Another response to "Pro Se"

Scott Hyman

10/8/2009

Pro Se Blog Reaction



I was extremely surprised to find out that 1.8 million people represent themselves in court every year in New York alone. This is an astonishing number, and I have to imagine that it can only be due to a lack of common knowledge of the general public regarding the legal world. It is unfathomable that these people would attempt to represent themselves despite the fact that they have close to zero, if any, knowledge of the legal jargon or processes and that they basically go into the courtroom settings blind to any relevant information, as well as blind to the buzz saw that they are about to approach. The main reason people represent themselves is that they are not financially able to hire their own attorney, and this is a shame considering that hiring counsel with experience would inevitably increase a defendant’s chance of winning a case; this is one of the many problems with the legal universe today. I am actually currently doing an undergraduate research study for the University of Florida on Pro Se defendants, and I regularly witness defendants who would be much better off had they retained some sort of counsel.

-Scott Hyman