300 East State Street Suite 430
Redlands, CA 92373
Family Law Specialist
Self Help Services
In Self-help Services, our legal staff will provide the expertise to allow some clients to represent themselves in a family law proceeding. This is often referred to as ‘unbundled legal services.’
What is an ‘unbundled legal service’?
Unbundled legal services is a way of describing how attorneys can represent clients in a limited manner. Essentially it breaks down the multiple roles an attorney plays into a smaller, simpler group of tasks.
California State has adopted so-called "unbundling" rules permitting people to represent themselves in court without an attorney (referred to as "pro se") while still permitting attorneys to perform certain tasks for the client. The new rules are intended to help people receive the benefit of legal advice in the drafting of documents and preparation of their cases without the necessity of paying an attorney to appear in court on their behalf, unless they make specific arrangements to do so.
Unbundled Services include:
- Advice about availability of alternative means to resolving the dispute, including mediation and arbitration.
- Advice about availability of alternative means to resolving the dispute, including mediation and arbitration.
- Evaluation of clients’ self-diagnosis of the case and advising client about legal rights.
- Guidance and procedural information for filing or serving documents.
- Reviewing correspondence and court documents.
- Preparing and/or suggesting documents to be prepared.
- Factual investigation: contacting witnesses, public record searches, in-depth interview of client.
- Legal research and analysis.
- Discovery: interrogatories, depositions, requests for document production.
- Planning for negotiations.
- Planning for court appearances made by client.
- Backup and trouble-shooting during the trial.
- Referring client to other counsel and to other experts.
- Counseling client about possible appeal.
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