Self-Service Legal Center (Indiana Supreme Court)

Indiana Supreme Court
Self-Service Legal Center

Video Self-Help Guides


A guide for self-represented litigants providing information about your responsibilities and the procedures you must follow if you choose to represent yourself.	This video series explains the process of Alternative Dispute Resolution (sometimes known as Mediation) to settle court cases in Indiana. Mediation is often an appropriate choice in settling family-related cases.	Encouraging troubled Hoosier borrowers facing foreclosure to take advantage of the right to a settlement conference and how to seek help if facing foreclosure.

	Representing Yourself in Court: What you need to know Learn about your rights and responsibilities, what court staff can and cannot do for you, how to prepare for court, and what to expect on your court date, and frequenly asked questions. GO

	Getting Legal Help Even if you don't hire a lawyer to handle your case, you may want to talk with a lawyer before filing legal documents (or papers) with the court. Here you can find information about how to get legal help, including how to find low cost or no cost legal aid (pro bono). GO

	Mediation (Alternative Dispute Resolution) Mediation is a way to help resolve a case between the parties without the costs and the wait for a trial. Mediation can have many benefits for the parties involved, especially in family law cases, like divorce, child support, and custody matters. GO

	Court Forms Find forms with instructions for some (not all) types of cases, as well as guides for representing yourself in court and tools to help you prepare court papers for filing. GO

	Resources If you represent yourself in court, you will need to do legal research on applicable laws, court procedures and rules, and more. Here you can get a listing of online resources to help you with your research. GO

	Contact Us If you have questions about representing yourself in court or any of the information presented on this website, please contact us and we will try to answer your questions. However, please note that court employees cannot give legal advice. GO

The Role of This Website

This website was created to provide valuable information, court forms, and various resources for people who represent themselves in court. It should be noted, however, that self-representation should not be taken lightly, and that there are many instances in which hiring an attorney is a good idea. In fact, we suggest that even if you use the forms provided on this site, you still talk with an attorney prior to submitting them to a court.

The Self-Service Legal Center contains a lot of information to help you help yourself. You will find various court forms required by the courts and instructions on completing them. You will also find several court forms and other useful documents that have been translated into Spanish with the help of the Indiana Hispanic Law Project. This website will also show you different ways to find an attorney to assist you with your case; an explanation of what mediation is and how it works and a list of certified mediators; suggestions on preparing for court; items that court staff can and cannot help you with; web links to legal dictionaries and other legal materials; links to various courts in Indiana and the United States; and links to other self-service sites.

Mission Statement

To ensure access to the judicial system by providing basic resources to self-represented individuals by establishing the usage of self-help court forms and encouraging local courts to develop their own pro se assistance programs.

About Indiana Pro Se and the Self-Service Legal Project

Indiana courts and clerks handle more than 2 million cases per year, ranging from capital murder cases and multi-million dollar corporate lawsuits, to divorces, minor traffic infractions and rental disputes. The cost and complexity of these cases vary depending on the circumstances and people involved. More often than not, people hire an attorney to help them in these matters. However, the Indiana Supreme Court recognizes the fact that in some instances people involved in litigation choose not to hire an attorney or do not have the ability to hire an attorney. Our goal is to help self represented individuals find resources that may assist them in navigating our court system on their own.

Last modified on Tuesday, August, 17, 2010

Indiana Supreme Court.