Pro se individuals fight harder and put in more hours than anyone in the building. All they've ever been denied is equal footing. We're here to take it.
The right to represent yourself is written into federal law and older than the country's courthouses. Millions of Americans use it every year — most not by choice, but because representation priced them out. They walk into a system built by and for professionals, carrying their own cases, outworking everyone in the room. The Pro Se Foundation exists to give those people what they've never had: data that proves their story, laws that level their field, and an institution that fights for them by name.
The annual State of Self-Representation report — how many, in which courts, with what outcomes. The numbers this movement has never had.
Model legislation, testimony, and member mobilization for the three fights below — Utah first, then everywhere.
Amicus briefs in cases that shape pro se rights, in partnership with law-school access-to-justice clinics.
A free public library — what pro se means, how courts work, and the exact words to say if you're ever arrested. Free forever. No signup.
Under today's fee rules, a represented party who wins can recover attorney's fees. A self-represented party who does the same work and wins the same case recovers nothing. Working harder is penalized at the finish line.
A represented party's case preparation is shielded by privilege and work product. A self-represented person preparing the same case has thinner, uncertain protection. The Constitution grants the right; the evidence rules punish using it.
You can represent yourself — but your single-member LLC, economically identical to you, must hire a lawyer. The smallest businesses in America are forced to buy representation for disputes their owners could handle.
EVERY FIGHT IS HONEST ABOUT CURRENT LAW: WE WORK TO CHANGE RULES — WE NEVER PRETEND THEY'VE ALREADY CHANGED.
The movement's missing weapon is numbers. Courts publish fragments; nobody assembles the national picture of who represents themselves, where, and how it goes. The Project's annual report will — built from public court statistics and rigorously anonymized aggregate data. When legislators ask "how many people does this affect?", the answer will finally be on the table, cited, in front of them.
FIRST EDITION IN ASSEMBLY · SOURCES: STATE COURT STATISTICS, FEDERAL JUDICIARY DATA, PARTNER RESEARCH
Movements run on members, not miracles. Founding membership opens the day the Foundation's nonprofit papers are filed — and founding members are on the roster forever.
We don't take movement money until the movement legally exists. The nonprofit's formation is underway — filed, transparently, with public books from day one. Until then, the library below is free and the fights are public.
FORMATION STATUS: IN PROGRESS
What representing yourself means, the law behind it, and what it demands — in plain English.
Say exactly this: "I am invoking my right to remain silent and I want a lawyer." Then stop talking. Hedged words don't count. Jail calls are recorded. This card is free to share — teach it to someone you love.
Courtroom etiquette. The fee-waiver guide. How deadlines work. Reading a summons. All free, all plain English.