Civil Proceedings - Self Representing?

[Cupcake]

Hi everyone,

Can anyone tell me if it is possible to be a self represented litigant for a civil suit for false accusations, defamation, perjury and making a false police report?


Thank you

 

[Sarah J]

Hi Cupcake,

Read the similar thread: "Can I Self represent My Personal Injury Claim?"

Short answer is, yes, but it will be difficult.

Apart from being very good at arguing in court, a lawyer's job is to research and understand legal cases and statute, to draw analogies, to know which argument has more weight due to past experience, to use correct legal terminology and citations, structure arguments in your case, present your evidence in the strongest possible light and poke issues with the other side's evidence, know evidentiary procedure and what to object to, any much more. If you are self-representing, you do not have the benefit of all this. In a matter such as defamation, one that comes down to case law analogies and arguing which evidence is "better" or "should be excepted as fact", where a lot of it comes down to relative strength of parties' evidence, arguing intangible issues, and quantifying damage, unless you have an extremely strong case, having a lawyer would be wise.