Sentences with phrase «representing litigants»

Throughout her studies Matina has undertaken pro bono work including representing litigants in person at Willesden County Court and West London Family Court in private children law proceedings.

This is what is done to self representing litigants, they go through this type of unethical system of law.

But the SRL is not a problem; self - representing litigants are rather a symptom of a complex bundle of problems in the design and functioning of our legal... [more]

The video guide is broken up into steps with PowerPoint slideshow presentation addressing key issues self - representing litigants tend to face.

The National Self - Representing Litigants Project is a group dedicated to advocating and assisting those representing themselves in legal matters.

The Toronto Star looks at innovations to help self - representing litigants get a fair hearing.

The large, and reportedly increasing, number of self representing litigants crowding the courts is the issue that currently dominates both public and professional discourse.

This article was written by the Self - Represented Litigants Project at the Texas Legal Services Center.

And finally, it creates a «safe space» for the self - representing litigant to inform themselves on process and ask questions about what is expected of them in a contested hearing.

By placing the responsibility upon the case management judge for explaining the process and otherwise advising the self - represented litigant on what to expect, the hearing judge will be supported in balancing ``... the sometimes competing imperatives of helping a litigant who is in need of assistance while maintaining impartiality.»

The irony of course is that self represented litigants, many of whom can not afford lawyers, are frequently the ones who are slowest to progress through their case.

The notice sets out that contested motions and applications involving at least one self - representing litigant must be set for a case management conference before a contested hearing takes place.

Self - represented litigants are a challenging reality in today's legal landscape.

That is why self - represented litigants are willing to risk: (a) the high probability of losing; (b) having to pay court costs; (3) bankruptcy as a consequence; and, (4) family break - up as a result of those kinds of financial distress.

National Self - Represented Litigants Project Blog 2.

In addition to ensuring that the matter is ready to proceed to a contested hearing, the case management judge is specifically tasked ``... to explain the process and to otherwise advise the self - represented litigant what may be expected.»

In the context of the growing number of self - represented litigants, the role of all of the professional volunteers in the MIP initiative has proven invaluable.

I am a self - represented litigant who agrees there could be a better term for this status, but having also some background in organizational analysis, find a lot more here that I disagree with in both the article and the comments.

Law students will now have the opportunity for clinical experience in family law, and see for themselves the challenges faced by self - represented litigants.

I have what is now a fairly long record (for a self - represented litigant) of litigation that began in the labour law arena and proceeded further into the larger administrative law arena.

As you work to resolve a matter, you may find yourself negotiating directly with a self - represented litigant.

Manitoba Courts has just recently posted a number of videos to assist self - represented litigants (SRLs) and other justice system participants on its website.

Enter the Self - Represented Litigants Project (Dr. Julie Macfarlane, «The National Self - Represented Litigants Project: Identifying and Meeting the Needs of Self - Represented Litigants ``, May 2013) Dr. Macfarlane's insightful Report has a premise that is as ground - breaking as it is simple — if we want to know what SRLs want and need, we should ask them.»

The National Self - Represented Litigants Project: Identifying and Meeting the Needs of Self - Represented Litigants

Professor Blankley starts with a very helpful analysis of the challenge of the self - represented litigant (the «pro se problem») and concludes, as we have in Canada, that «many people who want representation simply do not have access to attorney services.»

Similar to ENE programs in Minnesota, we recommend that a pilot ENE program in Alberta be open to self - represented litigants, although we recognize that self - represented litigants may require additional supports, including additional information about the nature of the program, its relationship to the court system and the consequences of settlement.

What Self — Represented Litigants (Actually) Want by Sarah Burton, a lawyer with the Alberta Civil Liberties Research Centre in Calgary: «Countless reports, working groups, and studies have asked this question, and reached diverse and creative conclusions.

This earlier report concludes that self - represented litigants tend to take unreasonable positions in family law disputes which ultimately reduce the likelihood that these disputes will resolve without a trial.

As an example, the National Self - Represented Litigants Project findings document how important it is to SRL's to be treated with dignity and respect and to be cared for as individuals, not as case numbers.

Add the increasing budget cutting pressure in governments, query if low - end / high - volume litigation (e.g. small claims, landlord / tenant disputes) would be better served by allowing self - represented litigants to remotely appear in court using their own computer and camera?

While adding another step in the process may in some cases increase costs, if used effectively, these conferences may result in fewer requests for adjournment, more efficient contested hearings and more effective advocacy on the part of the self - representing litigant.

The rationale for the change in practice is stated as being «To reflect the obligation of a judge to ensure that a self - represented litigant has the opportunity to meaningfully participate in the hearing and has a reasonable opportunity to present his or her case to the best of his or her ability.»

P.P.S. I also believe that a properly designed dispute resolution system would not greatly impact lawyer incomes because significantly reducing the time and therefore the cost of resolving disputes would make that process affordable for those court - clogging hordes of self - represented litigants and many other justice seekers besides.

... Litigants, and particularly self - represented litigants, are not, as they are too often seen, an inconvenience; they are why the system exists.

Will self - represented litigants be able to continue to compete in court as persuasion goes more high tech?

Although it is not required by the Rules of Professional Conduct, it is prudent to urge the self - represented litigant to obtain independent legal advice as indicated in the above letter.

When cases involving self - represented litigants do reach trial, they tend to require more adjournments and take longer to resolve as a result of self - represented litigants» unfamiliarity with the rules of court, the rules of evidence and the law that applies to their cases, and the results self - represented litigants achieve tend to be worse than the results they would have achieved had they had counsel.

They are sufficiently numerous that the websites of our Courts of Appeal have special webpages for self - represented litigants.

But most of the self - represented litigants (SRL's) have cases that can not be mediated, such as fighting for the custody of a child, or saving a family business that is the financial foundation of one's family.

Much of the research and writing on access to justice issues in the last five years, including that of the Canadian Bar Association and Julie Macfarlane's National Self - Represented Litigants Project, has discussed unbundling as a potential, albeit partial, remedy.

Julie Macfarlane, a law professor at the University of Windsor and director of the National Self - Represented Litigants Project, says Ontarians are lining up to use paralegals in family law.

The trial also included a large number of self - represented litigants.

The research report pairs nicely with the conclusions reached in the Institute's 2014 report, Self - Represented Litigants in Family Law Disputes: Contrasting the Views of Alberta Family Law Lawyers and Judges of the Alberta Court of Queen's Bench.

SRL's becoming permanent: Is it the intention of those law firms having clients who can still afford legal advice services, that such self - help programs and revised court procedures to help self - represented litigants (SRL's) become permanent features of our courts?

Research on self - represented litigants does not appear to be a priority elsewhere across the country.

Julie Macfarlane at Windsor Law has done excellent work with her National Self - Represented Litigants Project.

What would help A2J is proper funding of the legal aid system, simplification of court procedures, assistance to self represented litigants among many other things.

The incidence of self - represented litigants has risen in lock - step with the rise in the number of barristers per capita (thanks to law schools no longer failing anyone and bloating up in size).

You are a «self - represented litigant» if you are involved in a court proceeding and are not represented by a lawyer.

See also: (1) «Access to Justice: A Critique of the Federation of Law Societies of Canada's Inventory of Access to Legal Services Initiatives of the Law Societies of Canada» (pdf; posted on the SSRN on, May 21, 2014); and, (2) «Self - Represented Litigants» Tax Money Provides More Funding for Legal Aid Ontario,» (posted on Slaw, on July 31, 2015).