Self-represented litigants (“SRLs”) make up a grossly under-served group within the justice system. The percentage of people representing themselves at all levels of court have been increasing, but their needs have been largely ignored. There have been attempts to rectify this is recent years, including studies, changes to the rules of the legal profession and some designated funding for legal aid for SRLs. However, with the majority of litigants in family court, some lower courts and some urban centres being SRLs, and with 50% of Canadians 18 years and older experiencing an everyday legal problem in any three year period, more change is needed. We are happy to be a part of this change.

The NSRLP Report: Needs Unmet

I first learned about this issue reading the Final Report of the National Self-Represented Litigants Project; a large, qualitative, cross-Canada study on the needs and experiences of SRLs. As a group, SRLs reported experiencing frustration, confusion, overwhelm, distancing and isolation. They reported feeling like outsiders, strangers to the enigmatic procedures, customs and culture of the Court. They found Court forms confusing and unclear; online self-help overwhelmingly plentiful, but limited to general information; and a lack of access to training on practical advocacy skills. Moreover three quarters of SRLs are facing a trained lawyer on the other side. Throughout the Report, two words that kept coming up over and over again were “overwhelmed” and “terrified.”

Law School Legal Clinic: Calm Support

Those two words, "overwhelmed" and "terrified," really resonated with me. It reminded me of law school, and, more specifically, the practicum we got to do near the end, where students could represent local, low-income clients under the supervision of lawyers.

It felt impossible that we, as students, could actually be representing real humans with real legal stakes at real Court against real lawyers before real judges. We were all terrified and overwhelmed; pulling all-nighters as a group, comforting ourselves with midnight stress waffles.

It was okay to be scared in this program: it was baked right in. I remember the giant glass bowl of candy on my supervisor’s desk, the kleenex always within reach. We would go to our supervisors for strategy and advice; but stay for the calm support, reassurance, encouragement and sympathetic ear. There was an acknowledgement that anxiety, stress and self-doubt were all normal and expected in what we were doing. But we could do it anyway, and we could do it scared. The confidence came afterwards. Our mentors believed in us before we could believe in ourselves.

Approach to Legal Coaching: Do It Scared

The experiences I had in this program, of doing something scared before I felt confident, of acknowledging the mental and emotional parts of doing a challenging thing for the first time, deeply affected my approach to legal coaching. Specifically:

1. I do not go to hearings for my clients, even small hearings. Small hearings build confidence and skills needed for full trial. I believe feeling in control of a case requires taking control of the trial.
2. I know that part of the support I provide is emotional and mental. No one is paying me for my counseling skills, but I believe part of the role of a legal coach is to provide calm support, reassurance, encouragement and a sympathetic ear. Many SRLs find self-representation very isolating.
3. I believe our clients have more capacity than they know. They may need to borrow belief and confidence from us until they can have it for themselves. There is so much they can do, they just might not realize it yet.

While we are starting with legal coaching and some limited flat-fee rate, single-task services (“unbundled legal services”), we are so eager to see where we go in the future. Legal coaching, by virtue of its flexibility and customizability, is a very powerful way to meet the needs of SRLs, including the need to budget. But in future, we’d like to expand into other tools, such as publishing a series of self-help books. We are open to seeing where our clients take us.

We look forward to becoming a helpful and reliable resource for SRLs. Check back here for how-to’s, tips and information to help SRLs better represent themselves.