Mckenziefriend Omdömen 13

We approached Chris for legal support as a litigant in person when the mother took in a barrister (legal aid) we had filed a PSO, Specific Issues & enforcement order ourselves with good outcome already & just wanted some legal assistance on the day in court. We were assured he would attend the hearing. 3wks before he pulled out & said he would read over the position statement & advise. Complete con! I will be uploading some practical vudeos to YouTube to help dads myself once this is over but my advice is do it yourself as we have done. Its daunting but actually very straight forward if you look into what you need to do. Family lawyers are a joke & this guy, although cheaper is no better. Paid him an additional hour which wasnt used & rang with one hypothetical question & he demamded £320!! Have sent a formal complaint & will be reporting to Legal Ombudsman

I would advise everyone to stay clear of this untrained and unregulated scammer. Christopher James, also known as Christopher Coutanche is a convicted criminal, a Google search will highlight his criminal past for you. A very unpleasant, rude and obnoxious man asking for hundreds of pounds upfront. Makes various threats in an attempt to bully and intimidate. Chris will threaten you with CAFCASS, court proceedings etc if you ask for your money back. Intimidation & violence is his forte, historically earning him a custodial sentence. This man should not be aloud to do this work, I am making steps to have him stopped. In the meantime I can only warn other vulnerable parents to avoid this unregulated thug!

Absolutely vile human being! Christopher James Scammed my family out of £259 just before Christmas! We’ve had such an ordeal as it is with the family courts and dealing with deceitful people left right and centre! This man should be made accountable lawfully.
My bank has identified this person as a scammer and refunded my money I have also reported him to fraud online

I wish I had seen this feedback before using Chris, unfortunately I only saw the testimonials on his page! I just want to inform people the negative reviews below are in fact true, he is a con man and I’ve had a very similar experience as listed below. He does take advantage of people going through court proceedings which is highly unethical. When I suggested this to him he informed me he would report me to CAFCASS. Please do not waste your money on this fraudster.

Total scammer, and used scare tactics that caused much stress. I then saw the reviews on this person, and realised we had been duped.
Got an aggressive tone when asked questions, and when i stopped contacting them, they started pestering phonecalls.
We didn't actually need a mackenzie friend in court anyway, so could have paid a lot of money for nothing! His website needs removing!
This man, chris or james, or whoever you call yourself, has serious issues. Avoid!

I have been talking to 4 different people and all have been shockingly bad. One answered their first initial intro call with an abrupt “what do you want”. Another thought it was appropriate to give me advice whilst packing boxes for his house move. The others have totally wasted my time. Either being really difficult to work with by not answering queries clearly or giving wrong advice throughout, which has then cost me further money due to the Judge sending back documents. I have no idea how this organisation is allowed to exist and provide advice, let alone charge fees of around £90 per hour upwards. Please do avoid if you can.

Do not attempt to enquire or try to ask advice. This company is more expensive and more pressurising than a solicitor and negative and creat extra work not needed, they are not putting suppourt accordingly to people in need of help and guidance, they use this as a money making scheme.
The costs per hour for a chat are more than a £100hr but their starting fee is 3hrs no less and seek more money soon after your first payment. They put the fear of god in you with seeking advice. I declined straight away and got my answer to my very simple one question. I already have experience in court for child matters and divorce but only needed clarification on one single part of the form. Infact my intuition and my research for free on the court sight was my clarification at no cost.
If a company was really a Mackenzie friend then they would help for free on a charity based.

I am currently helping a friend with her applications and documents etc and they have been done correctly and I’m definitely not charging. I have also helped other people I know who needed guidance and support and no way would I charge them because it about the goodness of the heart to help those in need.
I have been through court so many times no fault of my own and since I’ve been through this knowledge has been a blessing. This is why they don’t give you a straight answer and be simple with how to go about it and get voices heard. The courts are not scary and are infact a great way to help matters according and if you email them with your case number they help guide you at times. They can only advise but even still the judge can even give advice at times. Do not try to attempt seeking this company, I had a lucky escape. I’ve blocked them after enquiring once.

Have full evidence to why this is an professional solicitor and my advice would be NOT to believe anything he says and 30 years experienced in my opinion he needs a refresher course as yes I'm an ex drug addict but I'm also 18 years experienced in safeguarding children and he tried to tell me I would loose my children when I rang to safeguarding them very professional when you call his bluff but yet he in his professionalism says he's reporting me to the authority. I am however opening a petition to have this company fully investigated and if anyone in the reviews would like to join please feel free as I will post the link up his site thank you very much. Would advise you an actual solicitor and not this fraudster who takes children as a money income from loving family's.

I am immensely grateful for Chris’s exceptional support and expertise throughout the process of gaining access to my daughter. I am now closer to seeing her than ever before, and this would not have been possible without Chris’s help.

From the very beginning, Chris has been nothing short of amazing. He guided me through the complex legal minefield with thoroughness and dedication, ensuring that every order and piece of paperwork was meticulously completed. His ability to listen to my concerns and provide realistic, yet positive, advice was truly invaluable. Chris not only helped me navigate the legal intricacies but also kept my spirits high and my expectations grounded.

Thanks to Chris, I felt confident and well-prepared every step of the way. I couldn’t have asked for a better legal advisor.

Regarding the negative comments, I must emphasise that they are obviously malicious and unfounded. These reviews are far from the experience I have had with Chris. His professionalism, dedication, and support have been exemplary, and I wholeheartedly recommend his services.

Chris seemed helpful at first. His responses soon became irrelevant and he generally couldn't remember anything about my case, we went round in circles. I paid upfront for 10 units of help & I used 2/10, and he suddenly claimed I'd used all 10 units. I asked for a partial refund saying I was seeking help elsewhere, to which he became threatening and said if I bother him again, he has contacts in the police and cafcass and he'll call them and jeopardise my case...

I never got my money back from Chris, I found an alternative McKenzie friend who was night and day better and helped me win my case. Chris made an already painful period even more stressful. I'm guilty of not researching Chris properly before hand - AVOID AVOID AVOID.

Great service from Chris, gave me all the advice and help I required and saved a small fortune in solicitor/barrister costs. Not quite the outcome I wanted but much better than I feared at first. Thank you

Chris gave zero information that was helpful during our brief interaction. Listened to my information, lied about the amount that he can help then requested payment before any help was given. This man has zero qualifications and a terrible understanding of the law. He poses as an online service for anonymity, this guy needs to stop pretending that he can help anyone. He has taken £259 to have me read sensitive information to him, repeat it back to me and make zero sense of the situation. No advice was given and upon being questioned he threatened me. Specifically telling me that he'd "be worried for the safety of my son".

Avoid at all costs.

Uses alias's of Chris; Chris James; Chris Coutanche be warned that there is ZERO return on money spent.

Roughly £800 for chris to basically come up with 5 useless questions to ask and spend one day in court. He refused to turn up for the second day even though he’d been paid roughly £200 for that day. He not only left me totally alone 30 minutes before I was due in court but proceeded to verbally abuse and laugh over the phone.
When I told him he was to refund the money for that day he refused, stating that I owed him another £225 for the day he didn’t turn up for and if I didn’t pay it he was taking me to court.
Chris spent a lot of time talking about himself and how he beat two cases that were brought against himself…..these cases are public knowledge and a simple google search will provide the details. He also told me how he’d taken another McKenzie friend to court, my previous Mckenzie, who by the way was actually really nice. Court and threats of court seem to be a common theme with Chris.

One of the most disturbing things was the fact that he told me to lie to the judge on 3 occasions, which I refused.

Bottom line is please don’t trust Mckenzie friends to help you in any way whatsoever, after a bit of research I found out literally anyone can call themselves a Mckenzie friend, charge you and go into court!
Please please please get a barrister….it’s the best way you’ll stand a chance of seeing your children.

I would like to add that today I’ve been contacted by Chris and threatened with court yet again, this time because of my review on here. As a result I’ve removed some details, even though there was absolutely nothing wrong with them. I implore everyone to do simply google Chris and you will see many many many honest reviews supplied by other individuals who’ve had similar dealings with Chris.