Programs for Self-Represented Litigants

Five Things to Know: 

1. Self-represented litigants in California have free legal resources available to them. 

2. The Judicial Council’s Self-Help Guide gets over 7 million visitors each year and is also available in Spanish. Language resources, including instructions on how to request an interpreter, are available in nine other languages. 

3. The Self-Help Guide has information and instructional guides for cases dealing with all civil matters, including traffic, housing, family, small claims, and restraining orders. 

4. Self-help centers are available at courthouses throughout California and are staffed by attorneys who can provide information and education (not legal advice). 

5. Court-based self-help centers serve as free resources to all regardless of income. 

California’s courts are seeing an ever-increasing number of litigants who go to court without legal counsel, largely because they cannot afford representation. Self-represented litigants typically are unfamiliar with court procedures and forms, as well as with their rights and obligations, which leaves them disadvantaged in court and may require the courts to expend significant resources. Accordingly, the Judicial Council has made access to the courts for self-represented litigants one of its top priorities. 

Web Resources 

The Judicial Council provides the California Courts Self-Help Guide, a comprehensive online resource for people who do not have an attorney and for anyone seeking to better understand the law and court procedures. The website, selfhelp.courts.ca.gov, is designed to help users navigate the court system and develop realistic expectations about legal processes. 

The site offers more than 4,000 pages of information on topics such as family law, landlord-tenant issues, small claims, guardianships, conservatorships, domestic violence, elder abuse, and many other areas. 

It includes step-by-step guides for completing court forms, which users can fill out online for free and file with the court. The site also connects users with legal aid agencies, court-based self-help centers, and other community resources, such as domestic violence support services. 

The Self-Help Guide receives more than 7 million visits each year. The entire site is also available in Spanish. 

Self-Help Centers 

California Rules of Court, rule 10.960, provides that attorney-supervised, court-based self-help centers are a core function of the California courts. Self-help centers are located in or near the courthouse and are staffed by attorneys and other qualified personnel under their direction to provide information and education to self-represented litigants about the justice process and to work with the court to provide effective management of cases involving self-represented litigants.