People Who Self-Represent-A Judicial View
| Author | Dean Christoffel |
| Pages | 6-7 |
6 FAMILY ADVOCATE www.shopaba.org
totally unsatisfactory decision to both parties and to
the court, as well.”
“Exactly,” I responded. “In my dream, the story
is revealed as the rst self-represented child custody
case. Each of the women presented her case as fully
as she could, and yet neither suciently to make a
dierence to Solomon, who had to decide between
the two. He resorted to tricking the women to
obtain the evidence he felt necessary to decide the
matter or else be forced to follow through on his
blu and kill the child.”
“If you put it that way, Judge, it sounds more
like a lucky result than a wise decision. How else
could Solomon have resolved it?”
“Perhaps, if either or both of the women had
someone to speak on their behalf, to marshal some
facts to convince Solomon, or to provide a good
reason for him to believe one woman over the other.”
“Like a lawyer?”
“Precisely. I see Solomon-like situations play out
day after day in my court. As a judge, I ask why
don’t they have someone to speak up for them? What caused
them to go on their own to handle such a very important
matter? Why do people not hire lawyers in every case today
and instead decide to represent themselves?”
“Well,” Kristy answered, “the biggest reason is that lawyers
are expensive. Not many people can aord to pay the retainer
and continuing legal fees. It is just not possible. Sometimes,
they can qualify for legal aid or some other free legal service,
but often there is a conict because the other party may have
already obtained those services. ere is also a growing group
of people who don’t qualify nancially but still don’t have
enough money to pay lawyers because of other nancial
obligations like student loans, medical expenses, or credit
card debt. And others don’t hire lawyers because they just
think lawyers will increase the conict, rather than help.”
“What are the alternatives besides full-time lawyers on
one hand and self-representation on the other?” I asked.
“ere is a middle road—unbundled services—legal
services structured like a menu oered at a at rate so the
client is able to access legal assistance required without facing
thousands of dollars of upfront fees and uncertainty about
the total cost. Unbundled services remove the all-or-nothing
approach identied with hiring a lawyer and replaces it with
a more aordable alternative by providing services a person
absolutely needs but can still aord. Although this is not a
new approach, it is still not available in every state. Many
self-represented parties do not even know it is an option.
“Other options to traditional lawyer representation,” she
continued, “depend on one’s state and even county. Every
state has resources available on a website, but keep in mind
this is just a starting point. e law library sta and court
sta are also a great resource. ey cannot give legal advice
but can oer guidance about which forms to use and
Sitting in my oce listening to the cars rushing
by as the changing light outside reminds me that
it is time to head home. Although I should pack
up and call it a day, I can’t seem to shake the last
hearing. It was about parenting time. Both
parents wanted more, but neither of them hired
lawyers, so it was left to me to make a Solomon-like decision
with a lack of good evidence or statute-based testimony.
Solomon—I swear I had the strangest dream about the
wisdom of Solomon. My ringing phone disturbed this train
of thought, and somewhat distractedly, I answered.
“I’m glad I was able to catch you.” It was a young lawyer,
Kristy, I was working with on a training panel. “I was hoping
to discuss some speaking points for an upcoming training
regarding pro se litigants.”
“You mean self-represented parties,” I interrupted. “Funny
you should ask; I was just thinking about a dream I had the
other night about King Solomon and the two mothers. You,
no doubt, know this story. Two women are disputing who is
the mother of a baby each claims to be hers. After listening
to them, Solomon proposes cutting the baby into two and
giving each mother a half. One of the women says, “OK,
that way neither of us will get the child.” e other says,
“Hold it, she can have the child—let the child live.” Solo-
mon says to the second woman, “Because you are willing to
give up the child so the child may live, you are the mother.”
“Yes, Judge, I have heard it many times. Usually when the
person saying it is being ironic. ‘I can’t decide so, in my
Solomon-like wisdom, I’ll just cut the baby in half’—regard-
less of the consequences to the parties. It usually means a
People Who Self-Represent
A J R
By DEAN CHRISTOFFEL
Published in Family Advocate, Volume 43, Number 1, Summer 2020. © 2020 by the American Bar Association. Reproduced with permission. All rights reserved. This information or any portion thereof
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