{"id":499,"date":"2023-05-15T01:39:33","date_gmt":"2023-05-15T00:39:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sfbayareadivorce.com\/?p=499"},"modified":"2023-05-15T02:41:39","modified_gmt":"2023-05-15T01:41:39","slug":"representing-yourself-pro-se-or-in-pro-per","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sfbayareadivorce.com\/?p=499","title":{"rendered":"Representing yourself Pro Se or In Pro Per"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

I am not an attorney and neither can I or will I give legal advice but the quote from ABRAHAM LINCOLN who said: \u201cA man who represents himself, has a fool for a client\u201d comes to mind when someone wants to represent themselves in family court !<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here are my reasons for being extra cautious when considered representing yourself in family court:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \n
  1. You are emotionally compromised. You will find it very hard to represent yourself logically and dispassionately<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  2. Judges don\u2019t like \u2018amateurs\u2019 in their court rooms. They want things done smoothly and very rarely have I seen a judge treat the pro se party with patience and respect<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  3. The experienced attorneys don\u2019t just know how to develop a good litigation strategy they also have relationships with other attorneys (opposing counsel) and judges sometimes, and most importantly they know how the system works<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  4. The administrative challenges of a court proceeding are fairly extensive. Experienced attorneys have paralegals who handle the details. A Pro Se party will struggle just keeping up with all the procedural minutae; there are a few services that offer \u2018paralegal\u2019 style services but these are the exception and not the rule.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n

    Now having said that, if you are forced to go Pro Se and represent yourself , for example because you are out of funds, then there are some things to be aware of which are outlined in the following Representing yourself<\/a> by the California Courts .<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    The quote from ABRAHAM LINCOLN who said: \u201cA man who represents himself, has a fool for a client\u201d comes to mind when someone wants to represent themselves in family court !<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_bbp_topic_count":0,"_bbp_reply_count":0,"_bbp_total_topic_count":0,"_bbp_total_reply_count":0,"_bbp_voice_count":0,"_bbp_anonymous_reply_count":0,"_bbp_topic_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_reply_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_forum_subforum_count":0},"categories":[29],"tags":[36,38,35,37],"yoast_head":"\nRepresenting yourself Pro Se or In Pro Per - SFBayAreaDivorce.com<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Representing yourself in family court in California can be a very risky proposition because the system is set up against all non-attorneys\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/sfbayareadivorce.com\/?p=499\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Representing yourself Pro Se or In Pro Per - 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