A seat at the table

Tribunal hearing rooms are laid out with a long desk on a slightly raised platform for the tribunal, and facing that, a table for the witness and a table each for claimant and respondent; and behind the tables, probably a row or two of chairs for members of the public, witnesses waiting their turn, the Press and so on. The parties’ tables will be occupied by the parties and/or their lawyers.

That is straightforward when there is one claimant and one respondent. Things get a little more complicated – not to say crowded – where there are several claimants, especially if some are represented and some are not. If you are representing yourself, and one of the other claimants is represented by lawyers, don’t let the lawyers hog the claimants’ table. As a party representing yourself, you just as much entitled to the convenience of a table to sit at and spread your papers out on as the lawyers representing one of your colleagues. If you sit there, it will also help keep the tribunal aware of the fact that the lawyer isn’t representing all the claimants, and you may have questions to ask or submissions to make.