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MASSACHUSETTS
TRIAL COURT AWARDED GRANT FOR STATEWIDE CONFERENCE ON LITIGANTS
WITHOUT LAWYERS
Boston—The Administrative Office
of the Trial Court has been awarded a $39,500 grant from the
State Justice Institute in Alexandria, Virginia, to conduct
a Statewide Conference on Unrepresented Litigants. The grant
will fund a conference for judges, lawyers, and court personnel
in an effort to address the challenges presented by the increasing
number of people who represent themselves in court, known
as pro se litigants, many of whom have inadequate access to
legal representation.
The
grant was requested in a Concept Paper submitted by the Administrative
Office of
the Trial Court with support from Supreme Judicial Court Chief
Justice Margaret H. Marshall. The Chief Justices of the District
Court, the Housing Court, and the Probate and Family Court
also submitted letters in support of the Concept Paper. Pro
se litigants are commonly involved in cases involving evictions,
restraining orders, and family support proceedings, with resulting
implications for not only the pro se litigants themselves,
but also the judges, court staff, attorneys, and represented
litigants.
The
Massachusetts Statewide Conference on Unrepresented Litigants
will be modeled on a National Conference held in November,
1999 in Scottsdale, Arizona, which was attended by a State
Team appointed by Chief Justice for Administration and Management
Barbara A.Dortch-Okara. The State Team is comprised of Suffolk
Probate and Family Court First Justice Elaine M. Moriarty;
Edward Notis-McConarty, a partner in the Boston law firm of
Hemenway & Barnes and Chair of the Boston Bar Association
Task Force on Unrepresented Litigants; Harvey J. Chopp, Court
Administrator of the Housing Court Department of the Trial
Court; and Sandra A. Caggiano, First Assistant Clerk in East
Boston District Court.
The Team
prepared a State Action Plan which was submitted to the American
Judiciature Society. The State Action Plan proposed four initiatives:
(1) a statewide conference to address issues on unrepresented
litigants; (2) training for judges, clerks, and court staff;
(3) establishment of self-help centers to make the courts
more accessible and to ease the burden on clerks’ offices;
and (4) designating pro se facilitators in each court.
The
first initiative proposed in the State Action Plan served
as the basis for the Concept Paper, which led to the grant
from the State Justice Institute. The State Justice Institute,
established by Federal Law in 1984, awards grants to improve
the quality of justice in state courts. According to SJI,
the Massachusetts proposal was selected as one of four to
receive an "accelerated award" from the State Justice
Institute.
Two
recent reports from the Probate and Family Court Department
of the Trial Court and the Boston Bar Association Task Force
on Unrepresented Litigants found that a growing number of
people are representing themselves in court, both nationally
and in the Commonwealth. For example, according to the reports,
at least one spouse is unrepresented in two-thirds of the
divorce cases in the busiest courts in Massachusetts. The
studies describe the issues arising from the growth in pro
se litigation and recommend ways to improve access to justice
for unrepresented litigants in court, as well as to reduce
the stress on a judicial system designed for parties represented
by lawyers.
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