The following links would be helpful to those who have come to my website. If you click on the title of the link, it will appear in a separate window. Some describing paragraphs include additional links, which should appear in blue on your screen. Clicking on those links will display them in separate windows, too.
As I continue to discovery new sites that are useful, I will post them. I do not post all the sites of which I am aware, but only those which I believe would be pertinent to others working in the subject areas below. I am also selective, avoiding sites that I consider ephemeral and sites that are very commonly known. If you would like to suggest a site for my list, please feel free to contact me.
These links go to several organizations who support courts, law libraries, and legal professionals as they work with self represented litigants. While open to the general public, they are intended for the professionals.
| Self-Help SupportSelfhelpsupport.org is a State Justice Institute funded, award winning membership site that serves as a network for practitioners of self-help programs as well as an online clearinghouse of information relating to self-representation. Members include courts, legal aid programs, bar associations, law libraries, educational institutions, researchers, and other governmental and non-profit programs working to increase access to justice. Usage of the site and of materials accessed is for non-commercial purposes only. The site is maintained by the National Center for State Courts and is probably the most extensive collection of materials on serving self represented litigants. Materials created by the Self Represented Litigation Network are placed on this site when they are made public. |
Access to Justice Chicago-Kent School of Law has joined with the Institute of Design and the National Center for State Courts to bring together the most advanced process design technologies and the power of the Internet to fundamentally reengineer civil court processes from a customer prospective, in which self-represented litigants seek access to judicial services in a research project entitled "Meeting the Needs of Self-Represented Litigants: A Consumer-based Approach". |
| Legal Information Services to the Public SIS The mission of this Special Interest Section of the American Association of Law Libraries is to improve access to legal information and to promote legal information services to the public. Part of the mission includes education for public law librarians. |
Serving Self-Represented Litigants: A Program and Workshop The following link is to my own page that I created to display the materials I created for an October 24, 2006, presentation on how the court libraries in the State of New York could serve self represented litigants. |
| ABA Resource Center for Access to Justice Initiatives The American Bar Association Division of Legal Services Standing Committee on Legal Aid and Indigent Defendants created this site to serve bar, bench and legal services leaders who are engaged in establishing or expanding state access to justice efforts. This Resource Center, and these web pages, bring together in one place a wealth of information on structures for access efforts, activities undertaken by access commissions in various states, and assistance with raising funds to support expanded legal aid/access to civil justice programs. |
Equal Justice Conference Home Page Conducted under the auspices of the American Bar Association and the National Legal Aid and Defender Association, the annual Equal Justice Conference brings together all components of the legal community to discuss equal justice issues as they relate to the delivery of legal services to the poor and low-income individuals in need of legal assistance. The emphasis of this Conference is on strengthening partnerships among the key players in the civil justice system. Through plenary sessions, workshops, networking opportunities and special programming, the Conference provides a wide range of learning and sharing experiences for all attendees. Meetings are generally in mid to late Spring. |
| The Pro Se Law CenterThis website is designed as a resource center on self-representation in civil legal matters. The purpose is to provide a collection of materials and resources that can be used to create legal service delivery systems that are based on the concept of "pro se" or "self" representation within federally funded legal services programs, courts, pro bono programs, and other community-based programs. Supported by a grant from the National Center for Automated Information Research. Site Co-Sponsors: ABA Standing Committee on the Delivery of Legal Services; Civil Justice Network, Inc.; Clinical Program of the University of Maryland School of Law; Maryland Legal Assistance Network; and the Maryland Legal Services Corporation. |
ABA Standing Committee on the Delivery of Legal Services The American Bar Association Division of Legal Services Standing Committee on the Delivery of Legal Services has the mandate to improve the delivery of legal services to the public, with a concentration on those of moderate income. A major focus of the committee is "unbundling," a term given to legal practice under court or bar rules that allow a lawyer to provide legal advice or services for only a portion of a client's case, with the intent that the client would do the rest of the work himself or herself, thus lowering costs. |
| Unbundled Law OrgSponsored by the Maryland Legal Assistance Network, this site contains living documents and ideas gathered from practitioners at the forefront of a newly recognized area of legal expertise, sometimes called "unbundled" legal services or discrete task representation. The term refers to a broad range of discrete tasks that an attorney might undertake such as: advice, negotiation, document review, document preparation, and limited representation. The materials originated from a conference of 34 states in 2000. It has survey results form many states, but the site has not been updated since January 2004. |
LSC Resources on Pro Se This is a posting of materials on the Legal Services Corporation's Resource Library. It includes projects, articles and publications, policy statements, and links dealing with self represented litigants. See also the Resources for Serving Clients with Limited English Proficiency (LEP). |
| The Standing Committee on Pro Bono and Public Service and the Center for Pro Bono The American Bar Association Standing Committee on Pro Bono and Public Service is the national source of information, resources and assistance to support, facilitate, and expand the delivery of pro bono legal assistance. The Standing Committee and its project, the Center for Pro Bono, encourage lawyers to do pro bono work and help them connect with opportunities that meet their needs. Our programs, projects and services help pro bono programs, advocates and policymakers address the legal needs of the poor. |
shlep: the Self-Help Law ExPress This blog run out of the Harvard Law School gives news, views and info on self-help law and pro se litigation. |
| AJS Pro Se Forum The American Judicature Society Pro Se Forum includes articles, reports, clerk guidelines and judicial protocols, a bibliography, tables describing key features of statewide local pro se assistance programs, conferences and workshops about the self-represented, funding sources, etc. |
AARP Pro Se Projects This site is maintained by the American Association of Retired Persons Foundation. It lists various programs and materials that serve self represented litigants, with an emphasis on services for the elderly. Some are duplicative of materials from other sites, but some are unique. |
These links go to websites that are intended to offer legal information for self represented litigants themselves. This list is not exhaustive, but does include my favorites.
I do not include individual law libraries, which often have sites with wonderful materials for self represented litigants. Those tend to be more local. I refer interested people to a national list of public law library websites, maintained by the State, Court and County Law Libraries Special Interest Section of the American Association of Law Libraries for a library in the preferred jurisdiction.
| Law Help National Home Page This site provides referrals to local legal aid and public interest law offices, basic information about legal rights, self-help information, court information, links to social service agencies, and more. It links to separate sites for all fifty states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the Virgin islands, Guam and a special site for Native American law. The amount of content varies from state to state. For many states, it is the only resource available for local information intended for self represented litigants. LawHelp.org has been built by Pro Bono Net, a nonprofit organization headquartered in New York, and by partnering legal aid organizations. LawHelp.org is funded largely by the Legal Services Corporation and the Open Society Institute. |
Maryland Peoples Law Library The Peoples Law Library (PLL), a legal information and self-help website created by the Maryland Legal Assistance Network is one of my favorite sites for self represented litigants, because the presentation is very user friendly and free of jargon. I consider it a model to be emulated. It is supported by Maryland's 28 non-profit legal services providers, in partnership with the courts, and is offered as a service to the public. It provides legal and self-help information on Maryland and federal law affecting low and moderate income Marylanders and their families. The public can find help to access this site at Outreach Centers throughout the state. |
| California's Your Public Law Library Created by the Council of California County Law Librarians, this site is really a cover site that leads users to other sites with the information they would need to represent themselves in California, including the very good sets of materials available from the California Administrative Office of the Courts, Law Help California, and Nolo Press. Also included is a mini legal research class and a link to Ask Now, a chat room style live reference service. In addition to English, there are materials available in Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, German, French, Japanese, and Korean. The site is a great example of getting the best bang for the buck, in that it provides a user friendly start for self represented litigants and ways to get over the hump of dealing with legal discourse, while allowing other organizations to provide the basic information. |
Legal Information InstituteThis is a search engine into legal information resources, primarily published court opinions and statutes, but it also includes topical guides written for self represented litigants. The site is maintained by the Cornell Law School. |
| FindLawOriginally a non-profit search engine aimed at providing free legal information, this site was purchased by Thomson, the largest legal information publisher in the world. It still contains guides to many legal topics, but now emphasizes helping people locate lawyers. |
The 'Lectric Law Library's Laypeople's Law Lounge This is an extremely irreverent site that actually has a lot of good information for self represented litigants. It is occasionally cynical and occasionally funny tone will be offputting to some, but might appeal to some self represented litigants who have been frustrated by the justice system. The site's author is careful to avoid outright criticism, but clearly exclaims about the difficulties of going to court. Some materials are prepared in conjunction with Nolo Press. |
These links go to websites pertinent to law libraries. This list is not exhaustive, but does include my favorites.
| American Association of Law Libraries with over 5,000 members, the Association represents law librarians and related professionals who are affiliated with a wide range of institutions: law firms; law schools; corporate legal departments; courts; and local, state and federal government agencies. |
State, Court, and County Law Libraries SIS This Special Interest Section of the American Association of Law Libraries includes librarians from most of the law libraries whose mission is to serve the public at large. Of particular interest to law library stakeholders is the toolbox section in the upper right corner. A national list of public law library websites is maintained on this site. |
| Legal Information Services to the Public SIS This Special Interest Section of the American Association of Law Libraries is for those librarians dedicated to serving self-represented litigants and other members of the public, and aiding others who serve them, such as public librarians. These are the frontline reference librarians who see self-represented litigants every day. |
San Diego County Public Law Library As the former Director of Libraries for the San Diego County Public Law Library, I have to list it as one of my favorites. There are many other good law library websites listed among those noted at the State, Court and County Law Libraries SIS website. This is one that has most all of the features that show very good programs for self-represented litigants, as well as many good services for the practicing bar and the judiciary. |
These links go to websites that offer information pertinent to cognitive linguistics, cognitive science, philosophy, and law that are pertinent to my research interests.
| Contemporary Philosophy of Mind: An Annotated Bibliography Compiled by David Chalmers, Philosophy, Australian National University, this is a bibliography of recent work in the philosophy of mind, philosophy of cognitive science, philosophy of artificial intelligence, and on consciousness in the sciences. It consists of 8142 entries, and is divided into six parts, each of which is further divided by topic and subtopic. Many older entries are annotated with a brief summary. |
Association for the Scientific Study of Consciousness ASSC promotes research within cognitive science, neuroscience, philosophy, and other relevant disciplines in the sciences and humanities, directed toward understanding the nature, function, and underlying mechanisms of consciousness. It is one of the scientific societies that appreciates the Lakoff-Johnson cognitive theory of metaphor. |
| Center for the Cognitive Science of Metaphor Online Compiled by Tim Rohrer, Colorado Advanced Research Institute. Dr. Rohrer, who obtained his Ph.D. under Mark Johnson, one of the inventors of the cognitive theory of metaphor, maintains this slightly irreverent, but generally helpful site. The list of materials is small, but very useful as introductory. Dr. Rohrer keeps the site current, but generally does not add substantially to it. He considers that, with the cognitive theory of metaphor now of age, there are many other sources available for information. |
International Cognitive Linguistics Association |
