eighthjdcourt

The Legal Aid Center of Southern Nevada Civil Law Self Help Center just marked 10 years of serving the community with nearly a half million transactions. They help those who represent themselves in court on civil matters navigate the system. The Family Law Self-Help Center helps self-represented litigants at Family Court.

In 2006, to develop a citizen-centric approach and improve access to justice, the State of Nevada Access to Justice Commission identified document assembly capacity with electronic filing as a goal for implementation at legal aid centers. In order to achieve 100 percent access to justice, everyone must have access to an attorney or there must be a way for all to complete acceptable pleadings. The Eighth Judicial District Court pursued this goal through Guide and File.

In the past few years Guide and File forms have been introduced to help self-represented litigants complete filing paperwork properly. Self-help Center staff work with a contractor to develop the forms. The civil and family law Self-Help Centers currently offer 26 guided interviews, with more being developed. The guided interviews ensure that litigants create clear and legible filings that meet all requirements. Priorities for form development are developed based on use.

Guide and File offers an online portal available to users with Internet access or at Legal Aid Self-Help Centers at the Regional Justice Center and Family Court. The system guides pro per litigants through the legal forms with focused questions (called interviews) that generate automated court forms based on their responses. Completed forms can then be filed at the courthouse into the court case management system.

Those who work in the Legal Aid Self-Help Centers report that through the use of interviews, there has been a marked reduction in errors for those filings and more pro se documents are accepted, rather than rejected by the Clerk’s Office. In District Court user surveys, most report Guide and File as very easy or easy to use, with few respondents reporting the system as difficult or very difficult.

The interviews guide the users to complete the forms correctly they don’t help users come up with answers or give users specific answers they should enter to meet the legal requirements. If the questions in the interviews are not clear to users, they are instructed to read the section of the Civil Law Self-Help Center’s website on the form topic http://www.clarkcountycourts.us/self-help-centers/.

The following interviews have been completed and are in use: https://nevada.tylerhost.net/SRL/srl/

1. Child Custody Answer & Counterclaim (Clark County)
2. Child Custody Complaint (Clark County)
3. Collection: Writs, Notice and Instruction (Clark County)
4. Cremation: Probate Petition for cremation (Clark County)
5. Disburse Money: Petition to disburse money from Minor’s Account (Clark County)
6. Divorce: Answer and Counterclaim (Clark County)
7. Divorce Complaint (Clark County)
8. Divorce Joint petition for divorce (Clark County)
9. Family Cases: Motion for Temporary Orders (Clark County)
10. Family Cases: Motion to Modify child custody, visitation, and child support (Clark County)
11. Fee waiver: Application (Clark County)
12. Landlord/Tennant: Complaint for Illegal Lockout or Loss of Essential Services
13. Medical Records: probate Petition for Medical Records (Clark County)
14. Name Change: Adult name change request (Clark County)
15. Safe Deposit Box : Probate Petition to Open Safe Deposit Box (Clark County)
16. Small Claims: Complaint (Clark County)
17. Small Claims: Counterclaims (Clark County)
18. Special Administration: Probate Petition for Special Letters (Clark County)
19. Stalking & Harassment: Application for Temporary Protective Order NV protection Order against stalking or harassment
20. Summary Eviction: Landlord’s Complaint (Clark County)
21. Summary Eviction: Tennant’s Answer (Clark County)
22. Transfer & Affidavit: Probate petition for Transfer of Property & Affidavit of Entitlement (Clark County)
23. Unemployment Judicial Review: Step 1 Which Interview should I do? (Clark County)
24. Unemployment Judicial review: Step 2 – Petition for Judicial Review (Clark County)
25. Unemployment Judicial Review: Step 3 – Opening Brief (Clark County)
26. Unemployment Judicial Review; Step 4 – Reply Brief (Clark County)

A citizen-centric approach is imperative to ensure courts are taking all reasonable steps to ensure access to justice for all. People are becoming more accustomed to, and in many cases, demanding of, do-it-yourself options; not only because they tend to be cheaper, but also because electronic means offer more flexibility. From a cost, efficiency and user standpoint, Guide and File is an ideal solution to an issue that has challenged courts.

The Nevada Eighth Judicial District Court Guide and File system made the list of the top-10 court technology solutions as named by the National Association for Court Management (NACM) and the 2018 Tyler Excellence Award.

Tags: and child support (Clark County) Fee waiver: Application (Clark County) Landlord/Tennant: Complaint for Illegal Lockout or Loss of Essential Services Medical Records: probate Petition for Medical Reco, and child support Clark County, Child Custody Answer & Counterclaim (Clark County) Child Custody Complaint (Clark County) Collection: Writs, Child Custody Answer & Counterclaim Clark County, Child Custody Complaint Clark County, Collection: Writs, Cremation: Probate Petition for cremation Clark County, Disburse Money: Petition to disburse money from Minor’s Account Clark County, Divorce Complaint Clark County, Divorce Joint petition for divorce Clark County, Divorce: Answer and Counterclaim Clark County, Family Cases: Motion for Temporary Orders Clark County, Family Cases: Motion to Modify child custody, Family Law Las Vegas, Fee waiver: Application Clark County, Guide and File, Landlord/Tennant: Complaint for Illegal Lockout or Loss of Essential Services Medical Records: probate Petition for Medical Records Clark County, Legal Aid, Legal Aid Center of Southern Nevada, Legal Aid Center of Southern Nevada Civil Law Self Help Center, Legal Aid Clark County, Legal Aid Las Vegas, Legal Help Las Vegas, legal tips, Name Change: Adult name change request Clark County, Notice and Instruction (Clark County) Cremation: Probate Petition for cremation (Clark County) Disburse Money: Petition to disburse money from Minor’s Account (Clark County) Divorce: Answer and Coun, Notice and Instruction Clark County, Safe Deposit Box : Probate Petition to Open Safe Deposit Box Clark County, Small Claims: Complaint Clark County, Small Claims: Counterclaims Clark County, Special Administration: Probate Petition for Special Letters Clark County, Stalking & Harassment: Application for Temporary Protective Order NV protection Order against stalking or harassment, Summary Eviction: Landlord’s Complaint Clark County, Summary Eviction: Tennant’s Answer Clark County, Transfer & Affidavit: Probate petition for Transfer of Property & Affidavit of Entitlement Clark County, Unemployment Judicial Review: Step 1 Which Interview should I do? Clark County, Unemployment Judicial review: Step 2 – Petition for Judicial Review Clark County, Unemployment Judicial Review: Step 3 - Opening Brief Clark County, Unemployment Judicial Review; Step 4 - Reply Brief Clark County, visitation