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The Toughest Nut: Handling Cases Pitting Unrepresented Litigants Against Represented Ones
Author(s) -
Engler Russell
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
juvenile and family court journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.155
H-Index - 19
eISSN - 1755-6988
pISSN - 0161-7109
DOI - 10.1111/j.1755-6988.2010.01054.x
Subject(s) - nut , law , frame (networking) , political science , engineering , law and economics , sociology , mechanical engineering
Cases pitting unrepresented parties against represented ones present immense challenges for family law judges. This article discusses the governing law, including the Canons of Judicial Conduct and cases applicable to the scenario, before turning to materials providing guidance for judges, including articles, protocols, guidelines, and bench guides. The article concludes by broadening the frame, since judges do not act in a vacuum. Solutions to the dilemmas facing judges involve not only judicial techniques, but initiatives to ensure that the litigants appearing before the judges are better able to handle their cases and an expansion of the availability of counsel.