirement for a solicitor to hold any family law accreditation to take your private family case. In Northern Ireland the Children Order Panel applies only to public law care proceedings.
A fair few family law solicitors hold an undergraduate degree in something entirely unrelated to law, followed by a conversion course. No specialist panel membership. Your future and your children's future in their hands. At £300 an hour.
John holds an LL.M in Access to Justice with Distinction. A session with John starts at £297. No VAT. Solicitors and barristers charge VAT on top of every hour. You do the maths.
You Do Not Need A Rottweiler. You Need A Negotiator.
The proceedings drag on for months. Sometimes years. The costs spiral. If there are children, they watch their parents tear each other apart through lawyers' letters. And at the end of it those two people still have to share a life in some form: co-parenting, school events, family occasions. If it's a financial settlement, the money spent fighting is money that could've been kept by both parties. Either way, the Rottweiler doesn't bear the cost. You do.
The Rottweiler didn't protect you. The Rottweiler got paid. What you actually need is someone whose aim is to get these proceedings over as quickly as possible, with your sanity intact, and without destroying relationships that your children need to survive.
"John has spent thirty years in the balcony. He knows what the performance looks like when it's going well and when it's falling apart. He knows what the person on the stage can't see because they're too close to it."
The hearing isn't where the case is won or lost. The case is won or lost in the days and weeks of preparation before anyone stands in front of a judge. In one negotiation John offered a minus number: a figure that went the wrong way entirely, and watched the other side realise in real time that they'd completely misjudged their own case. The liability they believed was over £14,000 came down to £2,500. An 82% reduction. Not by compromising. By understanding the case well enough to shock them into seeing their own weakness.
Questions People Ask Before They Book.
Is this legal advice?
No. John Junk isn't a practising solicitor or barrister. Court Compass provides information, preparation, and support. That distinction is always stated clearly, because it matters. What John offers is thirty years of direct court experience translated into preparation. That isn't the same as legal representation, and it doesn't claim to be.
Is a McKenzie Friend actually allowed in court?
Yes. The right to have a McKenzie Friend in civil and family proceedings is established in Practice Guidance issued by the Lord Chief Justice. Courts can't exclude a McKenzie Friend without good reason and must give reasons if they do. John has sat in family courts across England, Wales and Northern Ireland at every level including the Court of Appeal. He has been granted leave to address the Court of Appeal in both jurisdictions.
What if my case is complicated? Will one hour be enough?
One hour gives you the framework, the case-specific intelligence, and clarity on your immediate next steps. You can use it in blocks across thirty days, so it stretches further than a single call. For sustained support across multiple hearings, the five-hour or ten-hour packages are available, and the monthly retainer exists for cases that run over an extended period. If your case is genuinely outside scope, you'll be told before the session begins and not charged.
What exactly do I get for £297?
One hour of John's time, used in blocks of your choosing across thirty days. Fifteen minutes now, twenty minutes next week, five minutes when something urgent comes up. You have thirty days to use it. After that, unused time expires. No lock-in, no automatic renewal trap.
Will the court take me seriously without a solicitor?
Approximately 80% of private family law cases now have at least one litigant in person representing themselves. Courts deal with self-represented parties routinely. What matters is whether you understand the framework the court is applying and whether you answer the question the judge is actually asking. Preparation determines that far more than whether you have a solicitor standing next to you.
Can you help with a C100 form or child arrangements order?
Yes. The C100 is the application form used to start most children proceedings in England and Wales. A session with John gives you case-specific guidance on how to present your application and what the court will be looking for at each stage.
Does this cover Scotland?
No. Court Compass covers England, Wales and Northern Ireland only. Family law in Scotland operates under a separate legal system and isn't within scope.
Choose Your Level Of Support.
Most people start with one hour. It gives you the case-specific framework, the preparation plan, and immediate clarity on your next steps.
More hours are available if your case needs sustained support across multiple hearings.
One Hour
one payment • £297/hr
One hour of focused, high-level insight with John, used in blocks: fifteen minutes now, twenty minutes next week, five minutes when something urgent comes up. You have thirty days to use it. After that, unused time expires.
Book One HourFive Hours Most Popular
one payment • £259/hr
Five hours of John's time at £259 per hour. That's a saving of £188 versus buying five individual hours. Use them across multiple calls, document review, hearing preparation or negotiation strategy. No expiry.
Get Sustained Support: Five HoursTen Hours
one payment • £199/hr
Ten hours at £199 per hour. That's a saving of £973 versus buying ten individual hours. Sustained strategic support through the most critical phase. Less than the government floor rate for an unqualified trainee solicitor.
Go All In: Book Ten HoursMonthly Retainer
per month • cancel anytime
One hour of John's time every month, for as long as your case runs. Most family court cases take months, sometimes years. Rather than booking individual sessions each time something comes up, the retainer keeps John in your corner throughout. You get one hour every month to use however you need it: a hearing coming up, a document you need to understand, a letter you aren't sure how to respond to. £197 is taken automatically each month. Cancel anytime before the next billing date and nothing further is charged. No minimum term. A saving of £100 every month versus the hourly rate.
Keep John In My Corner△ Emergency Court Attendance
When You Need John In The Room.
There are moments when a call isn't enough. John travels to your court, wherever it's in England, Wales or Northern Ireland, and sits beside you for the full day.
Important
No cancellation on England or Wales packages. Travel and logistics are booked immediately after payment clears. Under 3 days notice in England or Wales isn't available.
HM Armed Forces veterans receive 30% off these rates. See veterans emergency pricing.
HM Armed Forces Veterans: 30% Off.
Court Compass offers a 30% discount across all products to veterans of HM Armed Forces. We thank every veteran for their service. Solicitors and barristers charge VAT on top of every hour. Court Compass doesn't. For veterans, the 30% discount applies to prices that already carry no VAT. To claim your discount, book using the veterans pricing below. You'll be asked to upload your HM Armed Forces Veteran Card after booking. Physical or digital cards accepted. Don't have your card yet? Apply free at gov.uk/veteran-card.
One Hour
one payment • £207/hr
One hour of focused, case-specific insight with John, used in blocks across thirty days however you need it. Fifteen minutes now, twenty minutes next week, five minutes when something urgent comes up.
Book One HourFive Hours Most Popular
one payment • £181/hr
Five hours of John's time gives you sustained support across the stages that matter: understanding the framework, preparing your documents, getting your position statement right, and knowing what to say when you're standing in front of a judge. A saving of £128 versus five individual hours. No expiry.
Get Sustained Support: Five HoursTen Hours
one payment • £139/hr
Ten hours at £139 per hour, a saving of £673 versus ten individual hours at the veterans rate. Sustained strategic support from the early stages through to the hearing. Use them at your pace across calls, document review, hearing preparation and negotiation strategy. No expiry.
Go All In: Book Ten HoursMonthly Retainer
per month • cancel anytime
One hour of John's time every month for as long as your case runs. Cancel anytime before the next billing date. No minimum term. A saving of £70 every month versus the veterans hourly rate.
Keep John In My CornerEmergency Court Attendance: Veterans Rates.
The same 30% discount applies when you need John in the room.
Same terms as standard emergency attendance: no cancellation on England or Wales packages, and under 3 days notice in England or Wales isn't available. Upload your Veteran Card after booking.
What you get when you book today
From Terrified And Lost, To Clear And Prepared.
One hour with John. Thirty years of knowledge. Available the moment you book.
- ✓One hour of focused, high-level insight with John Junk LL.M, used in blocks over 30 daysFrom £297
- ✓Direct access to someone who's spent thirty years inside family courts watching what works and what doesn'tIncluded
- ✓Case-specific preparation: which arguments matter, which documents to gather, how to present your caseIncluded
- ✓Framework for how to conduct yourself in your specific hearing, so nothing on the day catches you off guardIncluded
- ✓Option to book John to attend court with you: preparation, attendance, and debrief available through the booking formIncluded
- Sessions start at£297
Sessions start at
£297
Direct access to thirty years of McKenzie Friend practice
Limited availability • England, Wales and Northern Ireland only
The Guarantees.
Scope Guarantee
If your case isn't within scope (family court in England, Wales or Northern Ireland), you'll be told before the session and you won't be charged. No grey areas.
Clarity Guarantee
You leave with a clear preparation plan and direct answers to what you came with. If you don't, we continue until you do. Nothing gets deferred.
30-Day Guarantee
If after your first conversation with John you don't feel you're a good fit, you're free to cancel within 30 days. No questions asked.
Eight Reasons People Do Not Book. And What Each One Actually Costs.
John hears these eight objections regularly. They're all understandable. They all have answers. And some of them, left unaddressed, lead to outcomes that could've been different.
1. "I can't afford £297 right now."
The person who can't afford £297 right now is often the same person who will spend the next three months unclear on what the court is actually deciding and why. Then a year in proceedings that drag on because they didn't understand the framework. Then a result that could've gone differently with a different preparation plan. That pattern isn't unusual. It's the common one.
A junior solicitor who isn't yet qualified charges between £142 and £210 per hour plus VAT. A qualified partner bills from £250 to £400 or more, also plus VAT. A barrister instructed for a hearing day adds anywhere from £1,500 to £5,000 or more. In children's cases, a CAFCASS report costs nothing to produce but months to manage if you arrive at the hearing without understanding what the court will do with it. In financial proceedings, the difference between arguing fairness and answering the legal question the court is required to apply isn't £297. It's measured in the outcome you walk away with.
The question isn't whether you can afford £297. It's whether you can afford to walk into that building without knowing what you're doing.
2. "I don't have time for this right now."
The people who say they don't have time are, in John's experience, often the people spending that time on the wrong things. Reading the wrong forums. Arguing with the wrong people. Sending letters that will land badly because they don't know how the court will receive them.
One hour. In blocks across thirty days. Fifteen minutes this week. Twenty minutes next week. Five minutes when something urgent surfaces and you need to know whether it matters before you respond. That model exists precisely for people who don't have time. The person who keeps not having time is the person who arrives at the hearing still not knowing what the judge is actually deciding.
There's one practitioner and a finite number of sessions available each week. Waiting doesn't create more time. It reduces the window between now and the hearing date.
3. "My case is too complicated for one hour to make a difference."
The more complicated the case, the more it matters that you understand the framework. That isn't a sales line. It's how courts work.
A straightforward case involving children, where both parties are cooperative and the paperwork is in order, requires preparation. A case with allegations, counter-allegations, a CAFCASS report you can't parse, section 7 or section 37 concerns, and a contested hearing date already set: that requires the framework and someone who's seen the complicated version before.
John has thirty years of exactly this. He has been granted leave to address the Court of Appeal in two jurisdictions. He has worked at every level from magistrates upwards. Complicated cases aren't the exception. They're the background he comes from. The five-hour and ten-hour packages exist for cases that need sustained support across multiple hearings. If your case is genuinely outside scope, the scope guarantee applies: you're told before the session starts and you aren't charged.
4. "The other side has a solicitor. I'm already at a disadvantage."
In some respects the unrepresented party has an advantage the represented party doesn't. The judge knows you're unrepresented. Adjustments are made. A solicitor who pursues an unrepresented litigant too aggressively in the courtroom looks bad to the judge. A submission from an unrepresented party that's clearly organised, clearly addresses the legal question, and clearly demonstrates the person understands what the hearing is there to decide: that lands differently than a submission from someone who looks confused and unprepared.
John has watched solicitors on the other side miscalculate this. The assumption that the unrepresented party doesn't know what they're doing is sometimes the other side's most exploitable weakness. In the negotiation mentioned earlier on this page, the other side had a solicitor. The client had John. The liability the other side believed was over £14,000 came down to £2,500. An 82% reduction. Not by compromising. By understanding the case well enough to show them what they'd missed.
The question isn't whether they have a solicitor. It's whether you understand the case well enough to neutralise what they think their advantage is.
5. "I've already spent so much on solicitors. What difference does it make now?"
The money already paid to solicitors is gone. That isn't the question. The question is what happens at the next hearing and whether you're in a position to influence it differently than you were in the last one.
This isn't starting from scratch. You have the case history. You have the documents. You have context John can work with from the moment the session begins. What changes is the framework for what comes next: which arguments now matter, which don't, and how to present what you have in a way the court will receive. That conversation starts from where you are, not from the beginning.
One session at £297 costs less than the VAT on a single letter from most solicitors. If the proceedings haven't gone the way you needed, the preparation going into the next hearing is almost always the lever that changes it.
6. "What if it doesn't actually help?"
Three guarantees sit behind every booking. The scope guarantee: if your case isn't within scope, you're told before the session starts and you aren't charged. The clarity guarantee: you leave with a clear preparation plan and direct answers to what you came with, or the conversation continues until you do. The 30-day guarantee: if after your first conversation with John you don't feel it's the right fit, you can cancel within thirty days with no questions asked.
The professional man who'd paid over £50,000 to solicitors and found John after seeing him on the BBC walked in with months of confusion and walked out clear. Not because John replaced the solicitor. Because John gave him the framework. The preparation plan. The specific next steps. That's the consistent pattern from people who arrive stressed and unclear and leave knowing what they're doing and why.
The risk of it not helping is covered by the guarantees. The risk of not doing it's covered by the hearing date you already have in the diary.
7. "Will the court take me seriously without a solicitor?"
Eighty percent of private family law cases in England and Wales now have at least one unrepresented party. Thirty-nine percent have neither party represented. Courts deal with litigants in person every single day. A judge doesn't dismiss a case because the person in front of them doesn't have a solicitor.
What the court notices is whether you understand the framework, whether your submission answers the legal question the hearing is there to decide, and whether you present clearly and in an organised way. Those three things are what preparation changes. Not representation. Preparation.
The people who aren't taken seriously are the people who spend the hearing arguing about what their ex did wrong, or about fairness, or about what they deserve, when the judge has a specific legal test they're required to apply. In children's cases the welfare checklist is that test. In financial proceedings it's the section 25 factors. Go in answering the right question. That's what changes how the court receives you.
8. "Can I not find this information online for free?"
You can find the Children Act 1989 online. You can find the welfare checklist. You can find the financial remedy rules. You can find forum posts from people whose situations sound similar to yours and led to outcomes that may or may not have any bearing on what your court will decide.
What you can't find online is how the specific facts of your case interact with the welfare checklist as this court is likely to apply it to your specific hearing. You can't find how to structure a position statement that answers the legal question a judge in your type of case will be trying to decide. You can't find what a judge in your jurisdiction actually sees when they receive a position statement that misses the mark, and what the one that works looks like by comparison. John has read hundreds of them.
Generic information tells you what the law says. A session with John tells you what it means for your case, your documents, and your next steps. Those aren't the same thing. The people who arrive at court having read everything available online and still don't know what to say when the judge asks a direct question: that's the pattern Court Compass and a session with John exists to break.
Book My Call With John Junk.
Pick a time below. Calls start at £297. England, Wales and Northern Ireland only.
Pro tip
John's office is ten minutes from Belfast City Airport. If you want to keep costs down and meet in person, you can fly in, spend an hour or two with John face to face, and fly home the same day. Many clients from England and Wales do exactly this.
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The Hearing Is Coming.
The Question Is Whether You Are Ready For It.
The decisions made in the next few months will shape how much time you spend with your children, how your finances are divided, and what your life looks like for the next decade. There's one chance to get the preparation right.
Book your session with John now. The window between here and your hearing is the only window that matters. Emergency calls within 24 hours are available from the booking page.
Stop Losing. Book Now.Not legal representation. Information, preparation, and support. England, Wales and Northern Ireland only.
P.S. Sessions start at £297. You can use your hour in blocks: fifteen minutes now, twenty minutes next week, five minutes when something urgent comes up. You have thirty days. After that, unused time expires. A junior family law solicitor charges between £142 and £210 per hour for someone not yet qualified. You decide what thirty years of direct practice in those specific courts is worth by comparison.
P.P.S. Emergency calls within 24 hours are available from the booking page. If you have a hearing coming up, don't leave this until the week before. There's one practitioner here and a finite number of sessions in the week.
P.P.P.S. Not ready to book yet? Got a letter you don't understand? Use the TOTALLY FREE Legal Letter Translator. Describe what your letter says and get a plain-English explanation of what it means and what typically happens next. No cost. No obligation. It takes two minutes.
Sessions from £297 • England, Wales and Northern Ireland
References: Ministry of Justice Family Court Statistics Quarterly. Law Society of England and Wales. ONS Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings October 2025. HM Courts and Tribunals Service Solicitors Guideline Hourly Rates January 2026. Nuffield Foundation and Ulster University LiP Research Programme 2016 to 2023. Children Act 1989. Children (Northern Ireland) Order 1995. Practice Guidance McKenzie Friends Civil and Family Courts July 2010. Practice Note 3/2012 revised 7 June 2024 Lord Chief Justice of Northern Ireland.
Court Compass isn't a legal advice service. The information provided is for intelligence and educational purposes only. John Junk LL.M isn't a practising solicitor or barrister. England, Wales and Northern Ireland only.