We are happy to help you if we can
However, as court staff we must be fair to everyone and we do not take sides, so we are allowed to help you only in certain ways.
Court Staff CAN:
- Encourage you to seek legal advice from a licensed attorney
- Provide you with information about available low-income legal services programs
- Provide court approved forms and instructions without advising any specific course of action
- Provide information on what is requested on forms WITHOUT suggesting specific words to put into the forms
- Provide general information about court rules, available citations, legal terminology, administrative orders, procedures and practices
- Provide publicly available, non-sequestered information on docketed cases
- Provide general information about court processes, procedures and practices, including court schedules and how to get matters scheduled
- Provide information approved by the court about appropriate court alternatives and services
- Provide general information about community resources
- Provide information about proper courtroom conduct and decorum
Court Staff CANNOT:
- Endorse specific lawyers or community resources, or contact them for you
- Perform legal research by applying the law to specific facts or expressing an opinion about what law applies or whether you should file a case
- Create documents for you
- Fill in forms for you
- Provide interpretation or application of court or administrative rules or regulations, constitutional or statutory provisions, legal terminology, and case law based on specific facts
- Provide you with information that has been restricted by court order, statute, rules or regulations or case law
- Explain court orders or decisions, or assist or participate in ex parte communications with the judge
- Advise you whether you should bring your case to court or give you an opinion about what will happen if you bring your case to court
- Predict the outcome of a case filed in court or tell you what you should do
- Advise you what to say in court