Entering 2011, there’s a crisis on the front lines of our justice system. A July 2010 ABA study reports that in a recessionary climate, more litigants are going it alone in the courtroom out of economic necessity and not surprisingly, achieving poorer outcomes than if they’d been represented. Worse, in tough times, the stakes for pro se’s have never been higher as court dockets swell with bankruptcies, debt collection, evictions and foreclosures – matters which can have devastating and long-lasting consequences if not handled properly. So what’s the solution? How about a traveling lawyer who can deliver legal triage services directly to the courthouse to pro se litigants and to a judicial system hungry for new ideas to address the needs of the unrepresented specifically in court proceedings.

Unbundled legal services and virtual law offices, such as those pioneered by this month's Xemplar, Stephanie Kimbro, go a long way toward making legal services more affordable, but they don’t always address the biggest challenge that pro se litigants encounter in contested judicial proceedings, which is lack of legal training and courtroom experience. The judges surveyed in the ABA study observed that pro se litigants fail to present necessary evidence, properly examine witnesses and object to evidence, and in general, commit procedural errors. Given these circumstances, there are few effective alternatives to actual legal representation. That’s where a Traveling Lawyer could make a difference.

Lawyering on the go isn’t an entirely new concept. Some lawyers make house calls, visiting clients at their home or offices for their convenience. One lawyer, New York-based John Dearie, even operates a bus-based office that his firm dispatches to nursing homes and residences to meet with incapacitated clients. Dearie’s mobile office functions like a satellite office, providing full-service legal representation to clients in a variety of locations.

But whereas Dearie’s firm and house call lawyers offer the same type of services – consultations or will preparation -  on the road as they do in their office, the Traveling Lawyer that I’m envisioning would render a different variety of service - legal triage - right on the spot, in district and circuit courts around the country that handle smaller, civil matters where court-appointed lawyers aren’t available but where the consequences of lack of representation – wage garnishment, poor credit ratings or eviction – are nonetheless severe. Here’s my vision of how a Traveling Lawyer might operate, using low-cost, out-of-the-box technology that is currently available.

Typically, most courts require litigants to arrive at court nearly an hour early to sign in. A Traveling Lawyer could wait in the area outside the courtroom with a brochure that displays a menu of services ranging from assistance with completion of a form, negotiation of a settlement or representation at trial. (Naturally, they’d need to check bar rules to assess whether a passive display would constitute solicitation in violation of ethics rules). Clients could select their proferred service from the list and the Traveling Lawyer would either accept cash payment or by credit card using a service called Square.

What about a retainer agreement? Well, there’s an app for that, too! The Traveling Lawyer could draft a simple, plain-English form retainer agreement for each proffered service, and load it onto an iPad or other tablet computer. The agreement would make clear that the lawyer is only being retained for the matter scheduled for that day in court and that any additional work would be subject to a supplemental retainer. The lawyer could also include language explaining that the results in the case are necessarily dependent upon the information received from the client that day in court, and that the unbundled nature of the transaction and exigent circumstances preclude further independent verification and could potentially impact the outcome. Clients could then use electronic-signature tools like Zosh, EcoSign or Right Signature to seal the deal right on the spot.

Once a traveling lawyer receives payment, they would provide the paperwork for review. Even at the last hour, there’s still plenty that a Traveling Lawyer can do.  For example, any time “mill” law firms that file hundreds of foreclosures or consumer debt actions are careless and commit technical errors, the Traveling Lawyer could detect and raise as grounds for dismissal of the case. A Traveling Lawyer might also identify violations of consumer statutes that might be used as leverage for a settlement – or, if the client prefers, can be pursued as a separate matter under another retainer agreement prepared in less harried circumstances. Finally, with a wireless  connection, a Traveling Lawyer could perform some rudimentary case research online via your iPad or even your iPhone if your research service offers an app.

If, upon review, a case proves too difficult to handle, a traveling lawyer is better positioned to make a persuasive case for a continuance than a lay person because a judge would be more inclined to trust the lawyer’s assessment of the case and its challenges. And for matters that a client insists on taking to court, a traveling lawyer could make an opening and closing argument and cross examine a witness far more effectively than if the client had proceeded pro se.    

A Traveling Lawyer isn’t limited to legal triage services. Many clients also need assistance filling out pro se forms for uncontested divorces or small claims matters. A Traveling Lawyer could stock these forms on his iPad or laptop, fill them out on the spot with a client and file them electronically (if the court permits) or print them on a portable printer for immediate filing.

But can a lawyer turn a profit on mobile legal triage services? After all, many of these clients weren’t willing to pay a lawyer before they came to court, so why would they be able to afford it now unless the lawyer charges bargain basement rates?

A few thoughts. First, a Traveling Lawyer charges less and still earns money on legal triage cases. That’s because for most matters, the client will retain your services for a finite period and pay up front. There’s a value to getting cash up front at the time you render service, rather than having to wait a few days (or weeks) between an initial consult and when a client pays a retainer, or worse, having to chase the client down to collect. So, even though you might charge just $75 to help fill out a form or $400 for a short trial, it’s money you’d collect right away. As for clients, many of them might have avoided lawyers because they weren’t aware that they could find an affordable alternative. In addition, most clients are terribly nervous about appearing in court, and the pressure of an impending proceeding with several thousand dollars at stake will make them more willing to fork over a few hundred bucks on their credit card.

Traveling Lawyers could market their services by creating a website with a calendar of dates that they plan to be at the courthouse. Allowing clients to make appointments in advance and pay online can give you a little more time to prepare. Traveling Lawyers might also leverage the same social media tools employed by food trucks - Twitter, Facebook or Foursquare -  to let colleagues and potential clients know when they’re at the courthouse.

Operating as a Traveling Lawyer need not be a stand-alone business. Traveling Lawyers with established offices elsewhere could designate one or two “duty days” at the court where they render traveling legal triage. Spending time at the court would give the traveling lawyer increased exposure in the legal community, thereby helping to generate full-service business as well.

Let’s not kid ourselves – a Traveling Lawyer isn’t going to provide the same kind of representation as a Johnnie Cochran, F. Lee Bailey or David Boies. Quality representation demands brainpower, resources and time to prepare. But sometimes, like a food truck lunch, a little justice served up fresh and hot by a Traveling Lawyer may be just enough to meet a client’s needs – and in any event, is far preferable to the alternative of doing without.