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Perceptions of Remote and Walk‐In Service Delivery in Family Law Cases
Author(s) -
Summers Lonni,
Powers Bradley,
Walter Jamie
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
family court review
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.171
H-Index - 4
eISSN - 1744-1617
pISSN - 1531-2445
DOI - 10.1111/fcre.12443
Subject(s) - phone , service (business) , online chat , perception , videoconferencing , internet privacy , chat room , legal service , advice (programming) , psychology , law , business , public relations , the internet , political science , multimedia , computer science , world wide web , marketing , linguistics , philosophy , neuroscience , programming language
In recent years, the number of litigants representing themselves without legal counsel has increased across the United States. Courts have responded by creating programs and services to help litigants represent themselves. Self‐help centers nationwide use different models to deliver legal advice and information to unrepresented litigants. Some offer court‐based, walk‐in self‐help centers. Others provide services remotely via phone, web, email, video conferencing, and live chat. In Maryland, self‐help center services are offered at walk‐in centers and remotely by phone and live chat. This article examines litigants' perceptions of in‐person and remote delivery of legal advice and information on family law matters. Results revealed that all three service delivery methods have high satisfaction rates, but chat users were less likely to feel as though they knew what to do next. They were also less optimistic about their case than were phone or in‐person users.