Test Your Readiness For Court

Who wants to be involved in a lawsuit? Nobody but lawyers. Litigation is stressful, especially if you have a lot to lose. Still, millions of people end up in court every year, many of them without a lawyer and unprepared. Are you prepared for court? Take this readiness test and see.

No matter how you got there, when you’re in a lawsuit, you want to do your best. Part of doing your best is getting ready for a fight.

Take the readiness test below to assess how prepared you are for legal self-representation.

The Readiness Test

When answering the questions, select the response you agree with most. If you’re not sure, select what you believe should be the answer. To get a credible assessment of your preparedness, be as honest as you can with yourself.

A. Which argument is MOST appropriate in support of a motion to dismiss?

1. “The facts and the law are on my side.”
2. “The plaintiff should have filed suit sooner.”
3. “The complaint does not have a required attachment.”
4. “I have multiple defenses to the allegations.”

B. You’ve received interrogatories in a divorce case, and many of the questions seem to be based on lies your soon-to-be-ex wants people to believe about you. How do you handle it?

1. I don’t know. I have no idea what an interrogatory is.
2. I would submit a blanket denial of all allegations and move for sanctions.
3. I would respond to some questions and object to those that seem inappropriate or biased.
4. I would refuse to answer any questions because they’re all biased.

C. Which of the following is MOST useful when arguing your point to a judge at a hearing?

1. Aggressive stance
2. Argumentative stance
3. Persuasive stance
4. Polite stance

D. You notice that the complaint you were served with is missing a required exhibit. What should be your FIRST response?

1. Call the attorney and ask for the exhibit.
2. Use the missing exhibit to support your answer.
3. Use the missing exhibit as grounds for a motion to dismiss.
4. Use the missing exhibit as grounds for a summary judgment motion.

E. If you’re missing these related to your claims or affirmative defenses, your case will likely fail.

1. Interrogatories
2. Filing deadlines
3. Elements
4. Requests for admissions

F. In court on a motion to dismiss, what should happen after a case is called?

1. The judge determines the order of the hearing and announces his decision.
2. The judge asks questions based on written motions.
3. The defendant argues his or her case.
4. The plaintiff argues his or her case.

G. You’re in court for a hearing, but the court reporter is late. What should you do or attempt to do?

1. Carry on with the hearing without a court reporter.
2. Insist that the hearing be rescheduled for when a court reporter will be present.
3. Have the court wait, then find a court reporter who can arrive at a moment’s notice.
4. Leave. A hearing without a court reporter can be biased.

H. The other party in a case has filed a motion for summary judgment against you. What should you do FIRST?

1. Call or visit the clerk’s office to get advice about what to do.
2. Find a response to a motion for summary judgment online and copy and paste the pertinent parts.
3. Find the summary judgment statute in your jurisdiction and review it to determine how to respond.
4. Closely examine the motion to see if any mistakes were made by the other party.

I. Which of the following would be MOST useful for you to assume about the judge in your case?

1. The judge is impartial.
2. The judge is just like any other human being.
3. The judge is not the final arbiter in this case.
4. The judge is biased.

J. You’re served with a summons to appear in court as a defendant in a foreclosure case. What should you do?

1. Go to court and talk to the judge.
2. Review the complaint and summons for problems so you can argue your point in court.
3. Carefully review the complaint and summons to find support for a motion to dismiss.
4. Throw away the summons because you were moving out anyway.

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Add Your Test Score

Give yourself 4 points for each “3” answer.

Give yourself 3 points for each “2” answer.

Give yourself 2 points for each “4” answer.

Give yourself 1 point for each “1” answer.

Add the numbers to get your score.

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How Prepared For Court Are You?

Keep in mind that you could be in litigation and not be prepared. Below is your readiness test assessment.

1-10 points–You’re not prepared for court. You’re not prepared, but you represent a lot of people. Your understanding of the court system is that of a person going into a magistrate court with Judge Judy on the bench waiting to mete out justice when she hears everyone’s story. Real court isn’t like that. Avoid a quick defeat by learning what you need to know to survive.

11-20 points–You’re on the cusp. You might know enough to avoid a very quick exit and defeat, but not enough to get far beyond that. Most self-represented litigants learn by trial and error. In real court, a trial and error strategy, combined with lawyer misbehavior and judicial bias can kill your case. To stay in longer, learn civil procedure, and be restrained in your reactions to bad behavior by others in the case.

21-30 points–You’re more prepared for court than most. Ready or not, self-represented litigants go to court every day to stake a claim or defend their rights. You have a better chance of lasting longer than most because of the knowledge you have about the process. You know you’re not in Judge Judy’s court. You also know what you don’t know. Now, go for knowledge about strategy, civil procedure, and issues unique to pro se litigants.

31-40 points–You’re prepared. You’re a frequent fighter. You know how the game is played, and you’re prepared for the battle. You’re aware of the many directions a court case can take, so you don’t get knocked out in the first or second round. You’re aware of “tricks” lawyers play and of legal “technicalities” that seem to serve everyone but you. You have a strategy and you know what you want the outcome of the case to be. You probably win more than you lose for just these reasons.

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Review your Test Answers

A. Which argument is MOST appropriate in support of a motion to dismiss?

1. “The facts and the law are on my side.”
2. “The plaintiff should have filed suit sooner.”
3. “The complaint does not have a required attachment.”
4. “I have multiple defenses to the allegations.”

• BEST ANSWER: 3. “The complaint does not have a required attachment.” With a motion to dismiss, you’re typically looking at the complaint and how it was filed. Answers, “1” and “4” don’t address that. Answer “2” is too vague. It could be referring to the statute of limitations, which can be addressed in a motion to dismiss. Or it could be referring to laches, an affirmative defense.

B. You’ve received interrogatories in a divorce case, and many of the questions seem to be based on lies your soon-to-be-ex wants people to believe about you. How do you handle it?

1. I don’t know. I have no idea what an interrogatory is.
2. I would submit a blanket denial of all allegations and move for sanctions.
3. I would respond to some questions and object to those that seem inappropriate or biased.
4. I would refuse to answer any questions because they’re all biased

• BEST ANSWER: I would respond to some questions and object to those that seem inappropriate or biased. When you get interrogatories (questions) from your opponent, answer all that you can truthfully answer. Determine which objections you can make. If some questions cannot be answered because they are irrelevant, harassing, etc., object to them. A blanket denial of all the questions is in itself an answer but may not be looked on kindly by the judge. Don’t use interrogatories as a way to communicate to the judge the behavior of the other party.

C. Which of the following is MOST useful when arguing your point to a judge at a hearing?

1. Aggressive stance
2. Argumentative stance
3. Persuasive stance
4. Polite stance

• BEST ANSWER: Persuasive. In court, you want to persuade the judge that your position is the most supportable. You do this with supporting authorities (cases and/or statutes) and a well-developed argument. Being argumentative or aggressive without persuasive authorities gets you nothing but judicial bias. The same can be said for “polite”.

D. You notice that the complaint you were served with is missing a required exhibit. What should be your FIRST response?

1. Call the attorney and ask for the exhibit.
2. Use the missing exhibit to support your answer.
3. Use the missing exhibit as grounds for a motion to dismiss.
4. Use the missing exhibit as grounds for a summary judgment motion.

• BEST ANSWER: Use the missing exhibit as grounds for a motion to dismiss. The motion to dismiss is typically about the complaint and how it was written and given to the defendant. If something crucial is missing from it, moving to dismiss is more appropriate than the other choices. Choice “2” is okay if the missing exhibit can support an answer and affirmative defense later in the case. Likewise, using the missing exhibit to support a motion for summary judgment might be plausible but later in the case. It’s not what you would do first. Asking the opponent for the exhibit is nice, especially if a rule or statute required it. Otherwise, in litigation, you don’t want to give your opponent the opportunity to correct a mistake. Stomp on their head!

E. If you’re missing these related to your claims or affirmative defenses, your case will likely fail.

1. Interrogatories
2. Filing deadlines
3. Elements
4. Requests for admissions

• BEST ANSWER: Elements. “Elements are those things that must be proven in order for you to state a cause of action as a plaintiff or assert defenses as a defendant.” You can miss a filing deadline or fail to send out requests for admissions. You can even fail to ask specific interrogatories, but missing elements mean the death of your claim or affirmative defense.

F. In court on a motion to dismiss, what should happen after a case is called?

1. The judge determines the order of the hearing and announces his decision.
2. The judge asks questions based on written motions.
3. The defendant argues his or her case.
4. The plaintiff argues his or her case.

• BEST ANSWER: The defendant argues his or her case. The person who files a motion or pleading on which the hearing is scheduled should be the first to present. The defendant would’ve moved to dismiss the case. In a fair system where everything works well, the defendant would be the first to present or argue.

G. You’re in court for a hearing, but the court reporter is late. What should you do or attempt to do?

1. Carry on with the hearing without a court reporter.
2. Insist that the hearing be rescheduled for when a court reporter will be present.
3. Have the court wait, then find a court reporter who can arrive at a moment’s notice.
4. Leave. A hearing without a court reporter can be biased.

• BEST ANSWER: Have the court wait, then find a court reporter who can arrive at a moment’s notice. Experienced pro se litigants know that the presence of a court reporter can curtail both judicial bias and lawyer misbehavior. In some situations, even leaving is preferable to carrying on without a court reporter.

H. The other party in a case has filed a motion for summary judgment against you. What would you do FIRST?

1. Call or visit the clerk’s office to get advice about what to do.
2. Find a response to a motion for summary judgment online and copy and paste the pertinent parts.
3. Find the summary judgment statute in your jurisdiction and review it to determine how to respond.
4. Closely examine the motion to see if any mistakes were made by the other party.

• BEST ANSWER: Find the summary judgment statute in your jurisdiction and review it to determine how to respond. Anytime you’re served with a motion, pleading, or discovery request, find out what is needed to respond to and or defeat it. If you find a response to a summary judgment online, be sure to customize it to your needs and your set of facts. Asking for help at the clerk’s office is likely to lead nowhere as most clerks cannot provide legal advice.

I. Which of the following would be MOST useful for you to assume about the judge in your case?

1. The judge is impartial
2. The judge is just like any other human being
3. The judge is not the final arbiter in this case
4. The judge is biased

• BEST ANSWER: The judge is not the final arbiter in this case. You can believe the judge is impartial, biased or just another person like you. However, believing that the trial judge has the final say in your case threatens your ability to appeal. If you’re fully aware throughout the case that the judge is not the final arbiter, you’ll preserve issues to present to an appellate court should you lose. In fact, preserving issues for appeal should be part of your overall litigation strategy.

J. You’re served with a summons to appear in court as a defendant in a foreclosure case. What should you do?

1. Go to court and talk to the judge
2. Review the complaint and summons for problems so you can argue your point in court
3. Carefully review the complaint and summons to find support for a motion to dismiss
4. Throw away the summons because you were moving out anyway

• BEST ANSWER: Carefully review the complaint and summons to find support for a motion to dismiss. Don’t let the first time the judge sees or hears from you is a court appearance. In fact, it would be great if the judge saw as little of you as possible. So, get an extension of time to respond to the complaint first. Build a case for dismissal before you even see the judge. After you move to dismiss, don’t file your answer and affirmative defenses until the judge orders you to do so.

The only thing worse than not knowing about litigation when you’re in a legal battle is not knowing what you don’t know. Though it’s not scientific, this readiness test is like a self-assessment. It highlights important but simple things you should know about litigation. Now, ask yourself, “Am I ready for court?”