shlep: the Self-Help Law ExPress

   We’ve frequently stressed the important (and often difficult) role that judges have in the process of assuring fair access to justice for the self-represented litigant (e.g., here and there).  Attempting to help the pro se party [called pro pers in some western states] understand law and procedure and effectively present their case, while maintaining neutrality toward all parties to a suit, takes agility and skill, and an appropriate temperament. (see our post earlier this week on Ghostwriting in NJ)  Judges in the California court system were given a great tool for understanding and fulfilling this role with the publication of a 245-page guide called “Handling Cases Involving Self-Represented Litigants: A Benchguide for Judicial Officers.” (CA Administrative Office of the Courts, Center for Families, Children and the Courts, January 2007) (via SelfHelpSupport.org, where members can access the document)

This benchguide covers the following topics, in addition to providing sample scripts to use in many situations:

1. Self-represented litigants: Who are they and what do they face when they come to court? [note: 450,000 people use self-help resources annually in California]
2. Expanding access to the court without compromising neutrality
3. California law applicable to a judge’s ethical duties in dealing with SRLs
4. Solutions for evidentiary Challenges
5. Caseflow management
6. Courtroom and hearing management   
7. Settling cases
8. Special due process considerations
9. Communication tools
10. Avoiding unintended bias
11. Addressing litigant mental health issues in the courtroom
12. Judicial leadership in access to justice

For a document with similar goals, check out How Can Judges Communicate Effectively With Self-Represented Litigants? (compiled by the American Judicature Society, 64 pp. pdf).  Further helpful resources that we have discussed here at shlep include:

• Jona Goldschmidt‘s “Judicial Assistance to Self-Represented Parties: Lessons from the Canadian Experience“ (2006, 44-pp, pdf.).  
• Statement of Principles on Self Represented Litigants and Accused Persons (Canadian Judicial Council, 2006, 12 pp. pdf),
• the Supreme Court of Queensland’s Equal Treatment Benchbook,
• The Judicial Guidelines for Civil Hearings Involving Self-Represented Litigants, approved by the Justices of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court in April, 2006.