Many people may assume that someone who brings a civil case to an Iowa court can afford to hire an attorney, or if not, has been assigned counsel through a legal aid service.

According to a random survey from a week of cases in one Iowa district in the summer of 2005, however, more than half of the 125 cases involved at least one person who wasn’t represented by a lawyer. At the same time, it’s estimated that only 20 to 30 percent of low-income Iowans who seek advice through legal services or pro bono programs receive adequate assistance, due to those programs’ budget constraints.

On March 12, the Iowa Supreme Court issued amended rules meant to clarify the conditions under which attorneys can provide limited or “unbundled” legal services to self-represented clients, also known as pro se litigants.

And within the next few months, the court is expected to authorize the first series of forms designed to be filled out by pro se litigants to assist them in filing their own cases. Under the new rules, an attorney can assist a client on a limited basis in preparing such forms without having to fully represent the person in court.

Learning curve

The changes are meant to address the growing trend of self-representation, by providing a lower-cost option for low-income residents who need legal services. Advocates hope it will also encourage more attorneys to become involved in volunteer services such as those provided by Iowa Legal Aid. However, lawyers have been wary of jumping into the unfamiliar waters of unbundled legal services.

The move toward allowing unbundled legal services in Iowa will involve a learning curve for both the courts and attorneys, said Iowa Supreme Court Chief Justice Marsha Ternus.

“The concept is not new, but it is new to Iowa,” said Ternus, who said the state has benefited from being able to see a variety of approaches taken elsewhere to assist pro se litigants over the past several years. The recent rule changes were “just to make attorneys more comfortable with it,” she said. “They were actually allowed to do it since the code was changed a couple of years ago.”

Many of the changes were based upon recommendations made by a joint task force of the Iowa Judges Association and the Iowa State Bar Association, which issued a report on pro se litigation in May 2005. The adopted rules specify procedures attorneys must follow to properly document their role when representing a client on a limited basis, or to disclose that they have assisted someone by preparing or reviewing documents.

Possible ethical conflicts and the problem of truly limiting their representation have been among the chief concerns of attorneys.

Diane Dornburg, a family law attorney with Carney & Appleby PLC in Des Moines, began offering unbundled legal services shortly after the Iowa Rules of Professional Conduct were revised in July 2005.

“Part of that comes from my background,” said Dornburg, who has represented low-income residents for more than 25 years, most of that time as an attorney with the Legal Aid Society of Polk County. “Because of the sheer volume, we had to decide exactly what we would represent a person in, and that wouldn’t be every issue they had.”

Dornburg’s unbundled services may involve providing a one-hour consultation to clients, handling a single hearing or filing a limited appearance.

“In family law, it’s possible for someone to have a case that never ends,” she said. “It’s important for me to be able to say, ‘I will handle this contempt hearing, and that’s all.’ Or, ‘I will handle this discovery issue for you, and that’s all.'”

Dornburg said lawyers she has talked with are concerned that allowing unbundled services and limited representation will encourage someone to “set up a practice where all they do is plead people guilty to OWIs,” she said.

“Clearly,” Ternus said, “the rules are not going to address all the reservations attorneys may have. It’s new; it’s different. It’s going to take some time for attorneys to get comfortable, because it’s a new way to offer legal services. That’s why I think it would be very helpful for attorneys from other states to come in and say how they’ve done it, just to provide some of those practical aspects that can’t be addressed in a rule.”

New market

Kate Sampson, a senior program associate with the American Judicature Society, has worked with state courts for the past eight years in implementing pro se litigation rules.

“Many state supreme courts have promulgated rules allowing attorneys to provide limited legal assistance,” Sampson said. “In the states where it’s been done for a while, attorneys are comfortable with it. Once they see it’s working and that it can become a source of revenue, they are supportive of it.”

Other states have taken varying approaches to disseminating information about limited services attorneys may offer. In Arizona, for instance, people can visit an office at most courthouses to review directories of attorneys who provide limited services, as well as obtain some assistance in filling out legal forms, she said.

In most states that allow unbundling, attorneys typically charge their standard hourly rate for the limited services they offer, Sampson said. Because pro se litigants would not otherwise be accessing legal services, they represent a new market segment for attorneys, she said.

According to a survey conducted for the AJS, the average pro se litigant is a woman between the ages of 18 and 34 with a high school education who either knows or believes she can’t afford legal advice.

Iowa Legal Aid offices throughout the state will be one of the primary means for making the new pro se legal forms available as they’re approved, said Dennis Greenenboom, the organization’s executive director. About 2,700 lawyers statewide are enrolled as volunteer attorneys through three programs.

“I think these rules will facilitate greater involvement of volunteer lawyers in helping in these types of matters,” he said.

Iowa Legal Aid is considering a number of approaches for assisting its clients, among them a legal clinic format, said its deputy director, Christine Luzzie.

“For instance, on the first Monday of the month, a clinic might be held in which a staff attorney would make a presentation or maybe present something on video, and then make the forms available and have them start filling out the forms,” she said.

“The hope is to do these in discrete sessions so they’re not too overwhelming,” she added.

At the same time, volunteer attorneys will be instructed on ways they might assist such clients on a limited basis, Luzzie said.

“”We want to make sure we do it in the most helpful way possible to the people using the forms,” she said.