How and When to Be Your Own Lawyer [Mass Market Paperback]

Marvin Quittner (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 1, 1995 | ISBN-10: 0895295237 | ISBN-13: 978-0895295231 | Edition: 1St Edition

This legal guide is for anyone seeking to bring a civil or small claims suit to court and act on their own behalf. Schachner and Quittner have devised a step-by-step course of action for preparing and bringing your case to court. Included in this helpful guide are answers to questions about how to use a law library, how to file a claim, and how to handle the trial itself. Also includes a concise legal dictionary.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

This is a thorough, careful examination of the ins and outs of self-representation in a civil lawsuit. The authors open with a lesson on the judicial system, thereafter providing a realistic look at what to consider when deciding whether or not to proceed "pro se." Once the reader decides to go it alone, this book gives him or her the necessary law, procedures, and strategies to prepare a case and get it to court. The how-to instruction is augmented by anecdotes and historical perspective, making the text as interesting as it is practical. Well-rounded appendixes provide forms, definitions, and sample arguments. Highly recommended for public libraries.
- Joan Pedzich, Harris, Beach & Wilcox, Rochester, N.Y.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 18 and up
  
• Mass Market Paperback: 399 pages
• Publisher: Avery; 1St Edition edition (January 1, 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0895295237
• ISBN-13: 978-0895295231
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #5,088,573 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An ethical advocate for the service of Justice and search for truth, July 29, 2006

By 

Mohamed F. El-Hewie "Mohamed F. El-Hewie" (Hackensack, NJ USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: How and When to be Your Own Lawyer (Paperback)

In comparison to Paul Bergman's legendry book "Represent Yourself In Court: How to Prepare & Try a Winning Case", this one is a legendary rival of a different flavor. The author entrusts his genuine instincts and writes as an advocate for the underdogs, needy, and less powerful in face of unfair, expensive, and complex system of justice. Unfairness stems from the persons in charge of delivering justice. The Author uses Judge Brian Duff as an example for personal effect on the service of justice.

Despite the critiques on the poor organization and trivial inaccuracies in the book, it serves as an informal, casual, and benign display of information that is easy to read and assimilate while time sneaks by. (Bergman book's strict organization renders its reading laboriously time demanding). Once every few pages, the author interjects the highlighted concepts in full-page tables.

The author convincingly achieves his goal that reason and logic could triumph if supported by simple know-how. In many of his anecdotes about litigants betrayed by incompetent counsels, the author makes the reader senses his insider's frustration with his own profession. He contends that his book was driven by the dilemma of the legal profession of: whether lawyers should be in it for self-enrichment or moral conduct?

It might be quite demanding to retrieve information from the book if you are in a hurry for a court appearance, since the book lacks clear and unified template. However, if you enjoy reading for relaxing and focusing on deep thoughts and strategies, this book has it. For example, it stresses on slow talking in clear and systematic manner in many effective ways. Slow, slow, and slow talking in front of the court is highly stressed for reporting and logical reasons of trying evidence and appeal. It then addresses the issue of not repeating evidence unless there is a specific need other than rehearsing it.

The author alerts the self representatives of the perils of objection to adversaries and explains reasonable situations when objection is a plus. He then stresses on the fact that the self-representative should realize that both the judge and the jury have mere cursory knowledge of the lawsuit at hand which requires the pro se not to assume any previous knowledge and to lay the foundation form beginning to end in logical fashion.

Ethos, pathos, and logos of Aristotle describe the elements of his closing arguments. Those are summarized as attitude of orator, his passion and emotion, and finally his logical analysis in summing up his case to the court. He emphasizes understatement and simple common sense as effective tools to abstract truth from a complexly intermingling situation.

The author addresses the science part of trying legal suits and left the art part to the reader to labor at. His strategies of searching for the truth extend far beyond material evidence to moral character, personal credibility, and evidence's relevance and credibility. He then devises a strategy of seeking the truth along all those dimensions of evidence.

Mohamed F. El-Hewie
Author of
Essentials of Weightlifting and Strength Training

15 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Valuable, but not my first choice, February 27, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: How and When to Be Your Own Lawyer: A Step-by-Step Guide to Effectively Using Our Legal System (Paperback)

Its probably 3 1/2 stars, but apparently, you need to do whole numbers. I read this book, and it definitely contains some good information on doing your own lawyering. However, i found that it was not terribly well organized, and I often got bogged down in some parts. It also left me with a number of open questions.

I guess if anyone is seriously going to do their own lawyering (which i intend to do), he will likely have to read more than one book on the matter anyway. I am glad i read this book, but imagine it could have been better.

7 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars THIS BOOK IS SIMPLY OUTSTANDING !!!!!, July 18, 2004

By A Customer

This review is from: How and When to be Your Own Lawyer (Paperback)

TO ALL AMAZON READERS CONSIDERING THIS PARTICULAR BOOK !!! GO
AHEAD AND BUY IT; THE AUTHOR DOES AN ABSOLUTELY EXCELLENT
JOB WITH THE SUBJECT MATTER... HIS WRITING IS VERY EASY TO
UNDERSTAND, BUT AT THE SAME TIME IT IS VERY, VERY, PROFESSIONAL, WHICH IS DIFFICULT TO PULL OFF !!! THE ONLY ADDITION I WOULD RECOMMEND WOULD BE A SAMPLE LETTER OF THE CIVIL COMPLAINT LETTER GOING TO THE CLERK OF COURTS; BUT THAT'S A RELATIVELY MINOR THING; JUST CHECK UNDER CIVIL COMPLAINT LETTERS ON THE INTERNET, THERE ARE MANY SITES OFFERING SAMPLES OF THESE LETTERS FROM DIFFERENT STATES...THE AUTHOR COVERS ALL THE IMPORTANT ASPECTS OF CONDUCTING A CIVIL CASE YOURSELF & IS HANDY READING EVEN IF YOU "DO" INTEND TO HAVE AN ATTORNEY...WOULD YOU BELIEVE THAT THIS PARTICULAR INDIVIDUAL COULD "NOT" FIND ANYONE TO
REPRESENT HIM AGAINST THE SHERIFF OF BROWARD COUNTY, SO HIS ONLY RECOURSE WAS TO SUE HIMSELF...WOULD YOU BELIEVE THAT A DIAMOND RING CAME UP MISSING WHILE THE SHERIFF'S DEPT. SEARCHED HIS BOAT ??? MR. SCHACHNER WAS EVENTUALLY SUCCESSFUL IN EXPOSING THE CORRUPTION AND IT'S A GOOD THING TOO.... IT IS NEVER A GOOD IDEA FOR ""ANY"" BRANCH OF GOVERNMENT TO HAVE TOO MUCH POWER IN WHATEVER AREA OF THEIR JURISDICTION... ""NOW"" FOR THE FIRST TIME IN MY LIFE, I SEE WHY WE MUST HAVE LAWYERS --IT KEEPS THE BALANCE OF POWER IN CHECK...