Anyone who’s been reading Sidebar regularly knows that I’ve written a lot recently about what to do when you have problems with a lawyer, a landlord, or with somebody who owes you money.
Because I’ve been having all of those problems, I’ve taken myself and you into a number of courts and court-administered procedures which are set up primarily for people who don’t have, can’t afford or feel they don’t need a lawyer.
Among these court-ly resources I’ve described are Housing Court, Small Claims Court, and the Office of Court Administration’s venues for filings grievances against your lawyer and filing for arbitration of a lawyer’s fees.
Although, of course, I’ve retained lawyers for problems I could not possibly handle myself (one of those problems, a personal injury lawsuit, has caused me to file that grievance against my own lawyers), I’m really struck by how user-friendly and DIY plaintiff-friendly these court resources are. And I haven’t yet completed my series on Housing Court, the grievance process or Small Claims Court.
I’m getting so many searches involving problems with lawyers and landlords, in fact, to ease anyone who doesn’t know Sidebar into finding helpful posts in this area, I’ve created a new category called J2. DIY legal actions.
You can search for all posts in this category by going to that menu thing on the top right of the page, under Chapters of the Story and the “select category” menu.
Search and ye shall find! And ye shall be inspired! And ye shall fire off letters, and file court papers and go to court and be deeply fulfilled.