A team of researchers produced a new report, “Accessing Justice with Zoom: Experiences and Outcomes in Online Civil Courts,” which found more than 80% of unrepresented litigant respondents were able to access online civil court proceedings remotely.
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Montgomery Superior Judge Daniel Petrie is the most recent trial court judge to be featured in Indiana Lawyer’s Spotlight series, which focuses on judicial officers in more rural areas of the state.
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Getting legal resources to low-income litigants is a major struggle both nationally and on Hoosier soil. According to the Legal Services Corporation 2022 Justice Gap Report, low-income Americans do not get any or enough legal help for 92% of their substantial civil legal problems.
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A pair of complaints filed in 2021 by Pendleton Correctional Facility inmate Danny Johnson is showing the lawsuits can add to the frustration and sadness felt by the families who have relatives behind bars.
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A man’s displeasure with his appointed counsel in a manslaughter case did not require a trial court to replace the public defender the morning of a sentencing hearing, the Court of Appeals of Indiana affirmed Wednesday.
A defendant who unsuccessfully defended himself in federal court and who was found in criminal contempt for refusing to answer a prosecutor’s question did not find any relief from his firearm conviction or the contempt finding at the 7th Circuit.
There’s an emotional cost that comes with a divorce, but the process also involves dollars and cents.
A trial court did not err when it found a man charged with stalking and invasion of privacy forfeited his right to self-representation, the Court of Appeals of Indiana affirmed in an interlocutory appeal.
A growing number of Indiana counties are finding ways to connect pro se litigants with legal assistance.
A man convicted after pointing a gun at police failed to convince the Court of Appeals of Indiana that he should not have been allowed to proceed pro se. While the COA agreed that an attempted murder charge was improper, it did not find fundamental error.
The Lake Circuit Court has launched a new self-help center for litigants who are representing themselves but need some guidance.
Having watched people become intimidated and fearful as they try to represent themselves in court while struggling to understand legal system, Leigh Carpenter jumped at the chance to join what she sees as providing much-needed help.
Utah is one of just four states that allow nonlawyers to obtain limited licenses to provide legal advice and counsel.
A man facing a death penalty charge in the fatal shooting of an Indiana police officer has asked a judge to represent himself, and his appointed attorney wants to withdraw from the case.
At the Lawrence Township trustee’s office Tuesday afternoon, court officials and community leaders unveiled the first of 120 civil legal help kiosks that will be deployed to individuals trying to navigate the legal system themselves.
The Historical Society of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Indiana’s is hosting a CLE event this week focused on federal criminal defense of indigent litigants.
A divided American Bar Association Standing Committee on Ethics and Professional Responsibility released a formal opinion Wednesday seeking to clarify the interpretation of a model rule about self-represented lawyers’ communications with represented parties in a case.
Virtual hearings have been touted as providing easier access to the courts for low-income and self-represented litigants. But in a recent study, The Pew Charitable Trusts concluded the online judicial system is still designed for lawyers, and those parties without attorneys continue to be at a disadvantage.
Indiana University Maurer School of Law professor is leading a study that takes a closer look at how the technology that made virtual hearings possible is helping — and hindering — pro se parties.
Nearly 20 years’ worth of data tracking trends of federal civil pro se filings show that civil rights cases make up the second-highest percentage of filings, next to pro se prisoner cases. In recent years, a growing number of those cases have targeted law enforcement or other government actors.
Indiana attorneys interested in joining the pool of volunteers at the Southern Indiana District Court are invited to attend a one-hour training session in October to learn more about representing indigent litigants as part of the court’s recruited counsel program.
With an ultimate goal of improving access to justice in family law cases, the Family Law Taskforce of the Indiana Supreme Court’s Innovation Initiative nailed down more than a dozen recommendations, with five being considered “essential for reform.” Now, that final report is headed to the Indiana justices.
A Boone County murder defendant convicted and sentenced to life without parole failed to convince a majority of the Indiana Supreme Court that the trial court improperly denied his request to proceed pro se. The majority provided an analysis for considering pro se requests in capital and LWOP sentences, but minority justices raised concerns about the majority “till(ing) new constitutional soil.”
A woman whose request for appointed counsel was denied will receive a new trial on her misdemeanor marijuana conviction after the Indiana Court of Appeals determined her constitutional right to counsel was violated.