European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - May 11, 1994, Darmstadt, Hesse                                M retired firefighter Melvin Brown has been conducting his own Legal fight against the City of Chicopee mass., for 15 years. Americans taking Law into own hands by Jeff Donn the associated press 18 a in the do it yourself lawyers begin their unending procession through the cavernous offices of family arid probate clerk in Hampden county mass. They crack oversized binders of Handwritten court records scratch their scalps rub their eyes and pose question after question to overworked clerks behind a 4-foot-High counter. Quot abuse and threats is not grounds for divorce Quot a clerk patiently explains to a woman staring at a Legal form. Another clerk arrives to speak to the woman in Spanish. Quot a lot of people have absolutely no idea what to do Quot says Deborah Hawley a clerk. Quot a lot of people come in Here angry because they re already frustrated by what s going on in court. They come up Here and they la yell and scream at . A the clerks even if they know the Law Are barred from giving Legal advice. But for better or worse the hordes of uninitiated standing before them Are among the growing legions of americans forced to depend on their own wits in Legal matters. They represent themselves a acting Quot prose Quot in the rarefied latin terminology of the courts a in divorce cases custody disputes Small claims court and even full blown lawsuits. Some Don t think they need a lawyer some can t find one and others even believe they Are better off without one. But they Point overwhelmingly to one deciding Factor Cost. Quot i m broke Quot said Dawn Monty a 27-year-old Mother of one As she Laboured Over six divorce and custody forms at the clerk s office Quot it s very expensive to get a lawyer for a divorce. My Mother went through two of  the american bar association does not keep records on How Many americans Overall act on their own Legal behalf. But All agree the numbers have risen dramatically in recent decades. An Aba study in the Phoenix area a. Found that at least one of the parties was acting prose in 24 percent of 1980 divorce cases. Ten years later that figure had soared to 88 percent. Judges and lawyers attribute such increases to the streamlining of divorce Law in some states and a proliferation of do it yourself Legal kits an explosion of custody Battles and requests for in a broke. Its very expensive to get a lawyer for a divorce. My Mother went through two of them a Dawn Monty do it yourself lawyer restraining orders broader jurisdiction for some Small claims courts Reagan Era cuts in government funded Legal counsel for poor people and escalating lawyers fees. Some self taught lawyers while acknowledging Legal costs As a motivation contend they can do better work than real lawyers anyway. Quot these Guys forget. I m on top of everything Quot said Melvin Brown a 63-year-old retired firefighter. Brown who quit High school after the ninth Grade but later gained an equivalency diploma is representing himself in a 15-year-old Legal dispute Over his Union fees with the  Chicopee mass. During that time he has filed lawsuits All the Way up to the . Supreme court and even argued verbally in state supreme court doing research at a local Law Library and occasionally turning to a lawyer Friend for informal advice. Brown estimates that  have paid about $100,000 if he had allowed lawyers to do his work. Quot i could never have afforded what i be been through. The average person can t afford it either Quot he said. But Many prose lawyers Are clearly lost in the Maze of petitions pleadings judgments statutes dockets jurisdictions and courtrooms. Quot when i have any project at Home that requires More than a Hammer a Nail and a screwdriver 1 Call a Carpenter. Sometimes it s important to Call a lawyer Quot said William Kelly a Small claims judge in Kentwood Mich David g. Sacks a family judge in Springfield mass., is troubled by the train of poverty stricken prose lawyers who trudge through his courtroom. For them it s no Hobby but the Only alternative to lawyers with fees that Start at around $100 a hour. Quot it s not a Surprise that people who have trouble paying for a mortgage groceries rent and heat Are having trouble paying for a lawyer Quot he said. Quot my greatest concern is. People coming in Here who Are unable to enforce their  it the. Number of cases with parties acting As their own lawyers in Hampden probate and family court has swelled to 50 percent according to Thomas Moriarty jr., the Register of probate. His office and some others around the state have have set up Volunteer lawyer for a Day programs to offer free informal Legal advice. Additionally an Aba panel recently proposed easier to understand Legal forms administrative divorces without judges in uncontested cases special after hour court sessions and courthouse Day care and encouraging lawyers to provide limited advice for a fee without insisting on taking Over an entire Case. A closer look lawyer jokes humor message Linowitz by the associated press lawyer bashing is a venerable tradition but surely this is its Golden age. Collections of lawyer jokes Are available in books in disks and from on line computer. Services. Legal thrillers take up residence on Best seller lists and lawyers misdeeds keep viewers glued to screens Large and Small. In the pantheon of popular culture lawyers a especially corrupt lawyers a occupy a special Niche. But Why Why do they take up so much space in our psyches Why do we love hate them so much Quot the qualities you done to like Are the same qualities you seek when you re in trouble Quot says Robert r. Butterworth a los Angeles based clinical psychologist. Quot we want the shark in our Side but we Don t want to be swimming with a Bunch of  Why done to Sharks eat lawyers professional Courtesy Robert c. Post a Law professor at Boalt Hall school of Law at the University of California says lawyers embody an even deeper cultural conflict Between the common Good and individual Independence. A there Are two types of Law Post says Quot the technical ambiguous Complex Laws enacted by the state a Laws easily circumvented by those familiar with their loopholes read Quot lawyers and the broader More fundamental Law associated with our values As a Community. Quot popular culture is filled with images of the contradiction Between these two kinds of Law Quot Post writes in the California Law review. When lawyers represent individual clients in disputes with the larger Community Quot they betray their duty to the More fundamental Law. In popular culture the Symbol of this betrayal is the lawyer s fee Quot Post writes. Quot the lawyer is seen As abandoning his duty As a citizen. For his Large  not surprisingly greed is a favorite theme in lawyer jokes. Lawyer i wish to Appeal my client s Case on the grounds of newly discovered evidence. Judge what s the hew evidence lawyer i discovered he still has $500 left sol m. Linowitz one of the country a most distinguished lawyers blames what he Calls the profession s faltering ethics on its transformation from Quot Noble calling to Quot Legal services  the shift from profession to business changes what the bar is. Huc stering a product demeans us. We re losing the soul of the Legal profession Quot says Linowitz who describes himself As still idealistic at 80. In a scramble to distance ourselves from lawyers we sometimes banish them from our midst altogether. Relegating them to the Bottom of the animal kingdom. What a the difference Between a lawyer and a Catfish one s a Bottom dwelling garbage eating scavenger. The other s a fish but writes Post that is not possible. In popular imagery the lawyer is held to strict account for the discrepancy Between our aspirations and our realities Quot he writes. Quot but this discrepancy is not the lawyers alone and once we understand this we May also come o see that in popular culture the lawyer is so much our enemy because his failings Are so much our  the stars and stripes wednesday May 11, 1994