Ethical Issues
This section provides background on ethical issues concerned with the changing roles of attorneys, court clerks, judges and self-help center staff in serving self-represented litigants.
General
Judicial Ethics
Limited Scope Representation/Unbundling
Court Clerks
Self-Help Center Ethics
General
Ethical Issues (PPT, 517 KB) - John Greacen and Richard Zorza
Judicial Ethics
California Law Applicable to a Judge's Ethical Duties in Dealing with Self-Represented Litigants (PDF, 64 KB)
How Can Judges Communicate Effectively With Self-Represented Litigants?
Judicial Techniques for Cases Involving Self-Represented Litigants 
(PDF) - Rebecca A. Albrecht, John M. Greacen, Bonnie Rose Hough, and Richard Zorza
Judicial Management of Cases Involving Self-Represented Litigants (prepared by the National Center for State Courts )
Limited Scope Representation/Unbundling
Unbundling Legal Services
Informal National Survey of Ethical Opinions Related to "Discrete Task Lawyering" (PDF, 238 KB) - Maryland Legal Assistance Network
Handbook on Limited Scope Legal Assistance published in 2004 by the American Bar Association Litigation Section
Family Law Limited Scope Representation Risk Management Materials (PDF)
Civil Limited Scope Representation Risk Management Materials (last mod. 3/4/2007) (PDF, 4,574 KB)
"Unbundled" Legal Services: Looking at issues of liability and good practices (PDF, 119 KB) - Ayn Crawley, M. Sue Talia, Hon. Jane Harper
Changing the Face of Legal Practice: "Unbundled" Legal Services
Report on Limited Scope Legal Assistance With Initial Recommendations (PDF)
New Help for Limited Scope Representation - from the California Bar Journal (prepared by the State Bar of California )
An Ethics Primer on Limited Scope Representation (PDF) by the State Bar of California Committee on Professional Responsibility and Conduct
Roadmap for Implementing a Successful Unbundling Program (DOC, 115 KB) (prepared by Sue Talia)
San Francisco's Unlawful Detainer Settlement Conference Project
Limited Legal Services Agreement (PDF, 54 KB) (Prepared by the Harriet Buhai Center for Family Law )
Court Clerks
Changing Role of Court Clerks and Law Librarians
May I Help You? Legal Advice vs. Legal Information (PDF, 412 KB) - Judicial Council of California, Administrative Office of the Courts
Video: May I Help You? Legal Advice vs. Legal Information - Judicial Council of California (Contact equalaccess@jud.ca.gov to obtain a copy of this video.)
Court Clerks Office: Signage (PDF, 26 KB) - Judicial Council of California Approved Form
Code of Ethics for the Court Employees of California (PDF, 34 KB) (Prepared by the Judicial Council of California)
Self-Help Center Ethics
Guidelines for the Operation of Self-Help Centers in California Trial Courts. Coordinated by the Task Force on Self-Represented Litigants. Released by the AOC in March 2008.
Selections in Ethics for Facilitators (prepared for the California Conference on Self-Represented Litigants).
Ethical Issues for Attorneys Working With Self-Represented Litigants
Effective Use of Facilitators in the Courtroom (PDF, 115 KB) - Sue Alexander and Tom Suhr, Superior Court of California, County of Alameda
Short Multi-lingual Disclosure Form and Multilingual Disclosure and Sign-in Sheet (PDF, 294 KB) (Prepared by the San Francisco ACCESS Center )
