Kieron Wood has advice for a lay litigant on the way to court - know all the facts, clearly, concisely and at your fingertips; know the law and do not fall into procedural traps such as the Statute of Limitations.
Wood was RTE's legal correspondent in the Four Courts from 1990 to 1995, and is now a barrister.
He knows a lot about the legal system, how to approach it and how to survive it, and last week his book, The High Court: a User's Guide was launched in the Law Library by Justice Ricky Johnson who warned that it could make the lives of solicitors and barristers pure hell. He looked with absolute terror at the prospect of every potential litigant having it beside his bed and reading it. The last thing he wanted to see, he said, was anyone approaching him with books.
Wood's book, Justice Johnson said, described the rules. But we in Ireland had a culture quite different from others. In New Zealand he had found one where people believed rules and regulations were produced to enable society to function, whereas here it was believed they existed as a restriction on civil liberty. The Dail passed laws, but, he asked, did it want them enforced? The judge pulled no punches - rules allowed the system to function and the law and its practitioners must stand up to those who were deliberately and consistently attempting to break them. "Those people who live within the rules must be protected from those who live outside the rules."