Pro Se Survey Measures Access to the Legal System

The Florida Association of Legal Document Preparers stands for access to the legal system -- and stands up for pro se litigants. Meaningful legal access is fundamental to maintaining a free society.

JUST RELEASED -

PRLog (Press Release) - Sep 11, 2012 -
The Florida Association of Legal Document Preparers (FALDP) is conducting a series of surveys focusing on citizen access to the legal system. The first survey is targeted directly to citizens - pro se litigants - to quantify their efforts, barriers, and successes in pursuing their legal tasks on their own. The first survey in our series is on the Florida Association of Legal Document Preparers site at - Pro Se Survey.

The Florida Association of Legal Document preparers, founded in 2010 is dedicated to assisting Florida pro se litigants access their legal system. The association is primarily a trade group, that provides a center for training, networking, and support for Florida's *legal document preparers. In Florida, the title "legal document preparer" is used by nonlawyer practitioners who assist consumers in completing forms for filing in Florida courts.

FALDP offers members the opportunity for education and networking through its Annual Conference, coming up on September 22 & 23; ongoing webinars, and online courses. Members advertise on the association site, and receive referrals from consumers. Members are required to meet or exceed academic standards and required years of experience experience in order to join.

The following quote from Judge Mayfield's dissenting opinion in 1996 continues to apply:

"Lest the citizenry lose faith in the substance of the system and the procedures we use to administer it, we can ill afford to confront them with a government dominated by forms and mysterious rituals and then tell them they lose because they did not know how to play the game or should not have taken us at our word."

Moore v. Price, 914 S.W.2d 318, 323 (Ark. 1996),Mayfield, J., dissenting

*Members use the title "legal document preparer, because the Florida Bar prohibits legal document preparers from using the title "paralegal" unless working directly under the supervision of an attorney. Although some members also work for attorneys as contract paralegals, when offering services directly to consumers, they use the title - legal document preparer.