I am a lawyer, so naturally my mind doesn’t work like a normal person’s mind. I don’t know if I have always been that way or if law school created that situation.
If someone asks me a question that they think is “straightforward” and deserves a simple “yes” or “no”, my answer is often “it depends”. When I am given a fact or piece of information, I can often think of 10 or 15 questions without even trying.Despite my ability to go on and on, I am going to try to be simple, quick and straight to the point about this issue: If someone said to me, “I am going to represent myself in court? Quick, what should I look out for?” my answer would be one word- Procedure.
Sure, I could write several pages about being “pro se” (which just means representing yourself). And I am filled with legal knowledge, if I do say so myself. But the best piece of advice I could think of would be this: pay attention to procedure.
I am pretty sure that anyone who is representing himself or herself in court already knows facts about their situation, knows that they should do some research, and knows that just hoping it will go away is not a good plan. But where many people get “tripped up” is in ignoring legal procedure. Here’s why: There are different procedural rules depending on whether the case is state or federal, agency or courtroom, and which type of law. The procedures vary depending on the state, the county, the type of court, and even the individual judge!
Procedural rules determine things like what legal pleadings must include, how a party is served notice of a lawsuit, how long parties have to respond, how parties give notice to each other, how hearings/trial are scheduled, how “discovery’ is done and answered, whether parties must go to mediation or not, when appeal is permitted and how it is done, how money is collected when a judgment is won, and many, many more things.
My point here is this: if you are representing yourself it isn’t enough to just know what the suit is about and something about that type of law. You must also know about the procedure that applies to your case and how to follow those rules. A trip to the clerk’s office or a call to the staff in the court where your case is filed are good places to begin. Also, be sure to read every line of every paper that you receive from the court or the clerk’s office (or administrative office or agency) in your case!
Kalish Law Office, The Woodlands, Texas. “Passionate, Professional and Personal. We Make the Difference”. www.kalishlawtexas.com
