Harvard’s Jim Greiner, randomized study guru, asks for help identifying model self-represented litigant courtroom scripts.
Specifically, he is working on a project in which litigants would be given written scripts that they could use orally in court to help them articulate formal legal defenses in small claims cases. An example might be a statute of limitations defense.
He wants to know if anyone knows of such scripts that might already have been drafted, or of any resources that might be helpful in drafting them. Such materials can be sent to him at jgreiner(at)law.harvard.edu.
Here is an example of a tool from MA–that shows a quizz format to help people learn about a specific topic. http://www.masslegalhelp.org/employment-unemployment/unemployment-insurance
And here are some interactive self help guides–that look at 1. process and then b. what a self help center does. The name of the facilitator who created this is Neil Bowman Davis, and he is in Napa County. They are scripts, but in a more graphical way.
http://prezi.com/qr-ovqpkbaq5/divorce-legal-separation-nullity/
http://prezi.com/8ryq7vve-j-d/napa-self-help-center/ (this one is an overview of the self help center—not process but services).
I am sharing a guide just published from UK that goes over the process for those w/out lawyers in England. It reads like a script, and it even provides witness sample statements, etc. http://www.judiciary.gov.uk/Resources/JCO/Documents/Guidance/srl_qbd.pdf. It would be great if NCSC could publish a similar guide for a generic US court, of limited jurisdiction.
Legal Hotlines might have these, for recorded libraries in IVR systems that callers can hear while they wait in line or to get a fax on that specific topic. Best to start w/the local hotlines–as the limits and defenses will vary by state. The other place to look at is at the small claim facilitator materials online, for the states/counties that have them. One place to start might be Contra Costa or Alameda county small claims facilitators. Lastly, looking at the LSC approved websites, under consumer, small claims, will probably yield some helpful results and self help guides–again these will all be local and not MA/Boston based. Start at http://www.lawhelp.org and then click state by state, looking into the consumer or even small claim tabs.