“Our legal system is very complex. It’s difficult even for an attorney … to figure it out.”

Excerpt from interview with Magdalena, an attorney in San Jose, CA. Summer 2021.

Interviewer: And then, thinking about the courthouse and also, sort of, the court system in Santa Clara County, what things would you change about it?

Magdalena: You know, um, what I would just -- and this is probably -- this likely applies to every courthouse. And part of the reason that motivated me to just participate in this study is just that, you know, we -- our legal system is very complex. It's difficult even for an attorney, such as myself, to figure out. And so, because our legal system is complex, you know, that's very true of our courthouse. I recently was in court and watched a trial where the client was unrepresented -- one of the -- one of the parties was unrepresented, and the other one was […] And the unrepresented, um, had no clue what he was doing there, and the judge […] “we're going to proceed.” And he said, "I'm not ready to proceed because I don't even know what this means. I'm just -- I was told to have to appear today, but I'm not ready." And unfortunately, it, you know, it ended up -- the trial ended up proceeding, but the unrepresented party was pleading with the judge and saying, "I don't know, like I need any more time. I don't understand." But the judge said, you know, "proper service has been provided. You weren't -- you were on notice. So, we have to continue." And an actual, you know, witness is called -- an actual trial took place, even though he was completely clueless, even what his trial is or what this was happening. So, what I would change is that, um, for unrepresented party...that you actually provide some kind of education, so they know what they're getting into when they're in the courthouse, sort of showing a video, you know, that this is a judge, this is how the rules works, and that all of that.