User-friendly divorce forms stir legal debate

The Texas Supreme Court is studying whether to create and authorize user-friendly divorce forms for litigants who represent themselves — a step some believe would help low-income Texans gain access to justice, but others say could lead to legal quagmires.

On Friday, the court’s efforts took center stage as the issue came up for discussion during a meeting of the Texas Supreme Court Advisory Committee, which reviewed recommendations from a task force called Solutions 2012.

The task force drafted a series of ideas aimed at helping people who can’t afford a lawyer get access to the legal services they need. But its recommendations also raised concerns about “pro se” forms — paperwork that allows a person to represent his or herself.

“If the practice of law in Texas is to be reduced to set of check-the-box forms, and our judiciary is to become a network of do-it-yourself help centers, then it seems that the lawyers of this state ought to have input in that decision,” stated G. Thomas Vick, a Weatherford attorney and task force co-chairman, in an opening letter to its report.

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