|
 Written by NSRLP Advisory Board Member Jeff Rose-Martland; originally published on Slaw, Canada’s online legal magazine.
[Jeff Rose-Martland is a writer and SRL from St. John’s, Newfoundland, and member of NSRLP’s Advisory Board.]
Envision a self-represented litigant. Did you get a picture of someone in court, poorly dressed, who doesn’t know what they are doing? I see that, and I am an SRL. The more-accurate mental image of a person at their dining table struggling with legal documents until the wee hours rarely comes to mind. Possibly because it’s draining to even consider, let alone do. In point of fact, a courtroom may not even be involved; there are a variety of circumstances that will turn one into self-rep.
If asked when I became an SRL, I respond with my most recent matters. But recent discussions have caused me to realize that I’ve actually been doing this for most of my adult life. Because we focus on the Self-Rep-In-The-Courtroom, we forget all the other circumstances where DIY-lawyering happens. All those boards, tribunals, appeals boards, and the lesser, limited jurisdiction, courts, where supposedly lawyers aren’t used: small claims, traffic, bylaw/ticket offences, etc. I certainly forgot all of that. When I stopped to consider those situations, I discovered I’ve actually been a self-represented litigant for about 30 years.
My first go was in criminal court. It wasn’t anything serious: I was facing Possession of Alcohol by a Minor. I’d been 18 rather than the required 19. I didn’t even speak to a lawyer, let alone retain one. I didn’t see the point: I’d been carrying a half-case of beer. No point in dragging that experience out. I plead guilty, accepted my fine, and got on with life. It was an eye-blink of time, decades ago, and so trivial that I didn’t even think about it making me an SRL.
Sometimes government can make you represent yourself. That happened when I appealed a student loan decision back-when; I was told I wasn’t permitted to have a lawyer when I appeared at the tribunal. Which implies a less formal, more easygoing affair. Except that the tribunal consisted of a panel of a dozen or so government lawyers. This unfairness was further magnified by the board demanding to know the legal grounds for my appeal, legislation and precedent. What??? My half-complete electronics program hardly prepared me for that. For that matter, I’m pretty sure I couldn’t have even tracked down the legislation, as the government of the time tended to refuse to hand out information to private individuals. Obviously, the board ruled there were no grounds for any appeal and I was contemptuously dismissed. Arrogant glares chased me from the room...
Continue Reading
|
