My general rule has been “NO”. But I just read a post in another thread where someone said acting as your own lawyer is “rarely a good idea”. I was about to correct that to “never”, but then decided that was a good question to ask the Dope: Is acting as your own lawyer 1) “rarely” a good idea? Or 2) “never” a good idea?
Does it matter if you’re a lawyer yourself? Does it matter if it’s a minor infraction like a traffic ticket or public intoxication? Does it matter even if you can’t afford a lawyer? (My assumption is that it is always more expensive without a lawyer than with, but maybe there are circumstances where this doesn’t hold – speeding tickets for instance?)
Minor traffic tickets aren’t a big deal. Often you can get the fine reduced or even dismissed just by showing up and presenting your side. They are not typically matters that require a thorough knowledge of the law. But for a felony or anything that carried the possibility of jail time? Probably not a good idea.
The only other situation in which I would feel comfortable without an attorney is an amicable divorce in which my spouse and I agreed on everything and I trusted him not to go back on that. Even then I might at least consult an attorney to make sure the settlement agreement was proper.
He was an expat Bulgarian Comintern agent working in Germany when the Nazis took over. After the 2/33 Reichstag fire he was one of several who the Nazis tried to frame.
Dmitrov’s pro se defense created an international sensation not the least because it was successful (the German judiciary was not yet fully corrupted). The highlight of the trial took place when Dmitrov cross-examined Herman Goering, and made Goering loose his temper.
After the trial the right-wing Bulgarian government of the time refused to allow Dmitrov’s extradition to his home country, so the USSR made him a citizen and appointed him to Comintern leadership. He remained in the USSR for 12 years; after the war he was appointed leader of Bulgaria’s new Communist government.
In some jurisdictions you CAN’T take your lawyer into small claims court with you. In such places, you have to represent yourself in front of the court.
I have represented myself in a bankruptcy action (worked out fine), and in civil court as a defendant (being sued by creditors - I only had to delay things a bit while I got the bankruptcy filed). In that case, I filed for dismissal due to improper service (the server shoved the papers into a neighbor’s hands and ignored her protests, and compounded this by lying about it). If it had gone on much longer, I would have had to get a lawyer, because the filing practices were rapidly getting beyond me.
Traffic Court, some minor proceedings in a Quasi-Judicial forums is about it, unless there are possibly very adverse consequences, such as losing license.
[QUOTE=Flyer]
In some jurisdictions, if you go to Small Claims court, you HAVE to represent yourself.
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[QUOTE=Broomstick]
In some jurisdictions you CAN’T take your lawyer into small claims court with you. In such places, you have to represent yourself in front of the court.
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CIte. And one which is a statute or a rule/regulation made thereunder. I cannot believe that any common law Court would have an absolute bar on someone from having representation, or advise. Strongly discourage yes, limit, sure, but forbid?
There’s no bar on legal advice - you are perfectly free to pay a lawyer to advise you. You can use the lawyer(s) all you want outside of such a small claims court, including helping your prep for your day in court, but in such jurisdictions you can’t take the lawyer(s) into court with you. You represent yourself before the judge.
As it happens, my state does allow you to have a lawyer represent you in small claims so I am not entirely conversant with states that don’t allow it. But then, another poster already provided a cite.
Well, for example, I got a DUI once (It was a long time ago, and I’m sorry, world, I won’t do that again). Counting the fine, mandatory classes and lawyer fees, I think it cost me around $2500. In the classes, there were other first time offenders who didn’t have a lawyer, and they quoted fines of up to $7500, and they had to take way more classes (I had to take the minimum, 10 hours – some people had to take up to 100 hours). And I got to keep my license and get court supervision.
On the other hand, my lawyer had me give him copies of my DD214 and college transcripts and an offer of employment I had gotten but not yet started working. I’m sure he showed this to the prosecutor and said “Look at what a stand-up guy this is, no need to throw the book at him”. So maybe these other guys had sketchier records.
On the third hand, since I’ve turned 30 (I’m almost 33), I’ve been pulled over for speeding several times and gotten off with a warning each time. That never happened in my 20s. So maybe it’s just the privilege of being a middle class white guy who’s old enough to have lost any threatening “angry young man” edge I might have once had. I’m quite certain a black man, especially one younger than me, wouldn’t have gotten off so easy even with a lawyer.
Still, I always tell people lawyers are worth their weight in gold, because each time I’ve used one, they made a terrible situation cheaper and much easier to deal with. I do think their familiarity with the prosecutors and judges is as valuable as any legal knowledge they learned in school though.
I represented myself in defense of a civil suit and won. It helped that the other party was also pro se and an idiot. The first three things he said I objected to (heresay) and my objections were sustained. After my third sustained objection, he screamed, “this is fucking ridiculous”.
We held a successful pro se defense against a civil suit involving co-signing for a car loan a few years ago. The loan company was not exactly a well-organized national bank, so things may have been different if they had better counsel, but ultimately, we said “You didn’t provide the state-mandated disclosure and warning to the co-signer” and when they produced something they claimed to be that disclosure, we said “That’s not my signature, and that’s also not the signature of the buyer. Whose loan is that, anyway?”
I wish I could have had a camera in the courtroom to catch the look on the plaintiff attorney’s face when the judge came justthisclose to telling the attorney that he and his client have just perjured themselves.
I tend to agree. I know lawyers tend to get a bad rap but I had a situation (kind of like yours in that it was a bad situation that I do NOT plan on repeating - though not a DUI) which, if I’d tried to handle things myself…that simply wouldn’t have worked. There are legal nuances that lawyers know about that most laypeople don’t and that certainly was true in MY case. If I hadn’t had a lawyer I don’t know how that situation would’ve turned out for me but I’m pretty much certain that it wouldn’t have gone as “well” for me as it did!
