Who operates the unbundled project?
What does the Self-Service Center do?
What is the relationship between the Court and the Bar regarding the unbundled project?
Who recruits for the panel?
What is the oversight procedure for the panel?
What types of services do the panel attorneys provide?
Were any changes made to the Rules of Professional Responsibility, Ethics, or Civil Procedure to accommodate the project?
Who refers clients to the panel?

Who operates the unbundled project?

The SelfServe Center. The Center is a public service of North Carolina's 26th Judicial District (Mecklenburg County) and is operated through the Trial Court Administrator's Office and primarily funded through the Administrative Office of the Courts. The Center opened in 1999 in response to an ever-growing need to address the trend in self-representation. It is located in the Civil Courthouse (800 E. Fourth Street, Room 212, Charlotte, NC 28202). Litigants find the Center through various means, the majority through flyers, brochures, and referrals from family members or friends who have used its services.

What does the Self-Service Center do?

The Center provides forms and filing instructions organized in packets. The packets are designed for people who choose to represent themselves on various topics. The topics below are included:

• child custody and visitation
  
• child support
  
• modification of custody
  
• modification of support
  
• contempt of any domestic order
  
• absolute divorce
  
• domestic violence
  
• motion in the cause for visitation (i.e. pending child support case)
  
• limited driving privileges
  
• name change for adult and minor
  
• small claims ($ or property owed and summary ejectment)
  
  

Neither the packets nor the SelfServe Center staff provide any legal advice or information. The Center also offers videos in both English and Spanish on the following topics: custody/visitation and support; absolute divorce; modification of custody/visitation and/or support; and contempt.

The videos take the litigant through the filing process. They are filmed on location, creating a visual for litigants so that they may observe the filing processes unfold in addition to reading about it in their packets.

The court forms are currently not published in Spanish. It is the goal of the SelfServe Center to have translated forms available within the next few months.

The SelfServe Center also offers free clinics on the 1st and 3rd Mondays of each month on the topics of Absolute Divorce and Custody, Visitation and Support, respectively. The clinics are held from 5:30 until 8:00pm and are conducted by attorneys from a local non-profit law firm. The clinic does not include legal advice, but the attorneys walk the litigants through filling out the forms and give some additional instruction and information about the process. If a person asks a question that is beyond the scope of the clinic, the attorney will refer the litigant to an attorney on the SelfServe Center's unbundled list or to the local and state bar Lawyer Referral Services. In addition, the staff and volunteers of the Court Clubhouse childcare facility provide free childcare for those attendees in need.

The SelfServe Center also offers flyers and community resource brochures. The staff of the Center guide clients toward local and state bar Lawyer Referral Services and to the unbundled list. There is no charge for referral to the local Bar's Lawyer Referral Services, but there is a limited fee once litigants are referred to an attorney (i.e. $50 for initial 30 minute consultation). After the initial consultation attorneys generally charge the client their normal hourly rates.

The SelfServe Center also helps to facilitate the 50B Domestic Violence Protective Order ex-parte process. Currently, plaintiffs can pick up packets to file for an ex parte order for protection from abuse and have their case heard by a district court judge during and after court business hours. The SelfServe Center is staffed with a magistrate who gathers information from the plaintiff, researches pending civil matters between the two and ensures that filing plaintiffs have the correct forms to file for an ex parte order. Until the courtroom has finished its official business for the afternoon, plaintiffs are sent on a walk in basis to the domestic violence courtroom for the district court judge to hear the matter. When court is down, the magistrate calls or pages the judge and reviews the information over the telephone. If the judge grants the ex parte order based on the facts alleged in the complaint, the magistrate facilitates the flow of paperwork in order to get the other party served for the 10-day hearing. If a plaintiff is seeking an order after hours, s/he is instructed to see the criminal magistrates located at the jail in order to have the process facilitated in the same manner. In this way, plaintiffs are given access to the possibility of relief at all hours of the day.

What is the relationship between the Court and the Bar regarding the unbundled project?

The local and state bars and the courts work together to support the unbundled list and other reduced rate referral programs, thereby supporting the efforts of the SelfServe Center. On the state level, a Pro Se Task Force has been charged with the following mission:

Study programs across the nation for assisting pro se litigants and report on the most efficacious programs.

Develop collaborative efforts with other NCBA committees and other legal groups in North Carolina and across the nation.

Study ways and means to assist pro se litigants to include but not be limited to:

• Unbundled legal services
  
• Methods of bringing prospective clients and lawyers together on an affordable basis
  
  • Develop a statewide system to assist pro se litigants.
    
  • Develop a proposed plan and budget for implementation of the proposed system.
    
  • Systems to reduce the calendaring log-jam in courts and the burden on lawyers providing assistance (unbundled) in pro se cases.
    

This Task Force will hold its first meeting on September 26, 2002.

On the local level, the Mecklenburg County Bar partnered with the SelfServe Center in May to present a CLE on the topic of Unbundled Services. Ayn Crawley, Director of the MLAN Project, a representative from the North Carolina Bar, representatives from Lawyers Mutual and a local Family Court Judge conducted the CLE.

Who recruits for the panel?

The SelfServe Center staff talks to lawyers and gives them information about the benefits of providing unbundled services. Attorneys are encouraged to put their names on the list. The SelfServe Center is also anticipating working with the Mecklenburg County Bar to develop a program that will help recruit newly licensed attorneys.

What is the oversight procedure for the panel?

The SelfServe Center maintains a notebook with detailed contact information for each unbundled attorney, his/her area of interest and practice, fee structure, education, years in practice, and willingness to provide a sliding scale based on ability to pay. The Center updates the notebook every 6 months to make sure information is the same. The Program Director interviews each attorney regarding whether or not they are getting phone calls (referrals) and asks for any feedback about the program and whether or not he or she wants to continue offering limited scope services.

The SelfServe Center and the local bar are considering holding a yearly CLE class or a general orientation class for interested attorneys.

Currently there are only 8 attorneys on the list. The goal is to increase every 6 months by 3 attorneys and also to communicate that in order for limited scope services to truly be effective and productive for all involved, attorneys offering such services need to be cognizant of the litigant's ability to pay, and base the fees accordingly.

What types of services do the panel attorneys provide?

There are 3 prongs of the services offered: legal advice, assistance with document preparation, and actually making an appearance in court. The attorneys also specify services they will provide for a fixed fee. Fee information is very structured, what they will charge for initial consultation, how much, how long. Attorneys are also encouraged to offer services on a sliding scale based on a person's ability to pay.

Were any changes made to the Rules of Professional Responsibility, Ethics, or Civil Procedure to accommodate the project?

The Committee to Review the ABA Ethics 2000 Commission Report proposed

North Carolina Rule 6.5: Limited Legal Services Programs. It is currently in publication for comment. A decision regarding whether to adopt will likely be made in October 2002. Locally, Mecklenburg County has drafted a new Family Court Local Rule regarding the acceptability of providing unbundled services, which is being considered and will hopefully be adopted when the 2003 rules are published.

Who refers clients to the panel?

The SelfServe Center staff. Anytime someone comes on to get a packet staff tell the client about the unbundled list and encourage them to browse through it. Additionally, Family Court Case Managers refer litigants to the list where needed.

Program Director
Megan M. Anderson
Community Access and Outreach Administrator
800 E. Fourth Street, Ste. 311
Charlotte, NC 28202

(704) 347-7864
Megan.M.Anderson@aoc.state.nc.us