American Bar Association Suggests the Public Can Increasingly Benefit from Unbundled Legal Services

      The ABA published a white paper in 2009 which analyzed the way state bar associations approach unbundled legal services and legal ghostwriting issues and suggested policy guidelines. Among their conclusions was an acknowledgement that many Americans cannot afford a traditional, full-service attorney, and that providing better access to attorneys offering unbundled legal services could improve our justice system.

     The paper states:

"[w]ith the input of lawyers, self-represented litigants can benefit from getting legal advice specific to their factual issues. Beyond mere advice, some pro se litigants also need direction on completing their forms in ways that not only make the forms legally compliant, but strategically advantageous to the litigant. They can benefit from document preparation that is not done merely mechanically, but executed with foresight and judgment.
Additionally, some pro se litigants can optimize their outcomes if they have a lawyer advocate their interests before the tribunal. This may not be necessary for the entire litigation, but only for a limited purpose. The added input from lawyers not only assists the litigants, but the courts, as well. The better the litigant is prepared, the more efficiently the court operates.
While judges would no doubt prefer fully represented litigants, the choice in most venues is a self-represented litigant who is well prepared or one who is not. Courts can avoid litigants who are in a procedural revolving door when those litigants have access to the services."

Read the White Paper: 

An Analysis of Rules That Enable Lawyers to Serve Pro Se Litigants, A White Paper by the ABA Standing Committee on the Delivery of Legal Services