Los Angeles Times
Tuesday, June 18, 2002
Free Legal Assistance as Close as a Keyboard
State experimenting with video kiosks to help litigants file
forms and get basic advice.
Monte Morin
Times Staff Writer
When single father Thurman Williams needed help filling out
papers in a custody suit recently, he didn't look to his lawyer for
help. He walked to a computerized kiosk at the Lamoreaux Justice
Center in Orange and started tapping the keys.
As part of a legal experiment, litigants without lawyers across
California are using computerized video kiosks to prepare common
court filings and seek basic legal advice.
The kiosk used by Williams is part of a statewide effort to cope
with a flood of litigants who cannot afford or refuse to hire
lawyers. Court officials statewide fear the number of
self-represented litigants has reached crisis levels and threatens
to clog court calendars.
Like Williams, more than 6,000 Orange County litigants have
initiated court actions on I-CAN! kiosks or accessed the programs
on the Internet, using home computers. Similar programs are
operating in Sacramento, San Diego and Ventura.
A recent study of the kiosks' first 18 months of operation
concluded it is too soon to tell if the system will relieve
pressure on court calendars. But the report, by UC Irvine's School
of Social Ecology, said users were overwhelmingly positive about
the free legal assistance.
"It's made life a lot easier for me," Williams said. "It's
helped keep me from going to the poorhouse."
The 29-year-old Orange resident was directed to a kiosk in the
Lamoreaux Justice Center by court staff. After putting on
headphones and following the directions of a videotaped instructor,
Williams filled out a quarter-inch stack of paternity and custody
documents. The exercise took 20 minutes; it would have cost him
about $800 if he had relied on a lawyer, he said. "It was a lot
easier than I thought."
Whether they can't afford a lawyer or just want to save money,
more Californians are going to court without a lawyer.
"I'm just amazed at the numbers," said Commissioner Salvador
Sarmiento, who hears between 40 and 90 child-support cases a day in
Lamoreaux Justice Center. "Eighty percent of the cases I hear
involve people representing themselves. These cases can take 50%
longer to process than others."
Sarmiento said the kiosks have put many cases on the fast
track.
"Most people who appear before me without attorneys are real
nervous," Sarmiento said. "They don't know what to expect and they
want to tell me everything. It's an opportunity for them to vent. A
lot of what they say is irrelevant. When they go to the kiosks
though, I get the information that I need so I can rule."
Of the 4.3 million state residents who find themselves in court
each year, more than half are pro per, or self-represented
litigants. The phenomenon is particularly evident in family courts,
where fewer than 16% of all child- support cases involve parents
who are both represented by lawyers. Also, 80% of all
domestic-violence cases are handled without lawyers.
The State Bar of California has characterized the trend as "the
pro per crisis in family law" and the State Judicial Council has
established a task force on the matter.
The Legislature has attempted to address the problem by
establishing family- law facilitator offices throughout the state
to help litigants in child-support matters. In courts such as
Orange County's, the offices have offered workshops for litigants.
Classes often have two-month waiting lists.
In Van Nuys, officials last year established the Self-Help Legal
Access Center, in which people can seek legal help from computers
and volunteers.
I-CAN! Kiosks are in eight locations, including the Orange
County district attorney's office, Irvine City Hall and the
Fullerton and San Juan Capistrano libraries. However, the busiest
location is in the Lamoreaux Justice Center.
At the Family Law Information Center, where open boxes of
tissues are displayed as prominently as forms for initiating
divorce, custody and child- support proceedings, office assistant
Beatrice Contreras said there is often a line of people waiting to
use the two machines.
Employing interactive video- and touch-screen technology, the
kiosks guide users through the bureaucracy of obtaining
domestic-violence restraining orders, establishing child custody,
responding to child support and eviction orders, initiating
small-claims suits and requesting waivers for legal filing
fees.
The kiosks give instructions in English, Spanish and Vietnamese
and offer users video tours of court complexes and primers on what
to expect during court hearings.
"People like it because they say it's fast and easy and
especially because they don't have to pay for an attorney. They
really like that," Contreras said.
There still are some bugs in the system. Among users'
complaints: the small, immobile keyboards are sometimes difficult
to use, and the touch screens have to be tapped in just the right
way.
"Mostly it's good comments though," Contreras said. "People will
come in here very confused and very sad and not know what to do.
Once they work with the computer and finish, you can tell they're
not as sad. They're glad that they're getting some help."
