IF YOU CANNOT AFFORD A
LAWYER TO REPRESENT YOU
Many men cannot afford to hire a lawyer to represent them, and so they have to represent themselves. There are resources out there to help you!Here are some resources on the web for do-it-yourselfers:
In Washington, you must use standard forms in family law litigation; you can download them at: http://www.courts.wa.gov/forms/index.cfm
Calculate your child support and print all related forms:
DSHS forms related to child support:
If you want to play the game, you have to know the rules.
There are two kinds of rules: state-wide rules (such as the rules of evidence and the rules of civil procedure) and the local rules for your county.
The state-wide rules are at:
If all you do is show up at a hearing, the family law commissioners will listen to what you have to say, but probably won't read any documents you bring.
In Snohomish County, you can confirm your hearings on the court's website.
The Northwest Justice Project has a great self-help website; click on "family law" at:
http://www.washingtonlawhelp.org/WA/index.cfm
The domestic relations statutes (26 RCW), posted by the State legislature, are online at:
There are helpers at the courthouses called Family Law Facilitators; you should call ahead to make an appointment. There may be a small charge for their help. In King County, call: 206-296-9092 (Seattle) or 206-205-2526 (Kent).
There are two courthouses for the King County Superior Court; with a few exceptions, if you live South of I-90, your case should be filed at the Maleng Justice Center (formerly known as the Regional Justice Center) in Kent, and if you live North of I-90, the King County Courthouse in downtown in Seattle is where you file.
The King County Law Library is on the 6th floor of the KCSC Seattle courthouse. The librarians are very helpful and there are computers and printers you can use.
if you are low income, ask the facilitator about proceeding in forma pauperis, so you won't have to pay any court fees. Be sure to add this to the proposed order allowing
you to proceed in forma pauperis:
"The Clerk of the Court shall wihout any charge make two certified copies of every document in this case file for [ your name ].
"The Sheriff of [ your county ] shall without any charge serve process for [ your name ]
in this case within [ your county ] and shall file proof of service with the Clerk."
I'm working on a list of all organizations in King and Snohomish counties which provide free legal help to at least some people in one or more legal areas; here's what I have so far:
FREE LEGAL HELP
KING COUNTY
King County Bar Assoc. Pro Bono Services
206-267-7100
www.kcba.org/pbs/volunteers.aspx
-- 35 different clinics
Northwest Justice Project
(no phone)
www.nwjustice.org
--excellent website !!!
Columbia Legal Services
(no phone)
www.columbialegal.org
Unemployment Law Project
(no phone)
www.unemploymentlawproject.org
Team Child
(no phone)
www.teamchild.org
Northwest Immigrant Rights Project
(no phone)
www.nwirp.org
Washington State CASA
(no phone)
www.washingtonstatecasa.org
Chaya
206-568-7576
www.chayaseattle.org
Eastside Legal Assistance Project
425-747-7274
www.elap.org
Family Law CASA of King County
206-748-9700
www.familylawcasa.org
King County Dependency CASA Program
206-296-1120
(no website)
Legal Action Center
206-324-6890
(no website)
Open Door Legal Services
206-682-4642
(no website)
Seattle Community Law Center
206-686-7252, ext. 104
www.seattlecommlaw.org
Seattle University School of Law Peterson Law Clinic
206-398-4000
www.law.seattleu.edu/academics/law_clinic.xml
Solanus Casey Legal Services
206-223-0907
(no website)
Solid Ground
(no phone)
solidground.org
U. of Washington School of Law Student Clinics
(no phone)
www.law.washington.edu/clinics/
Volunteer Advocates for Immigrant Justice
206-359-6200
(no website)
SNOHOMISH COUNTY
Snohomish County Legal Services
425-258-9283
www.snocolegal.org
Northwest Justice Project
(no phone)
www.nwjustice.org
--excellent website for family law
Team Child
(no phone)
www.teamchild.org
if you represent yourself:
Visit your courthouse; watch some hearings like yours, learn what to do.
Ask the courtroom staff for advice; they know the real rules.
Find out who the best family law attorneys are in your town, call them for appointments, and pay them for consultations about how to represent yourself; this will be money well spent -- and the lawyers will now be unable to represent your wife because that would be a conflict of interest.
How can you know who the good lawyers are?
Lawyers have to go back to school in order to keep their licenses; this is called CLE (Continuing Legal Education). The lawyers who do the teaching at the CLE's are the experts in their fields.
Check at your county courthouse's law library for CLE materials, and ask lawyers:
"have you ever been a CLE speaker? When, where, and what did you talk about?"
The King County Law Library (on the 6th floor of the King County Courthouse in downtown Seattle) has computers with SuportCalc that you can use for free to calculate child support and produce the necessary court documents for a child support order.
how to win your case:
The most important things to remember:
1.) Facts win cases, lawyers don't win cases. Be sure to tell the facts to the court in typed documents that are as clear, complete, and to-the-point as possible.
2.) Prove the facts with written documents submitted to the court (called declarations). The standard forms link above includes declaration forms.
3.) Your documents must be served on the other side, filed with the Clerk of the Court, and delivered to your county's family law calendar -- all by the deadlines set by the local rules. Get and keep proofs of service.
4.) Don't try to submit late documents; the judge/commissioner won't read them. Know and obey the deadlines in your local rules.
5.) Always tell the truth! Credibility is very important in family law cases; you will hurt your case badly if you lie about anything; don't do it.
6.) Dress well for court. Be there on time. Listen carefully. Take notes. Stick to the big issues; don't get hung up on irrelevant little details. Stay calm and respectful at all times. When you speak, get to the point immediately and don't waste time. When the judge/commissioner starts talking, you stop talking and listen carefully. If you're asked a question, answer it; you can go on to explain if you're allowed, but don't start with your explanation.
7.) If you're not happy with a decision by a commissioner, you have the right to have the hearing done over, this time by a real judge. You must file a Motion for Revision; ask the family law facilitator for a form and instructions. If the hearing was recorded, you will probably have to pay for a copy of that record and deliver it to the revision judge. There are strict deadlines for doing all this, or you lose your right of revision. You cannot submit any new evidence for the revision hearing; the judge can only read what the commissioner read, but you can make new oral arguments and you will usually have a lot more time to talk than you did at the commissioner level.
8.) Confused about where to make a motion? Go to Ex Parte -- they will either sign your paper or tell you where to take it; the Clerk's office can also tell you where you go for signatures.
9.) Judges have very broad discretion in family law cases. One of the reasons you should pay an experienced family law attorney for a consultation is because we know which judges are more likely to be good for you, and which ones aren't. You have the right to veto one judge off your case; this is known as the affidavit of prejudice. You can only use your "affidavit" once in a case and only BEFORE the judge has made a discretionary ruling; send me an e-mail and I'll send you one, no cost or obligation.
10.) Lawyers don't win trials; evidence wins trials. Ask your lawyer how to get the evidence you need, especially by interrogatories, requests for production of documents, requests for admission, depositions (video if you can afford it), and trial subpoenae.
11.) Expert witnesses can be very important. You might want to ask the court to appoint a Guardian ad Literm to represent the children. Some counties have volunteers called Court Apppointed Special Advocates who will investigate and report back to the court. Professionals who know your children can be great witnesses -- teachers, doctors, etc.
12.) If there is something wrong with Mom which is bad for your kids, such as drug addiction or alcoholism, ask HER mother to be your witness; tell her she needs to do this to protect her grandchildren, and so her daughter will get the help she needs.
13.) . . . and this is VERY important . . . don't argue with the judge!
If you have visitation subject to supervision by a professional supervisor, here are three websites where you can find one (many off-duty or retired cops are willing to supervise as well); the going rate as of March 2010 for professional supervision in the Seattle area is about $40/hour:
http://www.familylawcasa.org/doc/community_visitation.html
http://www.svnetwork.net/chapterpage-roster.asp?chapID=23
http://www.svdirectory.com/state.htm?st=wa
Joshua Foreman Attorney at Law