Should You Represent Yourself in Court? How Do You Do It?

Conclusion

Video Transcript

In this video, you get answers to these questions:

• Why Would Somebody Want to Represent Themselves in Court?
• What Are the Qualifications for Representing Yourself in Court? 
• What Are the Pros and Cons of Representing Yourself in Court?
• What Are Some Cases Where You Might Be Able to Represent Yourself?
• What Are Some Cases Where You Might Not Want to Represent Yourself?
• Can You Represent Your LLC, Corporation, or Other Business in Court?
• How Can You Prepare to Represent Yourself in Court? 
• What Are the Risks of Self-Representation? 
• What Are Some General Rules to Take into Consideration When Representing Yourself?
• Is There a Legal Benefit to Representing Yourself? 
• What Does Pro Se and Self-Represented Litigant Mean? 
• Do Any Courts Prohibit Having a Lawyer?
• Should You Represent Yourself If You Are a Lawyer? 
• What Is the Right to Self-Representation? 
• What Steps Should You Take to Prepare for Representing Yourself in Court?
• What Are Common Mistakes People Make When Representing Themselves in Court?
• What Resources Are Available to Help You Represent Yourself in Court?

Should you represent yourself in court? How do you do it? Hopefully, you will get the answer to that question today as we talk through various scenarios and what the process is like in representing yourself.

Here is the situation. Imagine you are thinking about representing yourself in court. Maybe you have been sued. Maybe you are suing someone else, or maybe you have been charged with a crime. The question then comes up, do you represent yourself, or do you hire a lawyer? Lawyers are expensive. That is the main reason you wouldn’t want to hire a lawyer, and so you are trying to figure out, can you do this alone? Is it possible, and what about if you have an LLC or a corporation, or some other business? Can you represent that? We are going to talk about all of that today.

Before I do, a quick shout-out to Christopher. Christopher signed up for the little newsletter I have. It includes a free PDF, Seven Common Legal Mistakes Made by New Businesses, and then, on an ongoing basis, I send out videos to the people who are on that newsletter. There is no cost to it, but Christopher sent me a very nice response to that first email, and it was encouraging. And I just wanted you to know I am a real dude. I make these videos in my free time right now. It is Saturday afternoon. It is about 20 degrees outside. You can probably see some snow out the window.

My family is getting ready for a little birthday party, and I thought, “Hey, let’s do a quick video.” Sometimes, it feels a little bit empty, though, making videos to the camera like this, and so it means a lot when you comment in the comment section below on YouTube, or whatever platform you are watching us on, or when you sign up for the free newsletter that you send a little comment my way. So thank you to Christopher and thank you to all of you who have commented on these videos and especially your nice encouraging notes.

Why Would Somebody Want to Represent Themselves in Court?

All right, let’s get into it. Should you represent yourself in court? How do you do it? Let’s start out with why would somebody want to represent themselves in court. Usually, it is just to save money because lawyers are expensive. How much are they? In my experience, kind of the bare minimum I have seen is around $250 an hour. And that is for like a recent law school graduate. Somebody who is trying to get some experience in a particular area and may not have a lot of work. And then on the high end, you have, at the most, I have seen about $2,000 per hour. That is in New York. Those are big, complex cases with very experienced attorneys. On average, what I see is somewhere between $400 to $1000 per hour, depending on the level of experience, the complexity of the case, and the geographic area. Regardless, you are probably thinking there are times when I don’t want to hire an attorney. Can I do it myself? Well, we will cover that today.

What Are the Qualifications for Representing Yourself in Court?

Well, you have a right to do it, so anyone can do it. Whether you should depends on a few factors. For example, how much money is that issue? I mean, obviously, if it is a million dollars at issue, it is worth spending some money on a good attorney to move your case forward. But if it is a $500 case, it makes no sense to spend a thousand dollars or $5,000 on an attorney. So often, in a small claims case or conciliation court, sometimes called, you will be representing yourself.

So the first question is how large is the case. But here is some other questions. Do you have the ability to articulate your case in court? Some people are good at public speaking; some people aren’t. But when you are in court, the nerves take over. You have got people looking at you. You have got an opposing party who wants to beat you, and you have a judge who is intimidating. That is a stressful situation. So a lot of people right there just say, you know, I don’t do great in public speaking. I do even worse in intense situations like that. I don’t want to represent myself.

Here is another factor. Do you have the objectivity to present your case? What do I mean by that? Well, it can be difficult to be objective because we are naturally emotional and stressed about our own situations. Whereas, if we hire an objective attorney, that attorney doesn’t feel the same emotions. They are there to do a job, and that is to communicate effectively to the judge and communicate the things that are most important for the judge to understand. And so even lawyers will hire other lawyers to represent them because they know that they are too close to the situation. So that is another factor away. And of course, the money.

What Are the Pros and Cons of Representing Yourself in Court?

While the pros are you save money, at least in the short term, when you are paying for the attorney. And I am not here to suggest that you should hire lawyers. In fact, I say good for you if you can avoid spending money on an attorney.

But this is real talk on this video, and I am going to tell you, just like I wouldn’t recommend you do surgery on yourself, I would recommend you hire a surgeon. Most cases, you don’t want to be representing yourself in court. You might draft your own contracts. You might use ChatGPT T to put together a quick little contract for yourself. I always encourage people to file their own copyright registrations. Not trademark registrations, but copyright. And for non-disclosure agreement, you can often do those yourself. But going to court? That is another matter. Generally, you are not going to want to.

So what are the cons of representing yourself in court? First, you may not understand the law. Second, you might be too nervous or unable to communicate effectively in the court setting. Third, you may be too close to the situation, so you are either emotional, or you can’t objectively identify what are the key talking points to make to the court in a way that the court wants to hear it and on the topics the court wants to hear. And then finally, you may simply not understand the court rules, procedures, standards that are expected and the process. Now, some of that you can learn, especially if you do a lot of studying, but I will admit, I pro se parties, those are parties who are representing themselves, get crushed.

In fact, before I went to law school, I represented myself. I was driving down the road, and I took a left turn as a police officer was coming my way, and so I drove in front of the police officer. The police officer then, slowed down, turned, and pulled me over and said that I had turned too close to him, especially considering the weather conditions.

Well, I showed up in court. I had a recording of the state, weather hotline saying that the weather was fine that night. I had my own testimony. What I didn’t realize though, is that the recording was not admissible evidence because it was hearsay. It was somebody else’s voice, and they weren’t present in the courtroom to be cross-examined. So I made a mistake after mistake after mistake, and ultimately, the judge ruled against me. Now it was $150 fine, but hey, when you are 16 years old, that is a lot of money. The point is though, sometimes you just want to represent yourself. It didn’t make sense to hire an attorney in that situation.

What Are Some Cases Where You Might Be Able to Represent Yourself?

I think if it is a small criminal charge where it is not the end of the road. You know, we are not talking drunk driving, we are talking, something like a petty misdemeanor where it is $150 fine. Well, yeah, it probably doesn’t make sense for most people to go hire an attorney for that.

Or say you are suing somebody for $500. It doesn’t make sense to hire an attorney for that. Likewise, if you are defending yourself for $500 or even a thousand, it probably doesn’t make sense to hire an attorney for that. I no longer represent people in conciliation court, which is Minnesota’s term for small claims court, but when I did, I charged a fixed fee of $2,000 or $2,500, which means the case would have to be big enough. Usually, it had to be $10,000 or more before it even made sense to hire an attorney. So the small cases are the ones where you may just say, you know what, I am going to represent myself.

What Are Some Cases Where You Might Not Want to Represent Yourself?

Generally, it is going to be the high-stakes cases or the situations where you just feel too uncomfortable, too stressed, or complex areas of law.

Can You Represent Your LLC, Corporation, or Other Business in Court?

Can you represent your LLC, corporation, or other business type? Generally, no. Under the law, an LLC, a corporation, and most other registered business types are considered separate entities, and by law, they usually have to be represented by an attorney. Just like you can’t represent your friend unless you are an attorney, you can’t represent your corporation unless you are an attorney because the corporation is considered an individual under the law, likewise, with an LLC. There are some exceptions, and so you can check with your local court rules or even probably Google search to see if a non-attorney can represent an LLC, corporation, or other types of business. But the general rule is no; only licensed attorneys can represent business entities or other individuals.

How Can You Prepare to Represent Yourself in Court?

Well, there are some books out there, and there you can search the internet, but I would usually start with identifying what are the charges or claims at issue in the case. So if you have been charged with a crime, you can look up that crime typically in the statutes, and typically that charge has the statute number. So you can look that up, and you can figure out what is the charge and what are the elements of the charge. I am not a criminal defense attorney. I won’t go too deep into that. Likewise, though, if you have a civil dispute, so somebody else has sued you, or you have sued them, you are going to look up the elements of the claim.

So let’s say, for example, you have a breach of contract claim. The elements are going to be there was a contract, the contract was breached, the breach caused harm, and what was the actual harm or what were the actual damages? Or say it was negligence, say somebody was negligent and made some sort of mistake that caused harm. The elements of negligence are duty, breach causation, and harm. They had a duty to act as a reasonable person would. They breached that duty. In other words, their behavior did not rise to the level of that duty, and that breach caused harm. And the harm is the actual damages, the financial harm, or the other sort of damages that were caused.

So I would start in preparing to represent yourself by looking at the elements of the claim because each one of those have to be proven for a party to win. Next, I take a look at the court rules. Every court has a set of rules. There are rules for criminal court, there are rules for civil court, and every state and federal court has a whole set of rules, sometimes a couple of sets of rules.

Next, I would go observe some other court proceedings like yours. So you can see an example of what the process is like. This can be invaluable. So to do that, you just call up the court. Most court hearings are public, and you can just say, “Hey, I am looking to observe a court hearing of this type, whatever that type might be.” So maybe, it would be criminal court or conciliation court, or small claims court or housing court, or just regular civil court. Now, if your case is small, you will probably want to look at a small case. You don’t want to go to a case that is two weeks long because if you go sit there for even a morning, you are only going to see a little portion of that case.

Ideally, you want to see a case as long as yours will be. You can sit through it. You can see what it is like to have opening arguments. That is where both sides present their position. Then the presentation of evidence. And any witnesses and then closing arguments, that is typically the process used in court.

So those are the tips I have for preparing: understand the underlying law that is at issue in the case, understand the rules of the court, and then go observe a similar court proceeding, so you know what to expect.

What Are the Risks of Self-Representation?

Well, one of the risks is everything you say can and may be used against you, whereas a lawyer makes arguments when you are representing yourself. You are the witness; you are the party. And so everything you say you will be judged on, whether it is by a judge or a jury.

So we also talked about other risks; the other risks are you may be nervous, you may feel under pressure, you may not know what to say. You may not understand how to articulate the law in the way that the judge wants to hear, and you may be unfamiliar with the court rules and protocol which you are expected to follow.

What Are Some General Rules to Take into Consideration When Representing Yourself?

I would start by understanding the underlying legal issues. So if it is a breach of contract, if it is negligence, if it is trespassing, understand what that law is. Second, understand the court rules for your particular court. Third, observe the court. So that is good preparation general rules. Next, just some basic tips. Dress professionally, that generally means suit and tie or the equivalent, depending on what your style is. But you don’t want to be flashy. You want to be boring because it is all about communicating to the judge or jury, if you happen to have that, what you are talking about and not some sort of loud fashion statement.

So I would say no bright colors, no pastels, no neon, no fancy ties. Keep it simple. Let the attention beyond the face and what you are talking about. Also, you are more likely to avoid offending someone if your attire is unnoticeable. And that means just simple and professional. Always treat the judge with respect. That means address the judge as your honor. You don’t say, “Judge” in court. You say, “Your honor.” Typically, you are not permitted to speak to the other party directly. You speak to the court.

In general, you are not permitted to respond with a motion, size, comments, looks, anything; any sort of a reaction should be kept to a bare minimum or none at all. And that is because that is considered respectful to a court. Now, a lot of people who are not familiar with court think, well, if I act that way, it will seem like I am lying, or I am calloused, or I am a psychopath because normal people have emotional reactions. That is true in most of life, but in court, it is considered a sign of professionalism and respect to the court to not respond to the opposing party unless you are making an objection; for example, in that case, you make it respectfully, firmly, but you don’t throw a bunch of attitude in there.

Now, when doing opening arguments, it is very appropriate to have some emotion in there because you are telling a story. Likewise, in closing arguments, sometimes, you will even see parties or attorneys who will come to tears. That can be appropriate at times, but be careful with it because judges and juries are looking to see whether it is fake or manufactured, and in that case, it is not effective. It is undermining your effectiveness. At the end of the day, the question is whether you have integrity, and you should be believed, and the judge should rule in your favor. I once worked with a judge, and he said, very early in the case, I am making a gut-level assessment or a heart assessment. Who is the good person, and who is the bad person here?

In other words, judges will think with their minds and will analyze a case with their minds, but judges are also human. They have hearts, and so it is important to speak to both the mind and the heart of a judge, not ignoring one or the other. What I mean by speaking to the heart is demonstrating that you are a good person and you did the best you could. You operated in good faith, and the other side didn’t. I believe it is just as important to demonstrate the good intentions of my client as it is the key elements of the law because both are important to prevail in a case.

Is There a Legal Benefit to Representing Yourself?

Usually, no. In fact, I can’t think of any legal benefit or practical benefit of representing yourself aside from saving money on lawyer’s fees. Sometimes there is a comment that people make like, well if I hire a lawyer, doesn’t it make me look guilty? No. In court, judges assume people have lawyers because judges understand how complex the law is; how complex court rules are. So judges assume you will have a lawyer. It doesn’t look bad at all, and I have never heard of a judge or even a lawyer who thought it looked suspicious if somebody had an attorney representing themselves in court. It just makes sense.

What Does Pro Se and Self-Represented Litigant Mean?

Pro se is a Latin term and it just means you are representing yourself and self-represented litigant means you are in a lawsuit, and again, you are representing yourself. So two legal terms that are used for when you are representing yourself are pro se and self-represented. Those are the legal terms or phrases that are used to describe a party who is representing themselves and they don’t have an attorney.

Do Any Courts Prohibit Having a Lawyer?

Interestingly, there are some courts that do, or at least the rules will say you can’t have a lawyer unless you get permission from the judge. One example is the conciliation court in Minnesota. In Minnesota, you are assumed to be representing yourself, and if you are going to be represented by a lawyer, you need to get the judge’s permission in advance. So it may be small claims type courts where you are assumed to not have an attorney

Should You Represent Yourself If You Are a Lawyer?

Well, I love this old saying, the lawyer who represents himself has a fool for a client. What that means is a lawyer who is representing herself or himself is a fool because it is very difficult to pay attention to following the rules of court and arguing the best points, and also being the witness. Because think about it, when you are going to court, you are a witness of what actually happened in the events that are being litigated. And if you are representing yourself, you are also having to pay attention to court make arguments, which means make speeches, respond to the other side’s arguments and speeches, and be prepared to object when appropriate.

The job of a lawyer is hard enough than to add to it the job of a witness or a party. I think of it as very similar to if you were to have surgery, would you do surgery on yourself? Well, maybe in extreme circumstances where you have no other option. You know, for example, your arm is pinched under a rock, and there’s no help to be found. And if you just stay there, you will die. Maybe you would conduct surgery to disconnect a limb so that you could get to safety and you could get to help, maybe you would, but it is highly risky. Likewise, I would not do surgery on myself, and I would not represent myself unless the case were just so small that the stakes really didn’t matter and I could afford to lose.

What Is the Right to Self-Representation?

Well, everybody has a right to represent themselves and not have an attorney. You don’t have to have an attorney unless the court considers you incompetent to represent yourself. You are incompetent to represent yourself if you simply don’t have the ability to do the basic job of communicating in a court or making decisions or standing trial, so you have diminished mental capacity, for example.

For example, if you were under the effects of drugs or alcohol at the time of being in court. Obviously, you could not represent yourself in that hearing. If you had a mental disability that so diminished your capacity, the court could rule that you don’t have a right to represent yourself because you have diminished capacity. But otherwise, most people have a right to represent themselves and not have a lawyer represent them.

What Steps Should You Take to Prepare for Representing Yourself in Court?

I guess the first step is thinking about, do you really want to represent yourself in court? If the stakes are high, you don’t want to, but let’s assume they are not. Take a look at the underlying law and learn that. You can go to a law library for that. The law librarian can help you look up statutes or cases or laws. Take a look at the court rules. A law librarian can help you with that at a local law library or law schools typically have law libraries. Typically, you will find a law library in the county seat, so that is where the county courthouse is. And then finally, observe a similar proceeding in court. Contact your local courthouse and see if you can watch a case or two just to see what to anticipate before you are the one in court.

What Are Common Mistakes People Make When Representing Themselves in Court?

Common mistakes include being rude to the judge, talking over the judge, talking to the other party, because you are only supposed to talk to the judge unless it is the time for cross-examination and asking the other party questions. Other common mistakes include not dressing professionally, showing up late, not understanding what the court rules are, not understanding what the process is, and I think one of the mistakes I have seen is people coming in thinking that somehow they can use typical emotional stories to somehow win over the judge. I think this comes from watching stuff on tv, courtroom on TV, where somebody’s making a compelling argument and the background music is playing and it is triumphant and they are making incredible points. Rarely do I see cases where an emotional speech makes any difference, and I would say maybe I have never seen one. Why? Because it comes down to everything that leads up to that. Whether the evidence shows that a person did something right or wrong. If the judge has made up his or her mind at that point, an emotional speech isn’t going to win anybody over. So, I have seen people think that an incredible speech can make a difference when most of the cases are won or lost by the evidence and the presentation of the evidence and the organization of the presentation in court by the parties.

What Resources Are Available to Help You Represent Yourself in Court?

First, you can go to a law library, and the librarians there can be great at helping you research the legal issues, and the court rules for your case. Second, many courts have a self-help desk where you can go and get some basic information on what to expect in court, what the rules are, and other basic questions. They always tell you they can’t give you legal advice, but they can at least point you in the right direction so you can find some legal resources. Of course, you can also check out YouTube, ChatGPT, Google, etc., and try to find some other resources that might be relevant to your specific state or jurisdiction, your particular statute, or your particular case.

All right, so this has been a walkthrough in representing yourself in court, the pros and cons, when you might want to do it, when you might not. Obviously, business owners who are primarily who I work with are not going to represent their businesses in court, usually, because it is prohibited by law. Businesses generally have to be represented by a licensed attorney, and by the way, that attorney needs to be licensed in the state and in the court where your case is. So, for example, I am in Minnesota. If you are in New York fighting a case in New York Court or California Court, I can’t represent you.

Conclusion

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