The purpose of the Civil Self-Help Center is to provide general information and basic assistance to self-represented litigants (those without a lawyer).  If you have a lawyer, or represent a corporation, LLC or LLP, we cannot help you.  Corporations, LLC’s and LLP’s must appear in court through an attorney; they cannot represent themselves through a non-lawyer.

Help is provided either through workshops, quick assistance, referrals, or through a limited number of individual appointments.  We regret that help is NOT available by telephone or email, as our resources are limited. 

Appointments for our morning “Answer-Contract” workshop, as well as all individual appointments for the day, are scheduled starting at 8:30 a.m. until all slots are filled for the day.  You are encouraged to arrive shortly before 8:30 a.m. to receive an appointment or a seat at the “Answer-Contract” workshop.  Individuals will be seen, and appointments will be assigned in a random order determined by a lottery at 8:30 a.m. each morning.

Appointments for our afternoon workshops are not currently necessary.  We suggest that you arrive shortly before 2:00 p.m. for these workshops to have time to sign up to attend.

Walk-in customers who have brief, non-complex questions are welcomed during the day.  If your questions turn out to be complex, you may be asked to return another day to be consulted.  Whether you are helped in a workshop or by an individual appointment is solely within the discretion of our staff.

The following are issues/types of problems that our staff CAN help you with:

General information about civil cases and court procedures
Simple Complaints or Answers for breach of contract
Simple Complaints or Answers for personal injury or property damage
Fee waiver requests
Proofs of serve by mail
Civil Case Coversheets
Motions to Set Aside Default
Motions to Extend Time for service only
Case Management Statements
Name Changes (by workshop only)
Requests for entry of default
Discovery requests and responses
Simple demand/settlement/cease and desist letters
Oppositions to civil forfeitures

The following are issues/types of problems that are staff CANNOT help you with:

Appeals
Landlord/tenant (unlawful detainer)
Medical and dental malpractice
Quiet title and all real estate actions
Writs of Mandate
Family law (divorce, child custody, paternity)
Criminal Law
Probate
Small Claims
Traffic
Juvenile (dependency and delinquency)
Federal law (bankruptcy, immigration law, lawsuits venued in federal court)
Class action lawsuits
Writs of Possession/temporary restraining orders
Injunctions

Please see our Workshops page for a description of available workshops at the Self-Help Center.