Acknowledgements

Many people greatly assisted us in completing this study. Primarily, we must thank Roger Warren, President, National Center for State Courts and Clark Kelso, Director, Center for Access to the Courts through Technology, for providing insightful direction to the project.

This project would not be possible without the generous support of our funders – State Justice Institute; Open Society Institute; Center for Access to the Courts Through Technology; National Center for State Courts; Chicago-Kent College of Law Justice Web Collaboratory; and, the Preparing Global Leaders in the Heart of America Pritzker/Galvin Match, Illinois Institute of Technology. In particular we owe a debt of gratitude to: Catherine Samuels, Director, Program on Law & Society, Open Society Institute; David Tevelin, Executive Director, State Justice Institute; Sandy Thurston, Program Manager, State Justice Institute; and, Lewis Collens, President, Illinois Institute of Technology.

We are grateful to the many court administrators, staff and judiciary who welcomed us to their courts. Thank you for pointing us in the right direction and supporting our project.

In the 20th Judicial District Court of Colorado: Robert L. Bernard, Court Administrator; Chief Judge Roxanne Bailin; Magistrate Frederick Clifford; Magistrate Edward Kingery; Norma Sierra, Pro Se Domestic Relations Case Manager; and, Debra Crosser, Clerk of Court.

In the Delaware Family Court: Edward Pollard, Court Administrator; Chief Judge Vincent J. Poppiti; Judge Barbara D. Crowell; Commissioner Andrew Horsey; Commissioner Carolee Grillo; Julie Dvorak, Director of Pro Se Programs; Randall Willams, Director of Operations - Kent/Sussex; Raymond Quillen, Deputy Director of Operations - Kent/Sussex; Terry Coombs, Clerk of Court; and, Ellen Wheatley, Supervisor, Special Services Unit.

In the Superior Court of California, Ventura County: Sheila Gonzalez, Executive Officer; Florence Prushan, Assistant Executive Officer; Judge John Smiley; Judge Colleen White; Tina L. Rasnow, Self-Help Legal Access Center Coordinator; Susan Ratzkin, Family Law Facilitator; Gay Conroy, Family Law Facilitator; M. Carmen Ramirez, Self-Help Legal Access Center Coordinator; and, Michael S. Van Sickle, Court Managing Attorney.

In the 19th Judicial Circuit Court, Lake County: Robert A. Zastany, Executive Director, Administrative Office; Ronald F. Bird, Director, Administrative Office; Chief Judge Jane D. Waller; Sally Coffelt, Clerk of the Circuit Court; Judge Michael J. Fritz; Judge Gary G. Neddenriep; Judge Mary S. Schostock; Judge Henry C. Tonigan III; and Patrice Evans.

In the Cook County Circuit Court: Chief Judge Donald O'Connell; Judge Jacqueline P. Cox; Judge Abishi C. Cunningham; Judge Sophia H. Hall; Judge John G. Laurie; Mike McGowan, Director of Electronic Information Services; Dorothy Brown, Clerk of the Circuit Court of Cook County; Jim Ford, Director Edata Public Information Office; and, Melanie Wheeler.

We express our thanks to Associate Justice George Nicholson, Courts of Appeal, Third District, Sacramento, California; Stephanie Cole, Alaska State Court Administrator and Co-Chair, Joint CCJ/COSCA Task Force on Pro Se Litigants; Judge Donald E. Shelton, Washtenaw County Court, Michigan; Glenn Rawdon, Program Counsel, Legal Services Corporation; Will Hornsby, Staff Counsel, ABA Division for Legal Services; Jack Sweeney, Director, ABA Office of Justice Initiatives; Richard Zorza, Consultant, Zorza Associates; and, everyone from the Illinois Technology Center for Law and the Public Interest for their thoughtful criticisms, encouragement, and suggestions.

We would like to acknowledge the law and design students who worked to identify the major barriers facing self-represented litigants during Phase One of this project, "Investigation of Existing Systems". You helped to establish a great working relationship with the participating courts and laid the foundation for this project. Our thanks go to:

We would like to acknowledge the design and law students who developed the "Access to Justice" system concepts during Phase Two of this project, "Systems Planning and Design". You helped to establish a great working relationship with the participating courts and laid the foundation for this project. Our thanks go to:

We are also indebted to the National Center for State Courts for the opportunity to complete this project with the benefit of their thorough advice, clear insight, and steady support. In particular, we extend our thanks to Paula Hannaford, James McMillan, David Rottman, Nicole Mott and Sherry Keesee.

Our gratitude goes to the faculty and staff at Chicago-Kent College of Law who contributed to this project. We express our thanks to: Dean Henry H. Perritt, Professor Nancy Marder, Dawn Rupcich, Brennan Holmes, Susan O'Brien, Gwen Osborne, Sandra Spears, John Greiner, John Mayer, Lisa Colpoys, Christopher Dobson, Gail Fialek, Steven Raminiak, and Michael Heller.

Our gratitude goes to the faculty and staff at the Institute of Design who contributed to this project. In particular, we express our thanks to: Patrick Whitney, Keiichi Sato, Richard Van Hees, Vince LaConte, and Divya Singhal.

We also thank Amgraf Corporation for its continued support of graphic communications at the Institute of Design, particularly with its Mecca III and OneForm software. The former was used extensively in the development of the tools of Structured Planning and in the preparation of this report; the latter was and is the subject of experiment for "intelligent forms" that will soon be available in Structured Planning, and has potential for direct application in prototypes of System Elements to be developed from this project.

Lastly, we would like to thank all of the litigants in each of the jurisdictions who took the time to speak with us. Their insights served as a driving force in the development of this project.

It has been a very rewarding experience for everyone involved -- one that opened our eyes to the challenges that self-represented litigants face within the judicial system. Our work represents only a beginning.

To everyone who listened to our ramblings and, in turn, provided encouragement, critical suggestions, and friendship — we extend our deepest thanks. As with any work of this nature, we must take full responsibility for all errors and omissions.

Charles L. Owen,
Distinguished Professor of Design

Edward B. Pedwell,
Manager, Justice Web Collaboratory

Ronald W. Staudt, Associate Vice President, Law, Business and Technology and Professor of Law