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Serving Self-Represented Litigants: Planning for Action

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NYSUCS Presentation and Workshop Materials, October 24, 2006

This page was originally created for participants at my presentation and workshop and for other New York State Unified Court System officials and librarians who could not attend. The presentation and workshop were given at the New York State Judicial Institute at Pace University in White Plains, New York on October 24, 2006.

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Serving Self-Represented Litigants: Planning for Action

Program

10:15 a.m. Introduction

10:30 a.m. Seeing What’s Out There

Best practices at public law libraries from across the nation. (Serving Self-Represented Litigants slide show)

11:15 a.m. Break

11:25 a.m. Understanding Self-Represented Litigants and The Triage Approach

A classroom exercise to analyze your local situation. (Understanding Self-Represented Litigants slide show; Handouts: Excerpt from Richard Zorza, The Self-Help Friendly Court, chap. 2; The Triage Approach; Community Resouces for Self-Represented Litigants; and Realistic Self-Assessment Tool.)

12 noon Brainstorming Sessions

Small group sessions to create action plans. (Handout: Instructions for Breakout Sessions.)

12:45 p.m. Reports and Sum Up

Power Points

There were two Power Point computer slide show presentations used in the presentation and workshop. My prepared commentary on the individual slides is included in the slide shows as Notes. These notes are best read using a full version of MS Power Point, rather than the Power Point Reader version. Both slide shows contain considerably more information than can be obtained by simply reading the bullet points on some of the slides.

If you click on the title of the presentation, it will open in a separate window. If you have MS Power Point, your operating system may ask whether you wish to open the file in Power Point, whereupon the file would be retained on your computer in your temporary Internet file storage folder. Your browser or operating system may ask you where you would prefer to save it before opening it with Power Point.

“Serving Self-Represented Litigants” This slide show presents a series of best practices found in public law libraries and websites that serve self-represented litigants. The original presentation included a very large number of screen captures from websites, creating a file over 7MB. This version attempts to represent those screen captures through active links, but the file is still over 3MB. There are 52 slides. (In the MS Power Point Normal view, you can right click on a link and then click Open Hyperlink. In the Slide Show view, simply click on the link.) Over time, some of the links will change or may become inactive. As it is, and the file is still substantial. If you have difficulties obtaining this slide show or would like a copy of the original show, then send me an email through "Contact Us.".

“Understanding Self-Represented Litigants” This slide show is used in conjunction with four handouts in helping participants to assess the different types of self-represented litigants they serve, the other community resources available locally for self-represented litigants, and their own abilities to engage in some of the best practices highlighted in the first slide show. It is a 748KB file.

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Handouts

The first four handouts (two different versions of each) were those used during the second session on Understanding Self-Represented Litigants, the classroom exercise. The remaining handouts were referred to during the first session on best practices or the brainstorming session.

If you click on the title of a handout, it will open a PDF document or a MS Word file in a separate window. Generally, the version in the left column is the PDF version, and the version in the right column is the MS Word version. However, some browsers may place them differently on the screen, so be sure you have the right version before downloading the handout you need. If you need Adobe Reader to read the PDF files, click on the Adobe Reader icon at the bottom of the navigation bar in the left window.

For users of Word Perfect: Some Windows-based browsers have difficulty downloading Word Perfect files. However, more recent versions of Word Perfect can convert the MS Word documents into Word Perfect. Word Perfect Office X3 (the most recent version) can also convert PDF documents into Word Perfect files.

“Excerpt from Richard Zorza, The Self-Help Friendly Court” This short chapter lists the seven barriers to effectiveness experienced by self-represented litigants. The first five are information barriers. PDF Version.

“Excerpt from Richard Zorza, The Self-Help Friendly Court” This short chapter lists the seven barriers to effectiveness experienced by self-represented litigants. The first five are information barriers. MS Word Version.

“The Triage Approach: Where the Law Libraries Fit In” This table is used to estimate (or survey) the numbers of different types of self-represented litigants using your library. The categories refer to the ability of the litigants to work on their own. PDF Version.

“The Triage Approach: Where the Law Libraries Fit In” This table is used to estimate (or survey) the numbers of different types of self-represented litigants using your library. The categories refer to the ability of the litigants to work on their own. MS Word Version.

“Community Resources for Self-Represented Litigants” This decision table enables you to record which types of agencies serving self-represented litigants are located in your community and which of the different types of litigants they can serve. The triage employed by the other agencies will be different from the law library because they can serve certain types of litigants better and others not so well as the law library can. PDF Version.

“Community Resources for Self-Represented Litigants” This decision table enables you to record which types of agencies serving self-represented litigants are located in your community and which of the different types of litigants they can serve. The triage employed by the other agencies will be different from the law library because they can serve certain types of litigants better and others not so well as the law library can. MS Word Version.

“Realistic Self-Assessment Tool on Best Practices For Law Librarians Serving Self-Represented Litigants” The tool is used to make a self-assessment of your current abilities to perform some of the new tasks that the best practices call for. The document is meant to be kept confidential, but it was used to prepare participants for the brainstorming session. It can also be used as a device to plan your continuing education needs. PDF Version.

“Realistic Self-Assessment Tool on Best Practices For Law Librarians Serving Self-Represented Litigants” The tool is used to make a self-assessment of your current abilities to perform some of the new tasks that the best practices call for. The document is meant to be kept confidential, but it was used to prepare participants for the brainstorming session. It can also be used as a device to plan your continuing education needs. MS Word Version.

“Core Materials on Self Represented Litigation Innovation” This is the September 27, 2006, draft of a document prepared by the Self Represented Litigation Network. Copyright 2006, National Center for State Courts. Used with permission. The final version of this document will appear on the www.selfhelpsupport.org website. Because of its timeliness, it was the best short guide available for materials on practices of other types of agencies, especially the courts and their related services. All of these materials are available on the web. This handout was referred to only as a resource for later use, but it is very good. PDF Version. (The original was an MS Word document, so the formatting is slightly better in that version.)

“Core Materials on Self Represented Litigation Innovation” This is the September 27, 2006, draft of a document prepared by the Self Represented Litigation Network. Copyright 2006, National Center for State Courts. Used with permission. The final version of this document will appear on the www.selfhelpsupport.org website. Because of its timeliness, it was the best short guide available for materials on practices of other types of agencies, especially the courts and their related services. All of these materials are available on the web. This handout was referred to only as a resource for later use, but it is very good. MS Word Version.

“News from Travis County Law Library” The email from Librarian Lisa Rush identified some of the recent changes she was able to bring about at the Travis County Law Library, Austin, TX. The library is very innovative in a state that is not strong on services to self-represented litigants, showing what can be done when local leadership is willing. I also included it as an example of a protegee, networking with her mentors, and advancing beyond their training. Sharing information and occasinal triumphs is what networking is all about. PDF Version.

“News from Travis County Law Library” The email from Librarian Lisa Rush identified some of the recent changes she was able to bring about at the Travis County Law Library, Austin, TX. The library is very innovative in a state that is not strong on services to self-represented litigants, showing what can be done when local leadership is willing. I also included it as an example of a protegee, networking with her mentors, and advancing beyond their training. Sharing information and occasinal triumphs is what networking is all about. MS Word Version.

“Travis County Law Library: Two Partnerships and One Big Project” This excerpt from the State, Court, and County Law Libraries Newsletter, v. 32, issue 3, reports on partnerships that Lisa Rush and the Travis County Law Library, Austin, TX, created as they built the projects reported in the email just above. Partnerships are a part of innovative practices in serving self-represented litigants. PDF Version.

“Travis County Law Library: Two Partnerships and One Big Project” This excerpt from the State, Court, and County Law Libraries Newsletter, v. 32, issue 3, reports on partnerships that Lisa Rush and the Travis County Law Library, Austin, TX, created as they built the projects reported in the email just above. Partnerships are a part of innovative practices in serving self-represented litigants. MS Word Version.

“Sources Used for the Presentation” A list of websites used during the presentation. PDF Version.

“Sources Used for the Presentation” A list of websites used during the presentation. MS Word Version.

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