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DIY Forms Programs
Helping unrepresented litigants navigate the court system in New York
By Meghan Lenahan
With the decline in resources and staffing in legal
assistance agencies and an increasing demand for
free legal resources, the public access law library has
become the place people turn to for help with their
legal needs. Public law librarians are regularly faced
with the task of helping unrepresented litigants
navigate through the court system. Providing this
assistance to patrons often brings us dangerously
close to the fine line between giving out general legal
information (which is our job), and providing legal advice (which we are prohibited to do, as it
is considered practicing law). To combat this problem, law libraries are searching for new,
innovative, and cost-efficient ways to provide legal services for the unrepresented litigant.
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Some county courts in New York
created self-help centers (some of which
are located near or in their respective
law libraries) that provide court forms
and procedural and general court
information. Typically, there are no
attorneys on staff in most of these
locations. Therefore, the staff members
of the self-help centers are prohibited
from giving legal advice or guidance
for completing court forms. This
situation can be especially difficult
for unrepresented litigants who are
limited in their English speaking
and comprehension skills, as court
staff is also not allowed to provide
interpretation or translation services
due to liability for mistranslation
issues. This puts staff fluent in
another language in a particularly
difficult ethical situation. Due to
staffing constraints, however, not
all counties have even these limited
resources.
and entered into the Universal Case
Management System by court clerks, and
information given by users on the
returned DIY surveys that are printed
with the generated forms. According to
the New York State Courts Access to Justice
Program 2010 Report, more than 55,000
user-generated forms were created that
year, “more than doubling the usage in
2009 and nearly sextupling the usage in
2008.” By the end of 2011, a 60 percent
increase in usage from the previous year
generated more than 85,000 forms and
represented approximately a 957 percent
increase since 2008, according to the
New York State Courts Access to Justice
Program 2011 Report.
DIY Forms Software
Programs
In the spring of 2009, the New
York State Unified Court System’s
Access to Justice Program launched
statewide Do-It-Yourself Forms
software programs, which, in the
previous year, were only available
for New York City Civil Court
procedures (New York State Courts
Access to Justice Program 2010 Report).
The NYS Courts Access to Justice
Program’s mission is to provide “access to
justice . . . for New Yorkers of all
incomes, backgrounds, and special
needs” (“Home: Our Mission,” May 30,
2013). The DIY programs are created
using Access to Justice (A2J) Author
and HotDocs and are hosted on
LawHelp Interactive (LHI, found at
lawhelpinteractive.org). These programs
are interactive forms that guide
unrepresented litigants through the
process of filling in information and
generating the proper court forms. Court
employees and members of the legal
services community can be trained
through webinars on the different
programs, as well as how to create
programs using A2J Author. DIY
programs, found at NYCourtHelp.gov,
are organized by the type of court in
which the action would be filed.
The NYS Courts Access to Justice
Program publishes an annual report
regarding the progress of each program,
including the DIY Forms programs.
Quarterly statistics are collected on the
usage and demographics of the programs
from three sources: the number of forms
generated from a specific program by
LHI, the number of forms created by
the DIY programs that were received
By 2011, according to the 2011
report, the NYS Courts Access to
Justice Program had up to 17 available
programs, including a program for City,
District, Town, and Village Courts and
a Paternity Petition program in Spanish.
“Pop-up” instructions were added for
assistance in other languages, such as
French and Spanish, for some New
York City court programs. According
to the 2012 report, in 2012 the New
York City Tenant Restore to Calendar
program (used if a tenant wishes to go
back to court to ask the judge to do
something in his or her New York City
Housing court case, such as asking for
more time or to make the landlord do
what he or she was ordered to do)
added printable instructions and a
survey in Polish (see image above).
The software program also includes
instructions in English, French, and
Spanish.
The 2012 report indicates that
even though New York does not
generate the most forms on LHI, it has
generated the largest number of forms
three years in a row, as compared with
other states. The annual reports state that
a majority of users were referred to the
DIY programs by a court employee and
generated the forms at a courthouse
facility (though all the programs are
available from any computer with
internet access). So far, a majority of
users report that they are happy with the
DIY programs. According to the 2012
report, most of the positive feedback
from user surveys cites the programs’
“ease of use” and about 95 percent of
users said they saved time using these
programs.
Currently, there are a total of 24 DIY
Forms programs, 10 of which are specific
to New York City. The other 14 are for
statewide use. These programs make
completing the forms easier for users
because the information on the print
forms can sometimes be repetitive and
the legal language used on the forms can
be confusing for those unfamiliar with
the forms (both for users and even
some library staff ). The DIY programs
are also helpful for a user whose first
language is not English. Unlike print
forms that are only in English, the
programs provide help in French and
Polish for some New York City
programs, as well as Spanish in many
of the statewide programs.
On the main page of NYCourt
Help.gov, the Court Facts tab can help
users identify the appropriate court
and forms. Each of the programs
contains a statement about the
differences between legal information
and legal advice (see image below).
Court personnel can only provide legal
information, which consists of what
forms are generally used and the general
procedures. Each DIY program explains
what the forms are used for, which assists
the user in selecting the correct form.
This helps the law librarian, or any
court employee, by reducing time spent
explaining court procedures and what
forms are needed.
A Few Drawbacks
Although the DIY programs are
invaluable resources, there are a few
drawbacks. For instance, not all of the
court forms are available in the DIY
programs. In fact, not even all the print
forms are available to print off of the
court website, which means users must
still visit the courthouse to pick up
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© 2013 Meghan Lenahan *All images courtesy of lawhelpinteractive.org
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are the many wonderful “please do the following” comments
I received from the voluntary participants in my survey.
In your cover letter, please DO include:
• Statements about unique things in your work history
• A demonstration that you meet the qualifications
• Humor
• Enthusiasm and desire with your word choice
• Clever and relevant turns of phrase
• A demonstration that you have done your homework
on the organization
• Language that is clearly tailored to the job announcement
• A desire to learn
• A diversity of interests outside of work
• A professional and personal tone
• Active voice
• A firm statement of what you will bring to this library
and why you want to come to the organization
• A clean format, brevity, and a well-developed vocabulary.
During an interview, please DO:
• Be on time
• Show respect to all participants and people you meet
at the organization
• Dress up, not down
• Practice eye contact and be comfortable talking about
yourself and your accomplishments
• Understand the line between terse and TMI
• Match the enthusiasm in your cover letter
• Be proactive, provide samples of work product, and
give examples of challenging work projects from prior
positions
• Seek out opportunities to talk with the members of the
organization you would be working with about their jobs
and the culture of the library
• Overcome reticence, lest you be eaten alive
• Highlight the skills you will bring to the staff
• Be honest about your qualifications and what you can
deliver
• Wait until the later interviews to ask salary questions
• Show employers you can think on your feet and handle
yourself in a stressful situation
• Ask questions, relax, and be yourself
• Listen to the questions and comments carefully
• Be flexible, as well as willing and excited to learn
• Recognize the dual purpose of the interview: introducing
yourself to the potential employer and proving your
ability to interact with others effectively
• Demonstrate stability and willingness to exceed what
the job requires.
Best of Luck!
This article is an attempt to demystify some of the baffling
elements in the job search process and offer some sound advice
from hiring managers from all library types around the country.
Feel free to use this as a guide, but know that there are many
others in our profession who can also offer you sound advice as
you pursue your potential job. ■
DIY continued from page 16
certain forms. The NYS Courts Access to Justice Program is
working on creating more DIY programs, but it is a long
process to create each program, as well as make the programs
useable for all 62 counties in New York State. Many of the
programs will only allow users who have “simple” situations
to use the program to create their court documents; those
with more complex situations would have to use the print
forms and seek help from a help center or court clerk. There
are also certain questions that require clarification by a court
employee—for example, identification of the birth certificate
number if there’s more than one number on the certificate.
In addition, some users have experienced problems with
formatting when printing the forms at home.
There are still DIY programs that do not offer help or
instructions in languages other than English. It would also
be difficult to include every possible language, especially
those less commonly spoken languages, because there
would have to be someone working on the programs who is
fluent enough to create help in that particular language.
What I like about the DIY programs is that the program
walks the user through the forms step by step. The process is
quicker and easier than using print forms that often request
the same information at different points. Our library has had
positive feedback when users accessed the programs; almost
all praised its speed and ease of use. We even referred people
to the website to find the programs both in person (if they
didn’t want to use the library computers) and over the
phone. Referring people to use the program helps free up
the backlog of people waiting for assistance at the self-help
center. I wish there were more programs for more involved
yet common situations (such as nonparental custody
matters), which would benefit both users and the library
staff.
Beyond New York
The NYS Courts Access to Justice Program has, so far,
fulfilled its mission of providing access to low-income
litigants. Most of those at our law library who have used the
programs were happy because it saved them time, provided
them guidance on filling out the forms, and helped them
to better understand the questions. The DIY programs are
valuable in that users can access them from anywhere at any
time. This makes it possible for users to access the forms at
their convenience, even if the courts are closed or if they are
unable to physically come to the courthouse due to lengthy
travel distances. Given their success in New York, I look
forward to seeing what DIY programs will be available in
upcoming years, and I hope that access to similar programs
will be available across the country. ■
Meghan Lenahan
(mlenahan@courts.state.ny.us), Information
Professional, New York State Unified Court
System, Long Island
Kathleen Brown
(ksbrown@okcu.edu), Associate Director, Oklahoma City University Law
Library, Oklahoma City
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