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Bar News - November 8, 2002 Morning Mail - 'Channeling Marie Antoinette' on the Pro Se Issue 'Channeling Marie Antoinette' on the Pro Se Issue I am astonished by attorney Fisher's comments (see Oct. 18 Bar News, page 6 or "Recent Letters to Bar News" under Publications on this site) regarding pro se litigants. By telling pro se litigants to get a lawyer or take a walk, he is just channeling Marie "Let them eat cake" Antoinette. Believe it or not, in the 23 years since I graduated law school, I've seen licensed professional lawyers also ask repetitive questions, employ their extensive knowledge for purposes of delay and obfuscation, and waste valuable court time and judicial resources while running up bills that are the reason that the poor and middle class are forced to go it alone. This is not a professional vs. pro se issue and judges and clerks are perfectly capable and have the necessary enforcement tools to keep both lawyers and pro se litigants focused. Until we get rid of this all-or-nothing system, which requires persons of moderate means to either hire a fully licensed professional lawyer or proceed pro se without any assistance, we will continue to experience these frustrations and encourage inefficiency in the use of judicial resources. The solution is to simplify and streamline the basic processes and rules for routine litigation, publish and distribute these rules to pro se litigants; encourage mediation of conflicts, rather than the adversarial system; and end the licensed bar's monopoly on the provision of legal services. This monopoly can be ended by creating and promoting objective certification schemes for a wide variety of service specialties that will enable more people to provide the services that are so obviously in short supply under the present system. Charles Cross
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