{"id":685,"date":"2016-06-07T15:34:21","date_gmt":"2016-06-07T19:34:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www2.law.temple.edu\/ejc\/?p=685"},"modified":"2021-11-23T19:09:15","modified_gmt":"2021-11-23T19:09:15","slug":"helping-unrepresented-litigants-navigate-courts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/law.temple.edu\/ejc\/2016\/06\/07\/helping-unrepresented-litigants-navigate-courts\/","title":{"rendered":"Helping unrepresented litigants navigate the courts"},"content":{"rendered":"

 <\/p>\n

There was a time when most people who went to court over landlord-tenant problems, consumer disputes, child custody, and other such matters were accompanied by lawyers. \u00a0But that time is long gone; now, because of the shortage of even moderately-priced legal services, most Americans must represent themselves in these “routine” — but vitally\u00a0important — matters.<\/p>\n

But representing oneself is no picnic for a layperson, given the almost impenetrable complexity of legal rules and procedures. Students from the Sheller Center\u2019s Social Justice Lawyering Clinic waded into this problem this year, working with the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas to find ways of making justice more accessible to pro se <\/em>litigants.<\/p>\n

Law student Madeline Rathey was on the team, focusing on the area of appeals from eviction orders.\u00a0 \u201cIt was eye-opening, and frustrating, to try to figure out how to navigate the system, and then to simplify it for pro se <\/em>folks,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

Despite the frustrations, Madeline feels positively about documents that she and her colleagues drafted \u2013 including a much simplified form for people seeking waivers of court fees, and clearer information on how to get an eviction stayed pending appeal.\u00a0 The team also recommended some changes to court procedure, such as elimination of the requirement that litigants submit a formal memorandum with every motion (a near-impossibility for pro se<\/em>\u00a0folks). \u00a0And, Madeline notes, an even bigger step forward would be the creation of a Help Desk at the court\u2019s filing office \u2013 since most people sooner or later need some hands-on help, not just forms and instructions.<\/p>\n

Madeline\u2019s work on these problems won\u2019t end here. \u00a0She graduated this spring, and her next stop is a position with Mid-Penn Legal Services in Reading, representing low-income clients in landlord\/tenant cases.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

  There was a time when most people who went to court over landlord-tenant problems, consumer disputes, child custody, and other such matters were accompanied by lawyers. \u00a0But that time is long gone; now, because of the shortage of even moderately-priced legal services, most Americans must represent themselves in these “routine” — but vitally\u00a0important — … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":23,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"generate_page_header":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[5,23],"class_list":["post-685","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","tag-access-to-civil-justice","tag-social-justice-lawyering-clinic"],"yoast_head":"\nHelping unrepresented litigants navigate the courts - Elder Justice Consortium<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/law.temple.edu\/ejc\/2016\/06\/07\/helping-unrepresented-litigants-navigate-courts\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Helping unrepresented litigants navigate the courts - Elder Justice Consortium\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"  There was a time when most people who went to court over landlord-tenant problems, consumer disputes, child custody, and other such matters were accompanied by lawyers. \u00a0But that time is long gone; now, because of the shortage of even moderately-priced legal services, most Americans must represent themselves in these “routine” — but vitally\u00a0important — ... Read more\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/law.temple.edu\/ejc\/2016\/06\/07\/helping-unrepresented-litigants-navigate-courts\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Elder Justice Consortium\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2016-06-07T19:34:21+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2021-11-23T19:09:15+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Len Rieser\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Len Rieser\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/law.temple.edu\/ejc\/2016\/06\/07\/helping-unrepresented-litigants-navigate-courts\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/law.temple.edu\/ejc\/2016\/06\/07\/helping-unrepresented-litigants-navigate-courts\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Len Rieser\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/law.temple.edu\/ejc\/#\/schema\/person\/17bd7a929c981f6f0a4d9ef938244213\"},\"headline\":\"Helping unrepresented litigants navigate the courts\",\"datePublished\":\"2016-06-07T19:34:21+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-11-23T19:09:15+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/law.temple.edu\/ejc\/2016\/06\/07\/helping-unrepresented-litigants-navigate-courts\/\"},\"wordCount\":300,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/law.temple.edu\/ejc\/#organization\"},\"keywords\":[\"Access to civil justice\",\"Social Justice Lawyering Clinic\"],\"articleSection\":[\"News\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/law.temple.edu\/ejc\/2016\/06\/07\/helping-unrepresented-litigants-navigate-courts\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/law.temple.edu\/ejc\/2016\/06\/07\/helping-unrepresented-litigants-navigate-courts\/\",\"name\":\"Helping unrepresented litigants navigate the courts - Elder Justice Consortium\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/law.temple.edu\/ejc\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2016-06-07T19:34:21+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-11-23T19:09:15+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/law.temple.edu\/ejc\/2016\/06\/07\/helping-unrepresented-litigants-navigate-courts\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/law.temple.edu\/ejc\/2016\/06\/07\/helping-unrepresented-litigants-navigate-courts\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/law.temple.edu\/ejc\/2016\/06\/07\/helping-unrepresented-litigants-navigate-courts\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/law.temple.edu\/ejc\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Helping unrepresented litigants navigate the courts\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/law.temple.edu\/ejc\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/law.temple.edu\/ejc\/\",\"name\":\"Elder Justice Consortium\",\"description\":\"Elder Justice Consortium\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/law.temple.edu\/ejc\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/law.temple.edu\/ejc\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/law.temple.edu\/ejc\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Elder Justice Consortium\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/law.temple.edu\/ejc\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/law.temple.edu\/ejc\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/law.temple.edu\/ejc\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/11\/2025\/04\/Elder-Justice-Consortium-No-background.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/law.temple.edu\/ejc\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/11\/2025\/04\/Elder-Justice-Consortium-No-background.png\",\"width\":1256,\"height\":371,\"caption\":\"Elder Justice Consortium\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/law.temple.edu\/ejc\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/law.temple.edu\/ejc\/#\/schema\/person\/17bd7a929c981f6f0a4d9ef938244213\",\"name\":\"Len Rieser\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/750a476d3a60d819b5c3955f51efd036a26e43d1ffeff170b7d12aa6b0189221?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/750a476d3a60d819b5c3955f51efd036a26e43d1ffeff170b7d12aa6b0189221?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/750a476d3a60d819b5c3955f51efd036a26e43d1ffeff170b7d12aa6b0189221?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Len Rieser\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/law.temple.edu\/ejc\/author\/lrieser\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Helping unrepresented litigants navigate the courts - Elder Justice Consortium","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/law.temple.edu\/ejc\/2016\/06\/07\/helping-unrepresented-litigants-navigate-courts\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Helping unrepresented litigants navigate the courts - Elder Justice Consortium","og_description":"  There was a time when most people who went to court over landlord-tenant problems, consumer disputes, child custody, and other such matters were accompanied by lawyers. \u00a0But that time is long gone; now, because of the shortage of even moderately-priced legal services, most Americans must represent themselves in these “routine” — but vitally\u00a0important — ... Read more","og_url":"https:\/\/law.temple.edu\/ejc\/2016\/06\/07\/helping-unrepresented-litigants-navigate-courts\/","og_site_name":"Elder Justice Consortium","article_published_time":"2016-06-07T19:34:21+00:00","article_modified_time":"2021-11-23T19:09:15+00:00","author":"Len Rieser","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Len Rieser","Est. reading time":"1 minute"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/law.temple.edu\/ejc\/2016\/06\/07\/helping-unrepresented-litigants-navigate-courts\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/law.temple.edu\/ejc\/2016\/06\/07\/helping-unrepresented-litigants-navigate-courts\/"},"author":{"name":"Len Rieser","@id":"https:\/\/law.temple.edu\/ejc\/#\/schema\/person\/17bd7a929c981f6f0a4d9ef938244213"},"headline":"Helping unrepresented litigants navigate the courts","datePublished":"2016-06-07T19:34:21+00:00","dateModified":"2021-11-23T19:09:15+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/law.temple.edu\/ejc\/2016\/06\/07\/helping-unrepresented-litigants-navigate-courts\/"},"wordCount":300,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/law.temple.edu\/ejc\/#organization"},"keywords":["Access to civil justice","Social Justice Lawyering Clinic"],"articleSection":["News"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/law.temple.edu\/ejc\/2016\/06\/07\/helping-unrepresented-litigants-navigate-courts\/","url":"https:\/\/law.temple.edu\/ejc\/2016\/06\/07\/helping-unrepresented-litigants-navigate-courts\/","name":"Helping unrepresented litigants navigate the courts - Elder Justice Consortium","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/law.temple.edu\/ejc\/#website"},"datePublished":"2016-06-07T19:34:21+00:00","dateModified":"2021-11-23T19:09:15+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/law.temple.edu\/ejc\/2016\/06\/07\/helping-unrepresented-litigants-navigate-courts\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/law.temple.edu\/ejc\/2016\/06\/07\/helping-unrepresented-litigants-navigate-courts\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/law.temple.edu\/ejc\/2016\/06\/07\/helping-unrepresented-litigants-navigate-courts\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/law.temple.edu\/ejc\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Helping unrepresented litigants navigate the courts"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/law.temple.edu\/ejc\/#website","url":"https:\/\/law.temple.edu\/ejc\/","name":"Elder Justice Consortium","description":"Elder Justice Consortium","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/law.temple.edu\/ejc\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/law.temple.edu\/ejc\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/law.temple.edu\/ejc\/#organization","name":"Elder Justice Consortium","url":"https:\/\/law.temple.edu\/ejc\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/law.temple.edu\/ejc\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/law.temple.edu\/ejc\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/11\/2025\/04\/Elder-Justice-Consortium-No-background.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/law.temple.edu\/ejc\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/11\/2025\/04\/Elder-Justice-Consortium-No-background.png","width":1256,"height":371,"caption":"Elder Justice Consortium"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/law.temple.edu\/ejc\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/law.temple.edu\/ejc\/#\/schema\/person\/17bd7a929c981f6f0a4d9ef938244213","name":"Len Rieser","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/750a476d3a60d819b5c3955f51efd036a26e43d1ffeff170b7d12aa6b0189221?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/750a476d3a60d819b5c3955f51efd036a26e43d1ffeff170b7d12aa6b0189221?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/750a476d3a60d819b5c3955f51efd036a26e43d1ffeff170b7d12aa6b0189221?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Len Rieser"},"url":"https:\/\/law.temple.edu\/ejc\/author\/lrieser\/"}]}},"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/law.temple.edu\/ejc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/685","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/law.temple.edu\/ejc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/law.temple.edu\/ejc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/law.temple.edu\/ejc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/23"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/law.temple.edu\/ejc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=685"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/law.temple.edu\/ejc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/685\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2967,"href":"https:\/\/law.temple.edu\/ejc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/685\/revisions\/2967"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/law.temple.edu\/ejc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=685"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/law.temple.edu\/ejc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=685"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/law.temple.edu\/ejc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=685"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}