Interview in Canadian Lawyer Magazine on Unrepresented Litigants

Mark Cardwell of Canadian Lawyer magazine interviewed Omar Ha-Redeye on the rise of self-reps across Canada:

Though the numbers of OPCAs — to use Rooke’s newly coined acronym — is unknown, lawyers working on the front lines say the problem is widespread. “I think the fact that the judge even made this ruling suggests how big a problem it is,” says Toronto lawyer Omar Ha-Redeye. “This is a hot issue. Family law is in crisis in Canada.” According to Ha-Redeye, who recently spoke on a panel about self-represented litigants in family law and cost-sensitivity (notably unbundled services), self-representation is soaring across the country. He says two factors are driving people to self-representation: frustration with the cost and access to the legal system, and a lack of legal information that people can access. “Many of them think self-rep is easy,” he says. “But they discover too late that the reality is really quite different.”