Pro se in legal parlance in essence means unrepresented.  A pro se litigant is someone who goes to court but does not have an attorney.  There are many dangers and only one benefit to being a pro se litigant.  The only benefit of going to court without an attorney is that the pro se litigant can save you a great deal of money.  That’s it.  Every other exclusive aspect of pro se litigation is a huge danger.  Imagine that you know you have cancer, but refusing to pay the doctor you decide to operate on yourself and administer chemo-therapy to yourself on your own with no medical advice one way or the other.  Obviously, 99.9% of the possible outcomes of this situation will turn out bad for you. 

The same happens when you go to court without an attorney.  Just as doctors have been trained in medicine, biochemistry, surgery techniques, pharmacology, and the like, attorneys have been trained in a complicated set of rules, procedures, trial strategies, and legal research techniques.  Just as doctors have been trained to save your life, attorneys have been trained to save your rights.  Each object that needs saving is equally painful: not having a doctor can result in physical pain, not having an attorney can result in emotional and psychological pain.  This post tries to explain in greater detail your need for an attorney when you have a legal “sickness”.

Rules of Civil Procedure
Attorneys have been trained in the Rules of Civil Procedure.  In fact, 20% of the first year of law school is solely dedicated to the study of the Rules of Civil Procedure.  In addition, much of the third installment of the Legal Research and Writing class is devoted to the practical application of the Rules of Civil Procedure.  Furthermore, some students take courses that delve even deeper into the Rules of Civil Procedure.

These rules are complicated, and as a pro se litigant, you are not exempt from following them.  “I can find the Rules of Civil Procedure on the Internet,” say some.  True, but can you find all of the case law that has interpreted those rules?  Are you prepared to defend a 12(b)(6) motion to dismiss or a rule 56 motion for summary judgment?  What about a rule 19 motion to dismiss for failure to join a necessary party?  Are you sure you properly served the other party?  Are you sure you were properly served?  If not, your case may be dismissed.

I’ve seen it happen several times.  On one such occasion, an individual had filed for divorce on his own and showed up to Court for a default judgment.  He hadn’t properly served the other party, and had not waited a sufficient time to request a default hearing.  Because he failed to follow the Rules of Civil Procedure, his case was dismissed.  He had to start all over and pay all of the court fees again.

Rules of Evidence
Attorneys are trained in the Rules of Evidence.  Having a book containing the Rules of Evidence is not enough.  Good trial lawyers have them memorized and spend a great deal of time before a hearing or trial preparing each piece of evidence for admission based on a specific rule or exception.  Still think you can do it alone?  Do you know when to object on the grounds of hearsay?  Do you know what the exceptions to the hearsay rule are?  Do you think you are going to be able to have character evidence admitted?  In most situations it is inadmissible.  Do you have pictures that you need to admit?  Do you know how to admit them properly?  Do you know all of the grounds for an objection to a question or piece of evidence?

Mastery of the Rules of Evidence takes practice.  Evidence can only be presented a certain way, and if it is not properly presented, it will be deemed inadmissible.  Just because you are a pro se litigant does not exempt you from the proper use of the Rules of Evidence at and before trial.  I once watched a judge patiently sustain every objection an attorney made to the questions of a pro se litigant.  The judge did not consider any of the evidence that the pro selitigant wanted to admit.  Why?  Because she did not follow the Rules of Evidence.  She lost her case and because of a think called res judicata, she can never bring her case again.

Trial Practice Technique
There are techniques and strategies to every part of a trial and to the trial as a whole.  The overarching strategy influences the individual strategies and techniques used in the parts of a trial.  There is one strategy and technique for an opening statement.  There is a different strategy for the direct examination of friendly witnesses, and yet another strategy for the direct examination of unfriendly witnesses.  There is a special technique to a cross examination, and yet other techniques that may have to be used on a re-direct examination in the event that a witness says something wrong during cross-examination.

Attorneys spend a great deal of time studying these techniques both in law school and through Continuing Legal Education (CLE).  Even more time is spent fine tuning these techniques and strategies, and tailoring them to the specific situation at hand.  Hours of learned preparation are needed to properly prepare a trial strategy and to determine which examination techniques to use with which witnesses and when.  Poor trial strategy, technique, and preparation can severely lower a litigant’s chances of winning.

Protection of Rights and Interests
Ultimately, an attorney must always do everything possible to protect the rights and interests of his or her client.  This is learned in the bulk of law school – what we call substantive law.  In order to protect your Fourth Amendment Rights, you need to know what your Fourth Amendment rights are, how those rights are applied in a given situation, and the proper method of combating an attack on those rights in Court.  Or…you need to have an attorney who knows all of this to protect those rights for you.

I recently had a case where the opposing party filed an answer to a complaint by himself.  He admitted everything that I stated in my complaint and explained his position in the case.  If he had an attorney, the attorney would not have done that.  All that is needed in situations like this is a motion for summary judgment (one of those Rules of Civil Procedure).  If everything is admitted, there is no material issue of fact for a judge to hear.  The case is closed.  His interests were not protected, and by filing this pleading his legal rights, indeed his very freedom is in jeopardy.

Conclusion
Lawyers are often the brunt of a lot of jokes, and lawyers can cost a lot of money.  But lawyers are a necessary part of our society, if only to navigate litigants through the maze of rules of evidence, procedure, and substantive law.  At The Bryant Firm, my fees are lower than any other attorney in Northwest Arkansas so that people who may resort to pro se litigation have an affordable alternative that will assist in the litigant’s compliance with the Rules of Civil Procedure, application of the Rules of Evidence, use of good trial technique and strategy, and the protection of the litigants legal rights and interests.  Don’t go to court without an attorney.  Call The Bryant Firm at (479)286-1129 for a free consultation and affordable legal services!

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Posted in Affordable Legal Services by Joshua S. Bryant No Comments Yet