A more fruitful exercise would be to study how we can
help unrepresented people make informed decisions whether a court proceeding is what they need to achieve what they want.
RE: «A more fruitful exercise would be to study how we can
help unrepresented people make informed decisions whether a court proceeding is what they need to achieve what they want.»
Not exact matches
Reflecting widespread concerns over detainees» access to legal
help, one judge spoke of the «shocking» rise in
unrepresented litigants in
person.
Sam Glover: I've heard that something like 75 to 85 % of family court litigants are
unrepresented so it would make sense that there's almost a crisis or maybe there is a crisis in family law where
people really need more
help and this seems like probably the only realistic way to get it to them.
Defendants are going to continue to be
unrepresented, and the question has to be how the profession can still
help people mount a good defense?
The majority of low and moderate income
people go without legal
help, and the nationwide number of
unrepresented litigants keeps rising.
It's hard to get buy - in from the government — Ontario is focused on how to
help unrepresented litigants in court as opposed to «what the hell kind of system do we have that we're sending
people to court that can't afford a lawyer,» Huddart says.
At present, the bulk of public services seem to me to be delivered at one of three points in
people's involvement with the law: general public legal information delivered through seminars, workshops and pamphlets to
people who are idly grazing for legal information or
helping a friend; narrowly - focused legal information, advice and representation delivered to individuals at the moment of crisis, often following separation, a threat to take the children or service of process; or, detailed, concrete legal information and advice delivered to individuals who are well engaged in a proceeding, usually
unrepresented by counsel, and are seeking details about specific issues, such as making or replying to an application, demanding or making disclosure or preparing for trial.
NJP also maintains WashingtonLawHelp, a public website containing an extensive library of legal resources, self -
help materials, including necessary court forms in areas of law needed most by low income
persons, the great majority of whom are forced to appear in court
unrepresented.
Both solutions will occur because the power of the news media and of the internet, interacting, will quickly make widely known these types of information, the cumulative effect of which will force governments and the courts to act: (1) the situations of the thousands of
people whose lives have been ruined because they could not obtain the
help of a lawyer; (2) the statistics as to the increasing percentages of litigants who are
unrepresented and clogging the courts, causing judges to provide more public warnings; (3) the large fees that some lawyers charge; (4) increasing numbers of
people being denied Legal Aid and court - appointed lawyers; (5) the many years that law societies have been unsuccessful in coping with this problem which continues to grow worse; (6)
people prosecuted for «the unauthorized practice of law» because they tried to
help others desperately in need of a lawyer whom they couldn't afford to hire; (7) that there is no truly effective advertising creating competition among law firms that could cause them to lower their fees; (8) that law societies are too comfortably protected by their monopoly over the provision of legal services, which is why they might block the expansion of the paralegal profession, and haven't effectively innovated with electronic technology and new infrastructure so as to be able to solve this problem; (9) that when members of the public access the law society website they don't see any reference to the problem that can assure them that something effective is being done and, (10) in order for the rule of law, the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, and the whole of Canada's constitution be able to operate effectively and command sufficient respect, the majority of the population must be able to obtain a lawyer at reasonable cost.
Things to consider: If buying and selling real estate, being the multifaceted situation that it is, finds itself sometimes even too complex for trained professionals in some situations, requiring the addition of other trained professionals such as lawyers, inspectors, insurance pro's, appraisers, land surveyors, tax specialists, financial planning and estate management
people or companies, divorce specialists, grief counsellors, expert witnesses, construction
people, builder issues, mortgage fraud professionals, banking backup
people, ex pat and non-resident specialists, immigration rules and regs, investment counsellors, to
help unravel oddities and eventualities, just imagine the Rubik's cube the journey represents to the average,
unrepresented buyer or seller, perhaps even ones in the midst of it while trying to digest a purchase or sale, going through a divorce or dealing with a grieving relative, due to a death in the family, even more especially where English is not that individual's first language.