Impact of Self-Represented Litigant Innovations on Cost and Efficiency
The research shows self-represented litigant innovations improve court efficiencies, thereby allowing courts to serve more people without staff increases, as well as significantly improving the user experience by a number of measures. Some of the leading reports are listed below:
- The Benefits and Costs of Programs to Assist Self-Represented Litigants: Results from Limited Data Gathering Conducted by Six Trial Courts in California’s San Joaquin Valley (2009) Prepared by John Greacen for The Judicial Council of California's Center for Families, Children and the Courts
Reports: Statewide Evaluation of Court ADR (Maryland 2013)
The Maryland Judiciary commissioned independent researchers to conduct the following studies as part of its long-term commitment to build alternative dispute resolution (ADR) programs in Maryland and to provide the highest quality ADR services to
Report: Remote Appearances of Parties, Attorneys and Witnesses, A Review of Current Court Rules and Practices (SRLN 2017)
The Remote Appearances of Parties, Attorneys and Witnesses, A Review of Current Court Rules and Practices report is a follow up report to
News: Gina - LA's Online Traffic Avatar Radically Changes Customer Experience (Los Angeles 2016)
Meet Gina, the online assistant that is helping tens of thousands of people at the Los Angeles Superior Court handle their traffic citations online.
Resource: Resource Guide on Serving Self-Represented Litigants Remotely (SRLN 2016)
The Resource Guide provides options for courts and other entities interested in providing services to self-represented litigants using means that are not face-to-face, instead of, or in addition to, in-person alternatives
Article: A Restorative Adjudication Process Shows Promise (Teryl 2015)
In 2012, the Nova Scotia Human Rights Commission initiated a project to integrate restorative justice principles into an administrative agency.
News: Orange County, CA and the State of Texas Conduct User Experience Research and Learn that SRLs in Civil Cases Can E-File (Texas & California 2016)
What are we learning about self-represented litigants who e-file? Who are they? Where are they? What cases do they file? How do the tools work for them?
SRLN Brief: Procedural Fairness / Procedural Justice (SRLN 2015)
Research has shown that when defendants and litigants perceive the court process to be fair, they are more likely to comply with court orders and follow the law in the future—regardless of whether they “win” or “lose” their case.
SRLN Brief: How Many SRLs? (SRLN 2019)
National SRL Estimates from srln.org
Report: Making Self-Help Work: Bet Tzedek’s Conservatorship Clinic (Bet Tzedek 2013)
Since 2007, Bet Tzedek Legal Services has been running a self-help conservatorship clinic in partnership with the Los Angeles Superior Court.
Report: The Benefits and Costs of Programs to Assist Self-Represented Litigants (California 2009)
This Report was prepared by John Greacen for the Judicial Council of California, center for Families, Children and the Courts. Preliminary research conducted in courts in the San Joaquin Valley in California shows that self help services provided