Why Do People Represent Themselves?
Indeed… in a country with more lawyers per capital than any other country in the world…
In a country where “sue the bastards” has become a veritable mantra…
In a country where ads for legal services abound and the phrase:
In a country where “If ‘XYZ’ happened, you could be entitled to compensation” is as familiar as the pledge of allegiance
The question – Why would anyone represent themselves in court is a viable, cogent and relevant question!!
So let’s look at it.
Some of the reasons may be obvious, but some could surprise you.
The obvious answer is of course the most common reason.
Cost
Wit hourly rates in the hundreds of dollars, the cost of hiring a lawyer can often make it prohibitive. Legal fees for litigating a dispute from start to finish can range between fifty and a hundred thousand dollars. Or more. That’s just not an option for may people.
So reason # 1 is cost.
But that’s not the only reason.
This may come as a surprise but sometimes it’s very difficult to find an attorney to handle a specific kind of case. Lawyers tend to focus in specific legal areas. Sure, there are plenty of personal injury lawyers around. And there are plenty of big firm lawyers that represent large companies. There are boutique firms that focus on things like entertainment law, or intellectual property law, but the run of the mill kinds of cases that the average person may confront? Not so much. Definitely surprising given the throngs of lawyers populating the country, but it is really more common than you would think for people not to be able to find a lawyer to handle a specific kind of dispute.
Last but not necessarily least we have people that have had lawyers, either in an ongoing dispute, or in a prior matter, that are just fed up with incompetent and irresponsible lawyers. It may sound strange, but it happens more often than you would expect. Lawyers often take on more cases than they should. Telephone calls are not answered or returned. Emails go unanswered. Clients are left in the dark and become frustrated and angry. It is not a huge jump to come to the conclusion that as long as they can get a little help along the way, they might just be better off on their own.
Regardless of the reason, we do know that the number of people representing themselves in court has sharply increased in recent years. And with that increase have come resources to help self-represented (pro se) litigants. Of course we started Be Your Own Lawyer specifically to help people in court without a lawyer. Many court websites now have section just for people appearing without a lawyer. With the internet, everyone has access to legal research tools that in years past were available exclusively to lawyers and courts.
So if you’re faced with a dispute that may end up in court, and if you’re face with the prospect of representing yourself, don’t be intimidated. You’re not alone and there are a lot of ways to get help.