Bibliography on Self-Representation

ABA Consortium on Legal Services, Legal Needs and Civil Justice: A Survey of Americans, AMERICAN BAR ASSOCIATION(1994).

Finding: 61% of moderate income respondents who had legal problems had no interaction with the nation's legal justice system.

ABA Standing Commitee on the Delivery of Legal Services, Responding to the Needs of the Self-Represented Divorce Litigant, AMERICAN BAR ASSOCIATION(1994).

In 1990, 52 percent of families obtained a divorce without any attorney, and in 88 percent of cases, at least one party was either self-represented or defaulted.

COMMISSION ON NONLAWYER PRACTICE, AMERICAN BAR ASSOCIATION, NONLAWYER ACTIVITY IN LAW-RELATED SITUATIONS, A REPORT WITH RECOMMENDATIONS (Aug. 1995).

Cox, Stephen & Dwyer, Mark, A Report on Self-Help Law: Its Many Perspectives, ABA Special Committee on Delivery of Legal Services, American Bar Association,(1987).

Hastings, Honey, It Takes Two...To Lower the Cost of Divorce, How Lawyer and Client Together Can Minimize Expenses, 17 Fall FAM. ADVOC. 14 (1994).

Mosten, Forrest S., Unbundling of Legal Services and the Family Lawyer, 38 FAM.L.Q.421, (No. 3, 1994)


For example, a lawyer might undertake "the following services on behalf of a client" (1) gathering facts, (2) advising the client, (3) discovering the facts of the opposing party, (4) researching the law, (5) drafting correspondence and documents, (6) negotiating and (7) representing the client in court." at 422-433.

Report of the Advisory Council on Family Legal Needs of Low Income Persons, Increasing Access to Justice for Maryland's Families (1992), describes pro se programs in fourteeen states. Summarizing these programs, Professor Jane Murphy of University of Baltimore School of law concludes that:

At one extreme are programs that provide very little structure or monitoring of pro se litigants: they provide sample forms and cursory explanations to any interested individuals. Other programs appear for more organized and formal. For example, Maryland's Legal AId Bureau's Pro Se Divorce Prject in Baltimore City carefull screens all potential clients to ensure that their divorces remain uncontested, requires all clients to attend instructional classes, and provides a paralegal who works thrugh the pleadings and attends the hearing. (at p. 140).

Seles, Bruce, Beck Connie, and Haan, Richard, Is Self-Representation a Reasonable Alternative to Attorney Representation in Divorce Cases? 37 ST. LOUIS U. L.J. 553 (1993)

Forty-five percent of the surveyed pro se litigants reported that they chose to represent themselves because the case was simple, not because they could not afford an attorney. Thirty-one percent of the pro se litigants represented themselves becauses they could not afford to retain counsel. (at p. 556). Almost half implied that they had the necessary funds to retain counsel. but chose not to do so.

Perkins, Leigh, "Unbundling" Your Services Make Some Clients Happy", LWUSA, (December 18, 1995).

Rhode, Deborah, Professionalism in Perspective: Alternative Approaches to Nonlawyer Practice, 22 NIU REV. L. Soc. Change 701 (1996 ( criticizing the Report of the Commission on Nonlawyer Practice because it makes few tangible recommendations, instead deferring to individual state regulatory decisions).

The Right Honorable Lord Woolf, Access to Justice: Interim Report to the Lord Chancellor on the Civil Justice System in England and Wales, §IV. ¶¶ 39 ann 40 (1995):

Not all litigants need assistance with every aspect of their case. Some may be able to underake much of the prepatory and paperwork themselves and need access to competent advice only at key points in the progress of their case. Initially this could be as to the validlity of their claim or defense and the way in which they should seek to prove it. This should then be followed up at key stages, particularly in assessing whether an offer from the other side should be accepted... "Unbundling" involves the "bundle" of work that has to be done on the case being taken apart and shared between the advisor and the litigant. In terms of paying clients there may be a need to work out new arrangements for professional negligence insurance but I am confident that this is something that can be done with the good will of the profession and the commitment of the professional bodies. This would offer a real way forward in making justice accessible and understandable to those on moderate incomes who are currently not eligible for legal aid.

Yegge, Robert, Divorced Litigants Without Lawyers, 28 Fam.L.Q. 407 (1994).

See also, Cases and Materials on Pro Se Litigation, for more detailed bibliography and analysis.