For tens of millions of Americans who cannot afford to hire a lawyers,
litigating pro se is their only option. There is an overriding
public interest in ensuring that these pro se litigants have full
access to the protections of our judicial system. And yet, pro
se litigants around the country have been struggling for years with
the lack of resources available to them. With the cost of legal
representation for a divorce costing anywhere from $5,000 to $15,000, an
increasing number of people are appearing pro se in family courts
nationwide. At a 1999 National Conference on Pro Se Litigation, almost all
(95%) of the participating courts reported an increase in the number of
pro se litigants there is no indication of a halt to this
increase in pro se litigation. The problem is particularly acute
in urban areas, especially in family courts. A recent study found that at
least one party was self-represented in nearly 90 percent of divorce cases
in Phoenix, Arizona and Washington, D.C.
With the growing number of pro se litigants in court seemingly
limited only by the total number of court cases, any steps to make courts
more user-friendly is highly welcome.
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