For those of you interested in learning where to start to learn more about self-represented litigants in South Carolina, here’s my cheat sheet:
Resources
1. Online
A. South Carolina:
- http://www.sccourts.org/forms/indexSelfHelp.cfm – The South Carolina Courts official site for Self Help Resources.
- http://lawhelp.org/sc – South Carolina’s Guide to free legal services. LawHelp South Carolina is a project of South Carolina Legal Services and the Legal Services Corporation.
- http://www.scb.uscourts.gov/prose_before.html – The United States Bankruptcy Court District of South Carolina offers information to those filing without an attorney, including a video Bankruptcy Basics Video Presentation for Pro Se Filers.
B. National:
- http://www.selfhelpsupport.org/ – Members include judges, clerks, court staff, legal aid advocates, bar association representatives, law school faculty, researchers, and others who work to increase access to justice.
- http://www.srln.org/ – The Self-Represented Litigation Network brings together courts and access to justice organizations in support of innovations in services for the self represented
- http://devlegacy.ncsc.org/WC/CourTopics/ResourceGuide.asp?topic=ProSe – The National Center for State Courts’ Self-Representation Resource Guide.
- http://www.ajs.org/prose/home.asp – The American Judicature Society’s Pro Se Forum.
- http://www.lri.lsc.gov/prose/prose.asp – The Pro Se Section of the Legal Services Corporation Resource Library focuses on practices to help legal services programs empower low-income clients to help themselves through pro se advocacy.
- http://www.abanet.org/legalservices/delivery/delunbund.html – The American Bar Association’s Pro Se/Unbundling Resource Center. This site has been developed as a project of the ABA Standing Committee on the Delivery of Legal Services. It is designed as a resource to help lawyers, bar leaders, the judiciary, court administrators, scholars and the media better understand and critically analyze the issues involved in self-representation and unbundled legal services.
C. Other States:
- http://www.courtinfo.ca.gov/selfhelp/ – The California Courts Online Self-Help Center which helps self-represented litigants find assistance and information, work better with an attorney, and represent themselves in some legal matters.
- http://www.legalhotlines.org/ – AARP’s Florida senior Legal Helpline Honored by State Coalition.
2. Attachments
- http://www.aallnet.org/products/HowToResearchLegalProblem.pdf – How to Research a Legal Problem: A Guide for Non-Lawyers published by the American Association of Law Libraries.
I’m sure there will be more to come, but this should give you a start!
And many thanks to probono.net for supporting many of these platforms.
-RFW
Filed under: 1, Court, Law, Law Related Education, Legal, Legal Clinic, Legal Documents, Legal Drafting, Legalese, Plain English, Plain Language, Right to Counsel, South Carolina, South Carolina Access to Justice Commission, South Carolina Bar Foundation, South Carolina Court Administration, South Carolina Courts, South Carolina Legal Services, South Carolina Supreme Court, access to justice, access to justice blog, attorney, blog, court innovation, indigent, law librarians, legal aid, poverty, pro bono, public interest attorney, self-represented litigant , AALL, ABA, American Association of Law Libraries, lawhelp.org/sc, pro se, sc courts, Self-Help Resources, self-represented litigants, SRLs, The American Bar Association's Pro Se/Unbundling Resource Center, The American Judicature Society's Pro Se Forum, The Nation Center for State Courts' Self-Representation Resource Guide, The Pro Se Section of the Legal Services Corporation Resource Library, www.sccourts.org, www.selfhelpsupport.org, www.srln.org
