by Chris Folsum

Created on: December 08, 2009   Last Updated: December 09, 2009

How do you perform brain surgery  on yourself successfully in an operating room, if you happen to be a brain surgeon?  That was the question I heard a judge ask a defendant who wanted to represent himself, the last time I was in court.  I thought that was an excellent analogy.  Most professionals don't self administer medical procedures, or even  legal procedures. 

For good reason too, its enough to be the patient and its enough to be the defendant in a court of law.  In order to get the best result, chances are better that someone else who isn't on the stretcher or in the hot seat be the one to do the footwork or healing. 

That was an example using someone with expert knowledge on the law and the workings of the system too.  Your average Joe is really looking for trouble if he attempts to represent himself in court.

I'm not a lawyer, I've taken some paralegal classes and in my young adulthood I gained some knowledge on how the criminal justice system works, by attending the School of Hard Knocks.  One thing that you learn quickly through observation is that people who choose to represent themselves might as well choose to hang themselves. 

Its understandable for many reasons why a person would entertain the idea of representing themselves in court.  It's cheaper, if you have the free time to do all the research that a lawyer doesn't have to do because he already knows it, not to mention the investigating and interviewing that he would have to do in regards to your unique situation.  Do you know how to properly write a motion or a summons, how about a complaint? 

Some judges are easy going on the technicalities that is normally expected from these documents that become a matter of record, but many expect professional, follow the letter to the rule, when it comes to any legal document.  So, you will need to learn fast what a paralegal knows how to do.   That all just pertains to preparing your case for trial.

Once it goes to trial, do you know how to conduct yourself in front of a group of people who are there to decide if you are guilty or not?  Strangers who would rather find you guilty than deliberate for hours over the possibility that you are not?  Many lawyers who know the law like the back of their hand, know that they are not meant to be arguing the cases they research. 

It takes a certain type of person to be able to argue all the aspects of a law has

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