Self-Representation

Jona Goldschmidt

doi:10.5771/9781793616654

Summary

Self-representation has a long, venerable history dating to biblical times and continuing through the common law, the colonial era, to the present. This book collects and analyzes the law, ethics opinions, and empirical studies about the wide range of issues surrounding Self-represented litigants (SRLs) in our justice system, including how much, if any, assistance should a judge provide, what duties do lawyers interacting with SRLs, and many others. Using recent empirical studies from both Civil litigation and criminal defense, Jona Goldschmidt argues that SRLs’ cases cannot be fairly heard without a mandatory judicial duty of reasonable assistance. In order to maintain public trust and confidence in our justice system, self-represented parties must be guided and assisted. Courts and the legal profession should continue to adapt and meet the challenge of managing and interacting with those who choose or are compelled to self-represent. Only when self-represented litigants are embraced by the courts, they will finally receive “equal justice under law.” This book would be of interest to those studying criminal justice and legal studies, specifically legal history and legal ethics, as well as judges, lawyers and other professionals in the field.

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Bibliographic data

Copyright year: 2022
ISBN-Print: 978-1-7936-1664-7
ISBN-Online: 978-1-7936-1665-4
Publisher: Lexington, Lanham
Language: English
Pages: 448
Product type: Book Titles

1. Contents No access
2. 1. Notes No access
1. Notes No access
1. Disparagement of Self-Representation No access
2. Reasons for Self-Representation No access
3. Number of Self-Represented Litigants: The Counting Challenge No access
4. Challenges Self-Represented Litigants Pose for Courts No access
5. Notes No access
1. Ancient Law No access
2. Canon Law No access
3. Common Law No access
4. Colonial Era No access
5. The United States No access
6. Commonwealth Countries No access
7. International Law No access
8. Notes No access
1. Mixed Messages Regarding SRL Management No access
2. Conservative and Liberal Approaches to Judicial Assistance No access
3. Lack of Judicial Guidance No access
4. Factors Affecting Judicial Assistance Decisions No access
5. Categorizing Judicial Assistance No access
6. Unresolved Judicial Assistance Issues No access
7. Personal Experiences No access
8. Notes No access
1. Reasonable Accommodations No access
2. Mistreatment of, and Bias against, Self-Represented Litigants No access
3. Disqualification No access
4. Notes No access
1. Access-to-Justice Obligations No access
2. Interactions between Lawyers and Self-Represented Litigants No access
3. Self-Represented Lawyers No access
4. Limited-Scope Representation No access
5. Ghostwriting No access
6. Standby Counsel No access
7. Notes No access
1. Appointment of Counsel No access
2. Dispositive Motions No access
3. Requests for Admissions No access
4. Strategies for Litigation with a Self-Represented Litigant No access
5. Self-Represented Litigants Representing Others No access
6. Self-Represented Litigants’ Requests for Attorneys’ Fees No access
7. Sanctioning Self-Represented Litigants for Frivolous Filings or Vexatious Conduct No access
8. Notes No access
1. Right to Assistance of Counsel No access
2. Waiver of Counsel No access
3. Competence to Self-Represent No access
4. Self-Represented Defendants with Mental Illness No access
5. Judicial Duty to Raise Constitutional Issues No access
6. Standby Counsel No access
7. Hybrid Representation No access
8. Capital Case Issues No access
9. SRD Refusal to Present Mitigating Evidence No access
10. Appeals No access
11. Notes No access
1. Self-Represented Litigants’ Experiences No access
2. Bias against Self-Represented Litigants No access
3. Effect of Representation on Case Outcome No access
4. Multiple-Service Programs No access
5. Self-Help Materials No access
6. Mediation No access
7. Lawyers’ Perception of Judicial Assistance No access
8. Future Research No access
9. Notes No access
1. Notes No access
Acknowledgments No access Pages 351 - 352
1. A. Court Statistics Project Data1 No access
2. B. Additional Self-Represented Litigant Case Data No access
3. Notes No access
1. A. Required Assistance1 No access
2. B. Permissible Assistance No access
3. C. Impermissible Assistance No access
4. D. Adverse Rulings against SRLs Affirmed on Appeal No access
5. Notes No access
Appendix III No access Pages 377 - 382
1. General No access
2. A Courteous Courtroom No access
3. Pleadings No access
4. Settlement No access
5. Pre-Hearing No access
6. Hearing No access
7. The Decision No access
8. Note No access
1. General Recommendations No access
2. Pretrial No access
3. Trial No access
4. Note No access
1. Literature No access
2. Case Law No access
3. Statutes, Rules, and Other Authorities No access
Credits No access Pages 431 - 432
Index No access Pages 433 - 446
About the Author No access Pages 447 - 448