28 October 2016

Pro Se Parties In Colorado's State Courts

Statistics are available regarding the percentage of litigants in Colorado state courts who were not represented by attorneys (i.e. pro se) in the 2015 fiscal years:

* In domestic relations cases in Colorado, 75% of filing parties and 75% of responding parties are not represented by attorneys. About 67% of domestic relations cases have no party that is represented by an attorney.

* In civil cases in the general jurisdiction district court (excluding tax lien filings and foreclosure cases), 16% of filing parties and 52% of responding parties are not represented by attorneys. About 12% of these cases have no party who is represented by an attorney.

* In civil cases in the limited jurisdiction county court (jurisdictional limit $15,000), 17% of filing parties and 98% of responding parties are not represented by attorneys. About 14% of these cases have no party who is represented by an attorney.

The court process in domestic relations cases and general jurisdiction civil case procedures are simply not equipped to handle pro se parties, so this is a real problem.

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