Going to Court Without a Lawyer Is New Normal for U.S. Litigants
- Growing number of civil defendants are representing themselves
- Attorneys are guaranteed in criminal cases but not civil suits
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Terry Winston knew the credit-card bills were nonsense, but her difficulty proving it in court shows how America’s two-tiered justice system -- one for those who can pay for a lawyer, the other for those who can’t -- has spread to civil litigation.
Asset Recovery Solutions LLC had sued Winston for unpaid debt in what she saw as a clear case of identity theft. She couldn’t afford an attorney so she defended herself. What followed was months of tripping through a bewildering legal maze.