Interactive online program will focus on serving self-represented litigants

A new, interactive learning program – believed to be the first of its kind in the nation – is being developed for clerks of circuit court and their employees across Wisconsin. The program is expected to be available on Courtnet by the end of 2009.

The new interactive course will help court staff assist the public without giving legal advice. It will also give a glimpse of daily life in hectic clerks' offices across the state. This photo was shot in Clerk of Circuit Court Diane Sennholz's office in Marathon County.

Entitled Walking the Line, the online course will focus on how to give appropriate assistance to self-represented litigants as required under Supreme Court Rule 70.61, Assistance to Court Users. It will make use of video vignettes that demonstrate right and wrong ways of handling common inquiries, and will employ multiple-choice quizzes that let the user track his or her progress. Pop-up boxes will appear alongside the user's selected responses to explain why an answer is correct or incorrect.

Reserve Judge Gary Carlson and Atty. Ann Zimmerman, Wisconsin's pro se coordinator, are leading the effort to develop the course. They are working in consultation with the Ninth and Tenth Judicial Districts' Self-Represented Litigants Committees. Marathon County Clerk of Circuit Court Diane Sennholz and her staff have been leaders in the effort to produce the course; Sennholz chairs the Ninth District committee.

Walking the Line is primarily funded with federal grant money that was secured for pro se initiatives in the Ninth Judicial District with help from U.S. Rep. David Obey.

As another tool in the toolbox for improving service to self-represented litigants, the interactive program joins a variety of other efforts across the state to address the challenges of increased self-represented litigation. These efforts include simplified court forms, specialized training for judges, online and bricks-and-mortar assistance centers for pro se litigants in a growing number of counties, a partnership with public libraries, an effort to develop and share 'best practices' information among the ten judicial districts, and more.

For further information, contact State Pro Se Coordinator Ann Zimmerman at ann.zimmerman@wicourts.gov.

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