Complete Legal Michigan Personal Injury Forms For Free

Surveys of judges, lawyers and other FJS professionals indicate that they believe the number of SRL s has increased over the last five years, estimating that between 50% and 80% of parties to civil/family actions are self-represented.

What is a self-represented litigant? All adult citizens have the constitutional right to represent themselves in court. If you represent yourself, you are called a "pro se", "pro per", or "self-represented" litigant and you are acting as your own attorney.

Del Rizzo says her number one rule in dealing with self-represented litigants is to ensure everything is in writing. ?I never ever deal with a self-represented litigant except in writing,? she says. ?Now that email is so well-used, there is really no reason why you would have to deal with anyone except for in writing.?

Filing takes place in the circuit court for the county where the incident occurred or in the circuit court for the county where the defendant lives. To start a civil action, a summons and complaint must be filed, filing fees must be paid, and all of the parties must be served with notice of the complaint.

Only a licensed attorney may give legal advice. In addition, a legal assistant or paralegal may not represent clients in court, establish an attorney's relationship with a client, or sign legal pleadings. These tasks must be completed by a licensed attorney.

Complaint/Petition Usually the first document filed in a lawsuit is the Complaint (or Petition), which provides an outline of the plaintiff's (petitioner's) case against the defendant (respondent).