News You Can Use . . . by Bob Licon

For the average person, it is very difficult trying to work your way through the legal system. First, it is very intimidating just entering the courthouse, even if its just to get information about how to respond to a summons or how to file for divorce. The discomfort you feel just to enter the building can be terrifying if you’ve never done it before. People line up outside the courthouse waiting for the deputy sheriffs to open the door in the morning. Men are required to remove their belts and place their wallets and personal belongings containing metal in a rubber tray. Women are required to remove their personal belongings containing metal in a rubber tray as well and must have their purses ready for inspection by the deputy next to the body scanner at the inside entrance. Just being there gives you the creeps. Well, it does me anyway.

If you are not an attorney or work for an attorney, you may need to visit the court’s self-help area and wait in line again. All you know is that you have a legal problem and need legal advice on how to file the proper legal document. Next comes finally getting in front of the line and going to the counter where there is a court clerk waiting to assist you. Believe me once you get there you run out of words to describe what type of legal document you need in order to help you solve your legal dilemma. If you ask them what forms you will need they respond by telling you “sorry, we can’t give you legal advice.” If you can manage to get them to understand what you are telling them, they may hand you a packet of legal forms that you can purchase for a nominal price, usually under $5.00. By this time, you’re thinking about your parking meter and whether you will have a $35 ticket waiting for you when you return. Chances are you will. Ok, enough of that. However, once you get home, its another story. Trying to complete the forms is something else. Filling in the blanks is easy to do, but describing your personal situation is difficult to do unless you are capable of writing concise sentences the court reviewers will understand. Thant’s why its better to hire a professional to complete your forms for you. 

A-1 Legal Document Services . . .

When I first opened A-1 Legal Document Services I decided to offer value added services that provided an extra value to services most other legal document businesses do not provide. For instance, merely helping a customer complete their documents is not enough. Most people who have legal problems do not know what to do about them and are extremely intimidated with doing the leg work of going to the downtown courthouse to ask anyone about what kind of legal forms they need to use for their specific legal problem. If they are lucky enough to find a clerk willing to help them they will bring home a packet of blank documents with instructions on how to fill them out. The reality is that once you get them home, it’s like buying a piece of furniture in a box at a department store and wondering how to assemble them once you bring it home. Well, maybe not that bad but navigating through a batch of legal documents is still just as frustrating. The only way I could know for sure what it’s like for the general public was to try it myself and go to the downtown courthouse and experience it as they do.  First, there is a parking problem. If you don’t have enough change for the parking meters you may end up paying a $35 parking fine. Believe me its easier to bring at least $5 in coins than get a parking ticket. One quarter is equal to ten minutes on the meter so bring a pocket full of quarters. After you remove your belt and clear the body scanner you are free to enter the building and find the floor level need to start your journey to getting what you want. Don’t expect to go in and out like you do at the grocery store, its not like that. Waiting in line is very challenging for most people. You can expect each person will use about 15 minutes or more to do their business. Its expected that most people will ask a dozen questions about the legal process. To help my customers avoid this challenging experience, I offer to do this for them at no additional cost. I complete their legal documents and take them to the courthouse for them and have them filed. Once filed, I make 2 additional copies, one for the customer and another for the person being served, the original document is kept at the court. Doing it this way avoids additional potential problems that may occur if the customer tries to do this themselves. In addition to making sure their legal documents are filed properly, I address their envelopes and provide postage if other parties are to be served by mail. In the end, I can rest assured that my customers are relieved that they came to me and had a pleasant experience. This helps me too because if they are satisfied with my services they may refer me to their friends and relatives.