Getting Started

In Montana and Idaho the partnerships arose out of an existing relationship that the legal service program had with the Court. In Montana, the Self-Represented Litigants (SRL) Commission and MLSA worked together in 2001 to create a set of pro se forms for basic dissolution and parenting actions. The completed forms that were “blessed” by the SRL Commission for statewide use were publicly promoted for pro se use and were posted on the State Law Library of Montana Web site.

 

Both MLSA and the SRL Commission discovered that the forms were difficult for self-represented litigants to complete on their own and time-consuming for pro se litigants and advocates to complete at self-help clinics. (Judges also occasionally expressed displeasure that the forms filed with the courts were handwritten, difficult to read, and long.) The two organizations began to search for a possible solution that could simplify form preparation. When MLSA heard about the NPADO server, HotDocs was proposed as a potential solution and a TIG was submitted.

 

In Idaho, ILAS began building their collaborative relationships with the Courts and other legal programs by initiating and taking part in the Idaho Supreme Court Delivery of Legal Services Council. The Council was started in 1998 in an effort to coordinate responsibility for low-income legal services in Idaho. Around the same time, the Idaho Supreme Court Access Committee developed a sub-committee that created nearly 300 standardized pro se forms. That same year the Access Committee launched the Court Assistance Office Project (CAOP), whose current director is Judge Michael Dennard. CAOP was developed to distribute and help self-litigants with forms, provide an array of consumer-related information and offer referrals for legal assistance. CAOP now has a presence in 44 counties across Idaho.

 

Judge Dennard attended a Court Technology Conference in early 2004 where the A2J Authoring tool was introduced. A demonstration of the tool sparked the interest of Judge Dennard by offering a low-cost, creative and innovative technology that could be used to improve the experience of self-represented litigants. At the same time, Idaho Legal Aid Services had plans to use HotDocs document automation software for internal staff use. When LSC TIG grants were announced, Idaho Legal Aid Services contacted the ISC Administrative Offices of the Courts to explore the possibilities of a collaborative effort and thus, the partnership on the project began.

 

With TIG funds ILAS hired a HotDocs developer to create the templates and A2J interviews. The Idaho Court Assistance Offices (CAO) Project Standard Forms Committee (SFC) which is made up of a diverse group of attorneys and judges throughout the state, reviews forms prior to their automation. Once the forms are available the CAOP will assist self-represented litigants in accessing the forms.

The CAOP was selected by the American Judicature Society as one of the projects to be showcased at the National Conference on Pro Se Litigation in November 1999. The National Association of Interest on Lawyer's Trust Accounts Programs selected the CAOP as one of six innovative pilot projects to be featured in its report, “Replication and Innovation in Legal Services”, in July 2000.

Challenges Faced and Solutions Found

Creating an easy-to-use system.

While the Montana Self-Represented Litigants Commission-approved dissolution and parenting plan forms were created with self-represented litigants in mind, they were still difficult to use. Getting a dissolution or establishing a parenting plan requires the litigant to understand several complex concepts, such as jurisdiction, division of debts, and division of parenting time. By using the knowledge of the SRL Commission and MLSA attorneys, the project leaders were able to create help features within the automated forms to guide self-represented litigants through difficult concepts and refer them to additional assistance if necessary.

 

Additionally, creating a system that required self-represented litigants to use computers to complete the forms raised some concerns. Through feedback from the SRL Commission (and the entities that its members represent), the interview associated with the automated forms has been simplified and made easier to use for those with limited computer experience.

 

Preventing and limiting errors by self-represented litigants.

The Montana SRL Commission-approved dissolution and parenting plan forms are only for use under specific circumstances. One of the largest concerns from judges and advocates regarding the existing forms was that they frequently were incorrectly filled out and occasionally, the self-represented litigants completed the wrong forms.

MLSA and the SRL Commission took these concerns seriously and brainstormed potential solutions for problems. After several conversations, the partners decided to implement features that would assist self-represented litigants with choosing the correct forms and check for errors on certain exceptionally problematic fields.

 

Developing forms that can easily be changed by developers but not by users.

The first obstacle faced in the ILAS Pro Se Project was trying to develop HotDocs templates based on forms that were still changing and being revised. The initial plan was to create PDF templates (versus RTF/ Word templates) in order to decrease changes that litigants might make to forms after they were downloaded. However, in the process of development any time the committee made a change, the developer had to recreate that form's PDF template, which slowed the progress of the project substantially. In order to make the project proceed in a more efficient manner, it became crucial that the templates be created in RTF/Word format not PDF.

In order to deal with concerns over changes made to the forms by the public, instructions are provided with each form packet. These instructions warn users that any changes made to the forms will result in the forms being no longer acceptable by the courts.

 

Usability testing.

The Idaho project is currently in the usability testing stage and one of the primary challenges faced in this regard is the need to have advocate-monitored usability testing. Unfortunately, the walk-in traffic in an Idaho Legal Aid Services office is minimal. Here ILAS' partnership with the courts also became critical and helped to overcome this hurdle. The ISC's Court Assistance Office Project is going to conduct and monitor usability testing of the online interviews throughout their 25+ statewide offices. This cooperation will not only assist in the usability testing, it will also give the project exposure and help to cultivate future collaboration with the Court Assistance Office staff.

 

Overcoming concerns of liability.

Because ILAS and ISC are providing standardized tools for self-litigants to represent themselves rather than providing direct individual advice and assistance to clients, there has been an underlying concern regarding liability.

• Are the instructions clear enough?
• Will self-litigants have a clear understanding of what is required of them both in the forms and in the courtroom?
• Will there be any sort of backlash from users who are unsuccessful in their attempt to represent themselves using the tools?

These concerns have been addressed by providing step-by-step instructions for self-litigants, which will be provided with every packet of assembled forms, including tips for courtroom conduct; by outlining and posting eligibility requirements on the ILAS and ISC websites; by providing training to all advocates who will be assisting self-litigants in completing the online forms; and by including disclaimers where necessary to make self-litigants understand that the tools for individuals who wish to represent themselves and the information should not be construed as legal advice.