More defendants have acted as their own attorneys since the Great Recession, clogging courts in southwest Washington.
Members of the local legal community say Clark County lacks adequate resources to help guide the masses of self-represented litigants through the labyrinthine judicial system.
The Columbian of Vancouver, Wash., reports self-represented cases take about twice as long to be resolved.
The uptick in cases is anecdotal, but mirrors a national trend of people representing themselves in federal court.
Superior Court Judge James Rulli says most family court cases in Clark County are self-representation cases.
Clark County judges have discussed removing some of the Latin terms, such as "pro se," from court forms, schedules and hearings to make efforts simpler for self-represented litigants.
