Welcome

Welcome! This website is designed to provide information to people who are representing themselves in civil cases in the Central District of California.

When you are without an attorney, you are "proceeding pro se." If you represent yourself in Court, you are called a "pro se litigant" or a "self-represented litigant." "Pro se" is a Latin, legal term meaning "for himself," and a "litigant" is someone who is either suing someone or is being sued in court.

A civil case is any case other than a criminal case. A civil case is the only type of case you can start without an attorney. It is different from a criminal case, which can only be started by government officials. In a civil case, you do not have a constitutional right to a lawyer appointed by the Court. Therefore, if you start a civil case as a "pro se litigant," you should be prepared to pursue it to completion on your own. The Court appoints a lawyer to assist you in civil cases only under rare circumstances that may not be met in your situation.