{"id":1504,"date":"2019-01-30T21:15:16","date_gmt":"2019-01-31T02:15:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/floridadocument.com\/?p=1504"},"modified":"2023-03-19T18:24:00","modified_gmt":"2023-03-19T22:24:00","slug":"pro-se-adoptions-in-florida","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/floridadocument.com\/es\/pro-se-adoptions-in-florida\/","title":{"rendered":"Acceso a los tribunales en Florida: La visi\u00f3n desde dos perspectivas"},"content":{"rendered":"

COURT ACCESS IN FLORIDA:\u00a0 THE VIEW FROM TWO PERSPECTIVES<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n
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Justice in Florida will be accessible, fair, effective, responsive, and accountable. <\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

~ Vision of the Florida Judicial Branch – 2008<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Over ten years ago, these words led the report from the Florida Supreme Court\u2019s Commission on Trial Court Performance and Accountability addressing the issue of Pro Se parties\u2019 access to justice.\u00a0 The report went on to state that: \u201cAccess to the courts is an explicit right of the people, guaranteed to all litigants and not reserved to those represented by an attorney.\u201d <\/em>[1]<\/p>\n

The needs of pro se (self-represented or non-lawyer) parties have been documented over the past 20 years with a great deal of specificity.\u00a0 Over the years, numerous administrative orders have been implemented in Florida circuits to direct the courts to assist pro se litigants in filing and presenting their documents to the court for processing.<\/p>\n

Has real progress been made?\u00a0 The jury is still out (pardon the pun).<\/p>\n

Until 2014 when Florida Document Specialists and Florida Family Adoptions was created, I viewed access to the courts through the lens of someone who had worked with attorneys as a paralegal for over 35 years.<\/p>\n

Preparing and filing documents on behalf of a law firm client was no hardship.\u00a0 No one questioned our filings as to form or substance.\u00a0 We were never refused a filing by the clerk of court. Clerks simply accepted our documents and placed them into the court file. We requested and obtained hearings at the drop of a hat, and we produced pleadings of every shape, size and subject to serve the needs of our clients. Life was good.<\/p>\n

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A New Perspective<\/span><\/h3>\n

Once Florida Document Specialists and Florida Family Adoptions<\/a> became operational, things changed. \u00a0Although we are only able to type documents for our customers based upon information they provide, we can also offer filing assistance and other procedural help as the non-lawyer party navigates through the court system.\u00a0 That\u2019s when I started to see things from an entirely distinct perspective to that which I had previously been exposed to as a paralegal in a law firm.\u00a0 The blinders were off, and I was exposed to the harsh realities experienced by pro se litigants in the Florida court system.<\/p>\n

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Be Courageous but Prepared<\/span><\/h3>\n

By no means am I implying that we have made no progress toward providing pro se litigants with better access to the Florida court system, but it has been hard-gotten, and it comes at a price. To pay that price, pro se parties must arm themselves with a lot of tolerance<\/em>, patience<\/em> and accurate information<\/em>.\u00a0 For litigants that are not represented by an attorney, they must prepare for a possible onslaught of commentary from deputy clerks geared towards making them believe that their case will go nowhere unless they have an attorney. \u00a0It often starts at the moment of filing when they are sometimes subjected to unreasonable demands<\/em> and delays<\/em> that the court would never impose upon an attorney filing the exact same process.\u00a0 For example, parties pursuing a pro se legal matter in Florida can expect to:<\/p>\n