Legal Guide: Representing Yourself in Court

What is a pro se litigant? This is a term used for individuals that have decided against hiring a lawyer in an effort to represent themselves in court. Representing yourself in court can be beneficial if you learn some tips before attempting it.

There are many reasons that a person chooses to represent themselves in court. But, is it always a good idea? This article explores the "whys" and "hows" of self representation so that the pro se litigant can go into court fully prepared and ready to present their point before the court.

Why Choose to Represent Yourself in Court?

There are two main reasons a person choose this path of self representation. The top reason is cost. In addition to a retainer fee of usually around $1500 or more, lawyers charge on average $250 per hour or higher. Most people, especially during down economical periods, can not afford it. Typically they look for cheap or free solutions to their legal problems. Free resources include the court facilitator, also known as self help center, or other organizations which tend to treat people poorly and do not offer much information. Low cost legal services include hiring legal document assistants which are basically paralegals for the public. They can do everything a lawyer can do for a client except for representing them in court and giving legal advice.

Another reason you may be representing yourself in court is because of bad past experiences with lawyers. Let's face it, when you get burned by deal making lawyers that do not have your best interests at heart it tends to turn you off to paying for that type of abuse in the future. People do learn from their mistakes and if lawyers have repeatedly refused to stand up for your needs and desires then chances are, you'll think twice before hiring another one.

When Representing Yourself is NOT a Good Idea

In most cases you can represent yourself in court. But, there are times when it would not be in your best interest, such as: criminal cases and injury cases. Criminal and injury law are complex and need an attorney specializing in those areas for best results. One should only attempt to represent themselves if they are educated in the various aspects of the law and have substantial knowledge as to the process including what legal forms are to be used for the specific case that they have.

How to Increase your Chances of Winning

Regardless of the reason behind this choice, one thing is clear: education is the key to winning in court. Due to the fact that you do not have a lawyer telling you what you "should" do, you have to make those decisions on your own. The good news is that the internet provides free resources to learning about your legal rights and options.

Performing a quick search is simple and can make a world of difference. For example: If you are recently divorced and you are not happy with your current child custody plan, you could run a keyword search such as "changing child custody order" and you would find out pretty quick that you are looking for child custody "modification". Then, you could fill out the forms and file them. But you would have to careful and be sure that you fill them out properly because if you don't know how to prepare legal forms you can end up doing harm to your case and changing it for the worse. However, if you find a legal document assistant, you would simply send an email, provide the essential information (names, addresses, situation, location, etc.) and tell them to prepare a modification form.