Guide: Guidelines for the Operation of Self-Help Centers in California Trial Courts (California 2011)
The Administrative Office of the Courts, in collaboration with judges, court executive officers, attorneys, and other parties with demonstrated interest in services to self-represented litigants, is charged with the development of these guidelines for dissemination to the trial courts by March 1, 2008, and thereafter to review them every three years. The attached document reflects the guidelines for the delivery of comprehensive statewide court based self-help in California.
Year published:
2008, 2011
Document Author:
California Judicial Council Center for Families Children & the Courts
Report: Turning on the Lights: How the Massachusetts Trial Court Could Deploy a Virtual Court Service Center to Assist Self-Represented Litigants (MA Appleseed 2019)
This report was prepared in partnershup with the Mass. Trial Court to inform the development of a virtual self-help center to supplement the work done by its court service centers. This report will be valuable to any jurisdiction working to better serve SRLs. It includes a robust literature review, analysis of input from numerous stakeholders (survey tools are included), and recommendations for how to increase human help and optimize technology. A must read for anyone working in court based self-help.
Year published:
2019
Document Author:
Massachusetts Appleseed, Deb Silva, Julia Schutt, Jake Hofstetter
Tool: CA Self-Help Centers' Self-Assessment Tool for Quality Programs (CA Courts 2018)
The California Self-Help Centers’ Self-Assessment Tool for Quality Programs was developed as a strategic and tactical planning template to promote quality Self-Help Center Programs across California. The tool is designed to connect a wide range of initiatives within the Judicial Branch, and to intentionally develop systems to interconnect the larger court system with self-help programs.
The Tool is designed to:
Year published:
2018
Document Author:
California Judicial Council Center for Families Children & the Courts, Superior Court of California, County of Butte SHARP Program
Reports, Evaluations, Best Practices, Surveys
Evaluation
Best Practices
Surveys
Tools for Evaluating Self-Help Programs and Services
Self-Help Centers
Trial Court Self-Help
Starting a Self-Help Center
Best Practices for Self-Help Centers
Managing a Self-Help Center
Linking a Self-Help Center to Other Services
Evaluating a Self-Help Center
SRLN Brief: Evolution of Court Staffing for SRLs (2019)
Over the last fifteen years, leaders from the courts, legal aid programs, private bar associations, and allied professionals have actively pursued innovations to reimagine and redesign the civil legal system so that access to justice is a reality for the millions of people without lawyers who pass through the more than 15,000 state and local courts in America.
Year published:
2019
Document Author:
SRLN
Resource: Resource Guide on Serving Self-Represented Litigants Remotely (SRLN 2016)
The Resource Guide provides options for courts and other entities interested in providing services to self-represented litigants using means that are not face-to-face, instead of, or in addition to, in-person alternatives such as walk-in services, workshops, and clinics. It also includes information regarding technology and business process options and describes a study of how eight sites provide remote self-help services to self-represented litigants and its principal findings and recommendations.
Year published:
2016
Document Author:
Self-Represented Litigation Network, John Greacen
Report: The Self-Help Center Census: A National Survey (ABA 2014)
Using responses to an online survey, the American Bar Association’s Standing Committee on the Delivery of Legal Services issued “The Self-Help Center Census: A National Survey,” an analysis of court-based legal self-help centers across the country. Nearly half of the approximately 500 self-help centers identified replied to the survey.
Among the findings:
Year published:
2014
Document Author:
American Bar Association
Article: Ensuring Access to Justice in Tough Economic Times (Broccolina & Zorza 2008)
This article outlines seven suggestions for the courts which require relatively small or easily found upfront investment and minor ongoing expenditures. This article first appeared in the November-December 2008 (Volume 92, Number 3) of JUDICATURE, the Journal of the American Judicature Society.
Year published:
2008
Document Author:
Frank Broccolina, Richard Zorza
Curriculum: SRLN Court Solutions Conference Leadership Package (SRLN 2008)
The Self-Represented Litigation Leadership Package was prepared by the Self-Represented Litigation Network and launched at the Court Solutions Conference on September 8-10, 2008, in Baltimore, Maryland. The core of the Package is fifteen modules, each of which focuses on a different area of self-represented litigation innovation. These Modules can be used in a wide variety of ways to encourage leadership in innovation.
Year published:
2008
Document Author:
Richard Zorza, Self-Represented Litigation Network
Webinar: Alaska Family Law Self-Help Center (SRLN 2005)
This webinar on the Alaska Family Law-Self Help Center was presented on May 25, 2005, by the Center's then-co-director (and current SRLN Coordinator) Katherine Alteneder.
Year published:
2005
Document Author:
Katherine Alteneder, Self-Represented Litigation Network