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Bellying up to the Bar

Do-it-yourself defense is increasingly common in courtrooms.

There's an old courthouse proverb almost every attorney knows: "He who represents himself has a fool for a lawyer and a fool for a client."

That adage may be as true as it is self-serving. Nevertheless, a growing number of Americans seeking justice are ignoring it. Courts in every state these days report seeing more and more people defending themselves without a lawyer, especially in divorce, child support and other domestic cases. Although national statistics are elusive, it's typical nowadays for more than half of all litigants in family courts to represent themselves. In Arizona, only one out of 10 family cases involves lawyers on both sides.

Why are Americans going it alone in court? Distrust of lawyers and the high hourly fees they charge are only part of the explanation. Reforms such as no-fault divorces have made some types of cases easier for laymen to handle. There's also the grim reality that more people are getting divorced for a second or third time--so they already know the ropes.

Most significant, however, is the nation's growing do-it-yourself culture. "We are in a self-help society," says Margaret Marshall, chief justice of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court. "With the Internet, it's increasingly possible for people to access information hithertofore available only to professionals. You see it in medicine, home design, accounting and travel. The legal profession is no different."

For state and local courts, handling the boom in lawyerless litigants is an enormous challenge. The right to defend oneself is enshrined in the Constitution. Yet do-it-yourselfers are clogging up court dockets. They require loads of extra attention navigating the legal system, putting both clerks and judges in an awkward position. How much help can they give without sacraficing their neutrality?

Maricopa County, Arizona, took an approach that dozens of other court systems have since followed. Seven years ago, the county set up "self- help" centers at three courthouses where people can pick up all the information they need to handle their own cases. Forms were translated from legalese into simple English. Staff are on hand to answer procedural questions, but they are careful not to talk legal strategy. If litigants sense they are in over their heads, they are referred to a roster of lawyers. "If people are willing to take the time to sort through the information we've got, then there's a chance conscientious people can do it on their own," says trial court administrator Gordon Griller.

Some new experiments involve technology. Many courts are creating virtual self-help centers on the Internet. Waukesha County, Wisconsin, rolled out a new Web site in February with legal forms and instructions for filing a case. The site, courtselfhelp.waukeshacounty.gov, processed more than 6,000 "visits" in six months. In Orange County, California, the local legal aid society developed computer kiosks for the courthouse. The machines, known as I-CAN, prompt litigants with questions about their cases and automatically print out properly formatted court filings.

Decidedly low-tech approaches are working as well. Fresno County, California, has the "lawmobile," a self-help center on wheels that drives out to churches, senior centers and other locations. Some courts, often in collaboration with legal aid societies, are offering self-representation classes taught by volunteer lawyers. And for divorce cases, Kane County, Illinois, has given do-it-yourselfers a court of their own. Every Wednesday night, a judge presides over lawyer-free divorce court.

These efforts are helping to level the playing field somewhat. They're also helping the courts move the cases along faster. The only grumbles, not surprisingly, are from attorneys concerned that they're losing business. Bonnie Hough, who supervises a self-help Web site for California's administrative office of the courts, doesn't think the lawyers have anything to worry about. "I think we're tapping into a totally different market," Hough says. "One thing you can do with a court program is say, 'Look, I have no financial interest in your case. But you really need a lawyer.'"

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