CANNOT AFFORD A LAWYER?

Can’t afford a lawyer? How courtroom innovations help self-represented litigants Courts in New York, the U.K. and Windsor, Ont., are making life easier for the growing number of people who end up representing themselves. Share on Facebook Reddit this! Justice Fern A. Fisher, seen in her New York chambers, began a program to train volunteeer law students to help shepherd tenants with legal issues through housing court. An evaluation is beginning this summer that will help to quantify the success of these "navigators."VIEW 2 PHOTOSzoom TINA FINEBERG / THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Justice Fern A. Fisher, seen in her New York chambers, began a program to train volunteeer law students to help shepherd tenants with legal issues through housing court. An evaluation is beginning this summer that will help to quantify the success of these "navigators." By: Rachel Mendleson News reporter, Published on Sat Mar 21 2015 Navigating the courts without a lawyer is a gruelling and daunting experience that has become all too common among Ontario’s growing masses of self-represented litigants. The high cost of lawyers, combined with the erosion of legal aid and the proliferation of free legal resources on the Internet, has led to the justice system becoming what Julie Macfarlane, a law professor at the University of Windsor, describes as “a completely different universe.” The shift has been particularly seismic in the area of family law, where Macfarlane estimates that more than half of all litigants are now self-represented, numbers that are consistent across North America, the U.K. and Australia. The implications can be serious. Lori Murphy says high legal fees drove her to represent herself in a yearlong dispute against her ex-husband, after he filed a motion to have his unpaid child support erased. “It’s emotionally, financially and physically stressful,” said Murphy, whose ex was represented by a lawyer. “It consumed my whole life.” The gap between those who can afford a lawyer and those who qualify for legal aid is now so significant, says Macfarlane, that it’s “not something we’re going to be able to solve exclusively by putting more money in public legal services.” “We have to start figuring out how to deliver legal services differently,” she said. With this in mind, judges, law professors and volunteers are coming up with new ways to increase access to justice for self-represented litigants. Here is a look at how three jurisdictions are levelling the playing field. New York City When Justice Fern Fisher was head of New York City’s civil court in the early 2000s, she was struck by the fact that the vast majority of tenants in housing court, 98 per cent, did not have a lawyer. “Housing law in New York City is very complicated,” said Fisher, who is now deputy chief administrative judge for the city’s courts. “It’s also a crisis situation for the person who is about to lose their home.” So Fisher’s office started training volunteer law students to shepherd tenants through the system, making them aware of their possible defences and connecting them with social services. The initiative was formalized last February, on a pilot basis, when the state’s chief judge created the Court Navigator Program to assist unrepresented litigants New York City in the areas of housing and consumer debt, a first in the U.S., Fisher said. There are plans to expand the program this year to family court and uncontested divorces. Since launching, the program has included about seven paid and 60 unpaid navigators, which now include college students. There are rules about what navigators can do and can’t do — for instance, a navigator can help with scheduling proceedings and gathering relevant information, but can only address the court to answer factual questions, and is not allowed to perform any service that constitutes the practice of law. An evaluation beginning this summer will help to quantify the success of navigators, but Fisher said the anecdotal results are “very good.” “There are more defences being raised,” she said. “Our litigants clearly have a better feel about their experience in court.” The idea appears to be catching on: The Legal Information Society of Nova Scotia is currently reviewing the navigator program with an eye toward implementing it in that province, and Fisher says she has received inquiries from courts in other U.S. states. Windsor, Ont. Unlike some other jurisdictions, the Law Society of Upper Canada does not allow paralegals to practise family law in Ontario. According to Macfarlane, that’s a major hurdle in closing the access-to-justice gap. But there are other ways to help self-represented litigants besides providing legal advice. Last year, Macfarlane started a coaching program, matching law students with local self-represented litigants, a first in Canada, she said. As a volunteer coach, third-year law student William Good says he spent anywhere from two to three hours per week assisting a self-represented plaintiff in a civil case. He says his most notable contributions included listening and providing a rational perspective. “Most self-represented litigants just want somebody to hear them — being able to talk about their problem without somebody judging them,” Good said. In this case, he said the plaintiff largely “knew what her legal matters were.” “She needed somebody who could help her see through the mud of the whole issue,” he said. England and Wales For decades, courts in England and Wales have allowed trusted advisers without legal training — dubbed “McKenzie Friends” — to provide unrepresented litigants in family court with moral support, as well as assistance with note-taking and procedural matters. The role, according to a report in The Scotsman, dates back to a 1971 divorce case, where the unrepresented husband won the right to appeal on the basis that the judge had excluded his friend, who was trained as a lawyer in Australia but not in the U.K., to assist him at trial. More recently, McKenzie Friends range from volunteers to paid professionals, with fees that tend to be about 25 per cent of what lawyers charge, said Ray Barry, who has worked full-time as a McKenzie Friend in England’s Midlands region for nearly six years. Similar to the law student coaches in Windsor, Ont., and courtroom navigators in New York City, McKenzie Friends can provide pointers on legal procedure but can’t address the court. In response to concerns about the lack of regulation, Barry recently set up a trade association for McKenzie Friends, which sets out professional standards. “When someone goes into court as a McKenzie Friend, they can (now) present their credentials to the judge,” Barry said. “That will give the judge and the opposing lawyer a degree of confidence that the person will be competent in what they’re doing.”

CAN A LEGAL REGULATOR RESCIND A DECISION TO BRING DISCIPLINARY PROCEEDINGS?

The Australian Professional Liability Blog Inbox x The Australian Professional Liability Blog 04:39 (14 hours ago) to me The Australian Professional Liability Blog Can a legal regulator rescind a decision to bring disciplinary proceedings Posted: 20 Mar 2015 10:10 PM PDT The Supreme Court of Tasmania has made an important ruling in Legal Profession Board of Tasmania v XYZ [2014] TASSC 33 about the finality of decisions made by legal regulators at the end of disciplinary investigations. The decision suggests that in those jurisdictions with similar statutory provisions, until a disciplinary prosecution is launched, such decisions may be less final than I suspect many lawyers in Australia have previously believed. A decision of the Victorian Court of Appeal, which related to a different situation where one of two courses following a disciplinary investigation was gone down and completed and the professional regulator sought subsequently to go back down the alternative course, was distinguished: Kabourakis v Medical Practitioners Board of Victoria [2006] VSCA 301. Tasmania’s legal regulator decided, following an investigation, to launch a disciplinary prosecution of a lawyer. Counsel was briefed, and the regulator was advised that the investigation was incomplete and should be re-commenced. So the regulator rescinded its decision to prosecute before having commenced proceedings in the disciplinary tribunal and sought to re-investigate. The lawyer refused to cooperate, asserting that the regulator did not have the power to do so. The Court observed that once disciplinary proceedings were commenced, they could not be withdrawn without leave of the disciplinary tribunal, by virtue of a provision in the Tasmanian Legal Profession Act 2007. But prior to that stage having been reached, that Act did not cut-down the presumption provided for in the Tasmanian legislation in relation to the interpretation of statutes that a statutory decision maker may generally reverse or vary statutory decisions. The Court described the statutory decision to launch the disciplinary prosecution as ‘interlocutory’. I am not sure whether the same result would be produced in Victoria, but no one should assume without carefully considering that question that the Legal Services Commissioner may not rescind a decision to prosecute should exculpatory evidence come to light after deciding to prosecute and giving notice of such a decision. So, if a lawyer has missed his opportunity to respond to a ‘Murray letter’ setting out the Commissioner’s tentative conclusions following what is proposed to be the end of the investigation and providing a last chance to comment, and a decision to prosecute is launched, it may well be worth sending a response to the Murray letter promptly in the hope that the Commissioner will be convinced to substitute a different decision before it is too late and the prosecution is commenced. Equally, a lawyer who receives the benefit of a decision in a disciplinary complaint which does not involve prosecution ought not assume that that is necessarily the end of the matter. If a new witness were to come forward, or it became clear that the investigation was incompetently conducted in some way, or simply that a mistake had been made, the Commissioner might seek to rescind the original decision and reopen it.

MY APPLICATION TO THE REGISTRAR OF THE MAGISTRATES COURT AT FREMANTLE THAT IT MUST REMOVE THE FREMANTLE/MINOR/944/2007 FROM THE INACTIVE LIST ON THE GROUND OF EQUITABLE FRAUD

Nicholas Ni Kok Chin 387 Alexander Drive DIANELLA WA 6059 16th March, 2015 The Principal Registrar Magistrates Court of Western Australia 8 Holdsworth Street FREEMANTLE WA 6160 Dear Sir CASE NO. FREMANTLE/MINOR/944 OF 2007: CHIN V THIES I refer to your Notice that the above case is on the Inactive List dated 7.1.2015 and that it will be dismissed by the 7th day of July, 2015. In compliance to your request that I file an Application to remove it from the Inactive List, please find the attached Application in Form 23. I believe there is no requirement for me to file an Affidavit in Support as all the documentary proofs are in the various files in the various courts where my various appeals have been brought into and they are self-explanatory. It is for the judicial system to correct itself and right all the injustices done to me and it is not for me to further progress with this matter as I have done everything possible that are needed to be done. Thank you. Yours faithfully NICHOLAS NI KOK CHIN.

NAVIGATORS OR NON-LAWYER ADVOCATES: PEOPLE WITHOUT LAW DEGREES CONTRIBUTING TO THE LEGAL SYSTEM IN NEW YORK AND HERE YOU HAVE THE UGLY FACE OF LEGAL CORRUPTION DOING THE WRONG THING TO MEMBERS OF THE LEGAL PROFESSION:

http://jewishvoiceny.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=10361:annual-state-of-the-judiciary-address-remarks-delivered-by-nys-chief-justice-jonathan-lippman-part-3&catid=121:special-features&Itemid=325 NON-LAWYER ADVOCATES IN OUR FIGHT TO CLOSE THE JUSTICE GAP IN NEW YORK STATE, non-lawyers have been an increasingly powerful force. Two years ago, I asked Roger Maldonado and Fern Schair to chair a Committee on Non-Lawyers and the Justice Gap and to explore ways that people without law degrees could make meaningful contributions to helping low-income people with legal problems. Since then, we have established programs in Housing Court in Brooklyn and in consumer debt cases in Civil Court in the Bronx. These programs use “navigators” — trained non-lawyers — who provide an array of services, including information, guidance within the court house, and moral support. They assist litigants in completing do-it-yourself forms, assembling documents, identifying possible sources of assistance funding, and in certain cases, accompany litigants and answer factual questions in the courtroom. The Navigators help litigants understand the process and reinforce the timetables and responsibilities as set out by the court. The Committee recently completed a report that demonstrates a marked difference in the behavior of litigants accompanied by Navigators — a greater ability to more clearly set out the relevant facts and circumstances and a significant increase in use of relevant defenses for those litigants. We have shared the progress of this program with the New York State Bar Association, which also sees the great promise of this exciting new concept. I am pleased to announce today, that I intend to introduce legislation this year that calls for a further level of involvement by non-lawyers in assisting litigants. This proposal would codify a more substantial role for non-lawyers by establishing a category of service providers called “Court Advocates” in Housing Court and in consumer credit cases to assist low-income litigants. While there is no substitute for a lawyer, the help of a well-trained non-lawyer standing by a litigant’s side is far preferable to no help at all. We have already seen what a difference it can make. INDIGENT CRIMINAL DEFENSE PROVIDING QUALITY LEGAL REPRESENTATION FOR INDIGENT PERSONS accused of a crime remains both a legal obligation and a moral priority for our justice system. Recent developments strongly suggest that our state is now on a fast track to fulfilling the promise and mandate of Gideon v. Wainwright. The historic settlement last fall of the Hurrell-Harring lawsuit means that, for the first time, the State has acknowledged that it bears responsibility to set standards and provide funds necessary to ensure the high and uniform quality of representation for low-income people in criminal cases. Moreover, the settlement vests responsibility for implementation of its stringent provisions with the Office of Indigent Legal Services. Thus, the settlement honors two foundational and fundamental principles: that the quality of representation in cases legally mandated by Gideon is truly the responsibility of the State; and that the task of securing needed improvement in the quality of representation must be vested in an independent and professionally staffed office. Despite this welcome achievement, our efforts are far from over. The settlement terms—which, most importantly, require implementation of caseload limits and provision of counsel at first court appearance—apply only to five of the state’s 62 counties. And although the average institutional defender caseloads in those counties are currently too high — nearly 500 per attorney, well in excess of the nationally recognized limits —none of the five counties are among the 23 counties most in need, where average attorney caseloads exceed 700. We simply do not have the luxury of waiting indefinitely to make progress in the rest of the state. We must take full advantage of the momentum of the settlement and the effective blueprint it provides. That is why the Office of Indigent Legal Services is seeking $28 million from the Legislature for the upcoming fiscal year for what would be the first phase of a five-year upstate caseload reduction and provision of counsel at first appearance program. We can no longer tolerate the unacceptable circumstance in this state in which the quality of justice one receives is dependent on the happenstance of where one is charged and prosecuted. NATIONAL SUMMIT ON HUMAN TRAFFICKING AND THE STATE COURTS AQUALITY INDIGENT DEFENSE SYSTEM IS FUNDAMENTAL to access to justice, and fighting the evil of human trafficking is also a vital component of ensuring justice for all. The Judiciary has the ability to be a catalyst for change in addressing this problem, and New York leads the way in this regard, at the forefront in developing responses to sex trafficking. In 2013, I announced New York’s launch of the nation’s first statewide system of dedicated courts designed to intervene in the lives of trafficked human beings. I am pleased to announce today that on October 7-9, 2015, New York will host a National Summit on Human Trafficking and the State Courts. The Summit will be financed by a nearly half million dollar grant from the federally funded State Justice Institute, which has done such great work in this area through the State Courts Collaborative—of which New York’s Center for Court Innovation is an integral player. Building upon New York’s experience and expertise in Human Trafficking Intervention Courts, the Summit will provide a national platform for discussion among state court leaders and will further the goal of building national, state, and local partnerships to address the full scope of human trafficking. This groundbreaking Summit will be conducted in partnership with the National Center for State Courts, the National Conference of Chief Justices, and the National Conference of State Court Administrators. Individuals charged with prostitution-related offenses are overwhelmingly victims of trafficking, recruited or forced into the commercial sex industry. Jurisdictions and courts around the country are just beginning to recognize this phenomenon. The New York Summit will be a significant catalyst to raise consciousness about the nature, scale and scope of human trafficking, and the role of the state courts in combating this modern day form of slavery, where victims, at the youngest of ages, are exploited by a vast and evil industry. (To Be Continued Next Week)