We often have self-help litigants walk in needing some basic information on how to start or respond to a civil law suit.  We could load them up with a copy of the California Rules of Courts, the Code of Civil Procedure as well as a form book for pleadings.  All three resources contain information needed at the beginning of a lawsuit (things only get more complicated from there).  But we don’t want to scare them away from the task in front of them.

So what can we do?

We can refer them to “Litigation by the Numbers” . LBTN is a great handbook for California Civil Litigation in Trial Court.

 Although it’s been around a while, I recently discovered this “hidden gem” at our Indio branch, while filing some updates.

LBTN provides a methodical approach to various tasks involved in a California civil law suit such as pleading, discovery, motions and judgments.  LBTN includes Judicial Council Forms, samples for each task and references to applicable codes and Rules of Court. 

LBTN uses a personal injury case as an example so it is very useful in that case but hopefully our patrons may be able to use it as a guide in other civil suit situations.   One of the features that I most appreciate is that LBTN offers samples of filled out judicial council forms as well as sample pleadings which can be incredibly useful.  The most common questions we get in the law library is the request to help with forms.  We cannot but it’s great to have resources that will provide some guidance.

With one hidden gem discovered, I aim to find more.  I hope I never lose my curiosity about the resources available at the Riverside County Law Library.