Looking back

If you have been knocking around the wonderful world of employment tribunals for a little while, you will have accumulated a few completed cases. It is worth, from time to time, pulling out these files and reading through them. In particular, take a look at the written work you did.

This tends to be quite humbling. You will almost certainly feel that, six months or a year ago, you were terribly green and that now you’d do much better. As well as being quite good for your soul, this helps you identify areas where you can improve further. If your old letters read as unbearably pompous, then that is something to watch out for in the here and now. If you tended to waffle on without making a clear point then redouble your efforts to be clear. Think about how you’d approach the old case now, and you’ll probably get useful insights.

You’ll also probably spot some good work, which you can re-use.

While you’re at it, look at what your opponent did, particularly if they were a professional representative. While the case was going on you probably reacted to their submissions with a little bit of attitude. A sort of general feeling of ‘What tosh, and also pish’. Once the case is over, and you are less involved, you are more likely to be objective. A good opponent is one of the very best people to learn from.