Be your own lawyer?

It?s a fact that it costs a lot of money to hire a lawyer for a court case.  Legal aid has been cut back significantly over the years and doesn?t cover legal fees for many areas of law. 

Not surprisingly, more and more people are acting as their own lawyer (called self-represented litigants, or SRLs).  Small Claims Court now has jurisdiction for up to $10,000.00.  People often represent themselves in Small Claims matters. 

Is this a good thing?  The answer is: ?Maybe?. 

The decision not to hire a lawyer is almost always a financial one.  Sometimes, it just does not make economic sense to pay for a lawyer.  If you are fighting for $1,000 in Small Claims, you?re not likely to want to spend $1,500 on a lawyer to help you win that fight.

What are the reasons for hiring a lawyer?  Actually, there are many.

Consider this analogy: Jimmy is a young man who is extremely talented.  He has the best soccer skills in the world.  He can run, strike a ball, and has the best footwork anyone has seen.  The problem is: he has never played the game of soccer and does not know the rules. Would you put him on the World Cup team?  Of course not.  He?ll be called for so many penalties because of his ignorance of the rules of the game that he will likely lose.

Going to court is the same thing.  You could have the best case in the world, you could be eloquent and persuasive, and have great witnesses, BUT, if you don?t know the rules of court, you could end up losing because of that ignorance.

There is only one set of rules for court, and they apply equally to lawyers and SRLs.  You are expected to know them.  Neither the judge nor the opposing lawyer are obliged to tell you the rules.

When there is an SRL involved, my experience is that the case takes longer, the hearings take longer, the process is more difficult and it sometimes costs more money.  Here?s why:

SRLs have a tendancy to want to tell their whole story every time they are in front of the judge.  Some parts of the story are likely not relevant to the legal issues in the case.  Dwelling on those parts just distracts the judge and takes the emphasis away from the good points. 

SRLs typically have no clue about the rules of court and how to conduct a trial.  This becomes frustrating for the SRL, the judge and the opposing party.  If the trial has to be adjourned because the SRL was not aware of the rules, the matter gets delayed.

Of course, there are occasions where a trial becomes more complicated BECAUSE of the lawyers.  In my opinion, though, if you can financially justify hiring a lawyer for your case, you will most likely be better off than if you don?t hire one.