Do You Really Need a Lawyer to go to Court?

The idea of appearing in court without a lawyer can be tempting. A good lawyer can be a significant expense, and the legal fees associated with one can quickly climb to thousands of dollars. As such, many Canadians appear in court as Self-Represented Litigants, or “SRLs”. A self-represented litigant is an individual who is representing themselves in a court of law in place of a lawyer, saving themselves the cost of paying a lawyer in the process.

While the benefits of self-representation may seem obvious, it actually comes with significant legal, financial, and emotional risks. Studies conducted by the National Self-Represented Litigants Project and the Government of Canada show that self-represented litigants frequently make significant procedural mistakes, resulting in poorer outcomes or even higher financial costs than if they had hired a lawyer.

Self-Represented Litigants Frequently Make Significant Mistakes that Jeopardize their Case.

No matter how much research they perform, most self-represented litigants are unprepared to fully assert their rights in court. Due to the risks of misinterpretation and lack of understanding, they frequently jeopardize their own cases by making significant procedural errors.

Unfortunately, a self-represented litigant will struggle to find help within the justice system once they have made these errors. As the justice system is designed to remain impartial and fair to both sides on a legal matter, members of the justice system often cannot assist a self-represented litigant when they make these mistakes, as such an act can appear biased against the opposing party. In addition, there are innumerable courtroom procedures that self-represented litigants are often unfamiliar with, but expected to uphold. The failure of a self-represented litigant to do so due to their lack of experience becomes a burden to the litigant, as a court cannot provide them any special consideration for their lack of training.

Self-Represented Litigants have Worse Outcomes in all Areas of Law.

Even when self-represented litigants are successful, their lack of training often leaves them unprepared to assert their rights and pursue appropriate remedies. A study conducted the Justice Department of Canada found a significant number of impacts on self-represented litigants, including:

• The inability of self-represented individuals to have their rights upheld, as they are incapable of standing up for them,

• A lack of understanding regarding the severity of the consequences, such as the impacts of a negative judgment or criminal record,

• The imposition of conditions or sentences that are impossible for the self-represented litigant to fulfill, which must then be altered when the litigant inevitably violates them,

• More severe sentences in criminal matters.

  
  

The statistics for convictions in Canadian criminal cases found in the same study also indicated worse outcomes for self-represented litigants; 88% of self-represented litigants who entered a plea in their criminal cases were convicted, compared to 73% of litigants who retained private counsel.

Personal Conflicts can Affect Outcomes.

Did you know that even lawyers rarely represent themselves in a courtroom? One major benefit of having a lawyer is that a lawyer can provide you with unbiased, impartial legal advice about the specifics of your matter. Self-represented litigants are often emotionally involved in the specifics of their matter, as they stand to gain or lose significantly based on its outcome. As such, they may make detrimental decisions regarding their matter based on their desired outcome, rather than the best realistic outcome available to them.

It is important to remember that in many cases, the best outcome a particular litigant can hope for is not necessarily what they consider ideal. With a lawyer, a litigant retains the ability to decide the overall direction of their matter, but can do so with the expert advice of a highly trained legal professional whose goal is to advocate for the best possible result for their client.