Submitted by csharkey on Wed, 09/20/2006 - 1:31pm.
By: Sheila Fisher, Pennsylvania, 2005
Automating forms for use by legal staff or other professionals is a moderately simple task; the “automator” (person building the document assembly template) can expect legal and computer literacy from the staff using the templates. You can freely use legal terms and expect they will be understood and recognized. The automator can also assume literacy with computer functions, such as scrolling and navigational buttons, and that answers will be entered correctly, with proper capitalization or in complete sentences, if necessary.
Automating forms for use by pro se clients, however, is often a challenge. The automator must not only understand how to organize information, but develop questions that blend simplicity, clarity, and brevity. Making things easy to understand is often a hard thing to do.
Challenges Faced by Pro Se Clients
These standards change completely when building templates for use by low-income clients. Clients may have any number of challenges in preparing their own legal documents:
- They may not know legal terms or concepts, and may never have been involved in a court case before;
- They may be stressed or emotional about their legal problem, which may unsuitably show up in their response to questions;
- They may be under-educated or lack advanced literacy skills (in English or with a computer);
- They may be impatient, unconcerned or reluctant about answering all the questions in the interview;
- They may not be impressed with the seriousness of enlisting the court to resolve their problems; or
- They may lack confidence to prepare their legal papers, let alone pursue their case, on their own.
Structuring the Template
These considerations put the onus on the automator to structure the interview so that the pro se client is able, and is directed, to give accurate, appropriate and sufficient answers throughout the interview. Here are some tips to remember.
Initial Screens. The automator should keep in mind that the pro se user's goal is to have a legal document in ready-to-file format at the end of the interview. Unfortunately, if clients are unaware of how long the document assembly interview might take or what type of information they need before beginning, they may get frustrated and give up before they've furnished enough information to prepare the legal document. An automator may want to consider dedicating some of the initial screens in an interview to letting the user know exactly what to expect, before getting into the meat of the legal problem.
Simplified Language. When the interview gets to the crux of the legal matter, the questions should appear non-legal, if possible. It is also essential that a user know what s/he is being asked. Speak to pro se users in colloquial English; avoid grammatical contortions that are rarely heard in everyday speech. Avoid "With whom do the children live?" in favor of " Who do the children live with? "
Examples. Give examples where format or other details are important, for example: Give each child's full name and birth date (Example: “Jane R. Miller, 2/14/2003”).
