Courts and Self-Service: How Much Do They Help?

Court Leader's Advantage

April 16th Court Leader’s Advantage Podcast Episode

It may have started with the advent of no-fault divorce in the 1970s. But the numbers of litigants representing themselves in court has regularly increased year after year. This fact has presented a challenge for the community and for courts. People pursuing legal matters in court and who have limited legal experience are at a decided disadvantage. They are at greater risk of ending up with an unfortunate (or maybe even a disastrous) outcome. Likewise, unschooled self-represented litigants in a courtroom can be time-consuming and lead to uncomfortable situations for litigants, judges, and court staff.

As a result, many courts around the country have created centers to assist self-represented litigants in pursuing their cases and appearing in court. The presence of court self-service centers is a mixed bag. Not all courts have them and the centers themselves can range from the very modest to the very extensive. This month we’re going to look at self-service centers. Some questions we are looking into include:

· What do the varieties of centers look like?

· Are the costs of running them worth the benefits?

· What are the criticisms of the centers and what is the response?

· What advice do our panelists have for courts considering starting a center and for courts that already have one?

Today’s Panel

Angela Polk, Supervisor of the Legal Resource Center for the Multnomah County Circuit Court in Portland, Oregon

Kristi Cox, Chief Deputy County Clerk for the 44th Circuit Court in Howell, Michigan

Salvador Reynoso Managing Attorney for the Self-Help Services Unit of the Superior Court in San Bernardino, California

Robby Southers Managing Attorney for the Self-Help and Dispute Resolution Center, Franklin County Municipal Court, Columbus, Ohio