High costs and debt burdens see a growing number of people ditch the legal experts and fight their own case, finds Mick Clifford.

Occasionally, a lay litigant takes on the system and actually wins. One such case was completed in the Supreme Court last month, involving a farmer from west Cork.

Like a posh hotel, the civil courts are open to everyone, but only the wealthy can afford to go   there. Michael Clifford highlights some recent cases that show the prohibitive cost of justice