Work Group 2B – Assisting Self-Represented Litigants – Final Report

Work Group Charge - In a judicial system that is designed to function best when each party is represented, how do we assure access to justice for self-represented litigants in the administrative hearing process and throughout all levels of the Maine Court system?   

Work Group Participants Include:
Hon. Joseph Jabar, Chair; Robert Marden, Vice Chair; Angela Weston, Staff

Members – Maureen Barron, Kathleen Caldwell, Diane Kenty, Susan Lutton, Reginna Phillips, Lynn Randall, Helen Rousseau, Stacy Stitham, Allan Toubman, Patricia Weidler

Assisting Self-Represented Litigants at the Courthouse

Maine District Court is a very busy place.  Current court resources are stretched to the limit handling juvenile/adult criminal matters as well as cases involving property (including evictions and small claims), tort and family law which make up the court’s   civil docket.   Although rules of procedure and evidence presume that civil litigants will be guided by legal counsel, the fact is that many individuals are representing themselves in civil matters before the District Court.   Nowhere is this more apparent than in the area of family law.   Maine’s Administrative Office of the Courts has reported that in 75% of family matter cases, one or both parties were unrepresented by counsel, on average, over the period from 2003 through 2005. 

Many of these self-represented litigants are unfamiliar with court procedures and are unprepared for what they face at court. The ideal arrangement would be to have personnel at each court with sufficient time, training, resources and authorization to provide needed guidance to the self-represented litigant ( an ‘informational clerk’ of sorts). Work Group 2B recognizes that this goal may be difficult to achieve given the problems in meeting current court needs.

Despite this challenge, it is the recommendation of this Work Group that the most meaningful and effective way to assist the self-represented litigant in navigating through our District Courts is by the establishment of a state-wide system of courthouse assistance programs.  This recommendation envisions a court-based service to assist individuals in better understanding the legal/court-related issues and forms they face as well as identifying resources available to aid them in either resolving their issues or presenting them for resolution in court.

Twenty-four other states have recognized the importance of promoting a more user friendly and consumer oriented courthouse by providing basic information and other services to self-represented litigants.  Most of these projects are staffed and housed by the courts.  States as diverse as California, Minnesota and Alaska have launched successful programs that are viewed by both the public and court staff as making court more accessible and efficient. Program  staff provides neutral, non-confidential legal information and educational materials to all court users on a one-on-one basis (and, in some instances, in workshops and by video). Although these programs  do not provide legal advice or create attorney/client relationships,  they are authorized to dispense a wealth of useful information to the self-represented.

Courthouse assistance staff typically has access to a broad range of resources to assist self-represented litigants including:

·        Court forms and case file material.

·        Support Material – pamphlets, forms, and other educational material as well as video and PowerPoint resources which can introduce litigants to court procedure and key legal components.

·        Self-help Websites – effective tools in providing an extensive range of needed information as well as referrals to other available services.

·        Law Libraries – an invaluable educational resource to assist litigants in better understanding their legal issues. 

A number of courthouse assistance programs collaborate with volunteer attorneys or other civil legal service groups to provide such additional services as workshops and trainings (to introduce litigants to common court practices), initial assessments (to guide litigants in understanding which pleadings and forms to file), and for referrals to services outside the courtroom.  Several model programs work in conjunction with court-based attorneys who triage cases and provide either limited scope representation or refer litigants to pro bono attorney programs which accept cases not suited for self-representation.  Overall, courthouse assistance programs have been found to be highly effective at increasing litigants’ satisfaction, helping litigants prepare for court, and increasing the court’s ability to efficiently and effectively manage its caseload. 

Although a number of factors (geographical location, court volume, population diversity and space limitations to name a few) will present unique challenges at specific sites[1], the following have been identified as core features of a meaningful assistance program:

 ·        Dedicated space should be made available at court locations to allow staff to provide confidential assistance to individuals.  Resources should include telephone and computer/internet/fax availability; 

·        Assistance must be uniform, comprehensive and sustainable requiring paid staff sufficiently trained and provided with the necessary resources to assist self-represented litigants on a one-on-one basis regardless of financial need, language or disability.  Although a number of organizations, including Pine Tree Legal Assistance, several legal secretarial groups, and community action programs have provided legal assistance to pro se family law litigants at a number of  Maine courts, it is our court system which is best suited to oversee the operation of a state-wide assistance program envisioned by Work Group 2B.  Oversight by our courts would best ensure quality and uniformity in training and materials.  Court management would also provide the direct benefit of aiding the courts in understanding and responding to the ever changing needs of the self-represented litigant;[2]

·        Staff should be authorized to assist self-represented litigants in understanding court procedures and forms and referring litigants to appropriate community services and available legal service providers.  Clearly defined protocols, perhaps changes to our UPL Rules, will be required to enable staff to fulfill their role of assisting the self-represented litigant without improperly engaging in the unauthorized practice of law.

·        Initially, assistance should be limited to family law matters (including the related areas of protection from abuse and harassment) which appear to be the major area of need of the self-represented civil litigant.

·        Meaningful courthouse assistance should include the ability of staff to provide a self-represented litigant with the means for obtaining timely legal advice and, if necessary, legal representation in court.  An appropriate referral path should be secured to enable court-based staff to connect a self-represented litigant with an attorney able to provide needed legal advice.  It is the hope of Work Group 2B that existing civil legal services, such as the VLP Hotline, can serve this essential role. In addition, program staff might recruit and coordinate lawyers-of-the-day to provide unbundled services to pro se litigants at strategic times on high-volume court days. 

As for implementation, it is recommended that permanent legislative funding be sought to support this state-wide initiative.  In the interim, however, all possible sources (including grants as well as funding by the Maine Bar Foundation and the Maine Civil Legal Services Fund) should be explored to support the establishment of two model courthouse assistance programs in order to gain experience and insight under various conditions (one in a more urban south/central Maine location and another in a more rural northern setting).  After a reasonable period of operation (at least one year) during which time appropriate data is collected to measure program effectiveness, the merits of this initiative should be evaluated with the hope that favorable public support will result in legislative funding allowing for the expansion of courthouse assistance programs to other district courts throughout our State. 

In order for this initiative to be successful, it is recommended that JAG establish a permanent Self- Represented Litigant Task Force which shall be responsible for establishing, monitoring, and evaluating the two model programs, and working to expand this project statewide.

Dated:  April 30, 2007                                Respectfully submitted,

                                                                      Work Group 2B