My partner and I both became members of the Alameda County Law Library in 2023. What prompted our becoming members was a lawsuit that my partner was a plaintiff in, which we decided to do entirely on our own, without legal counsel.
The lawsuit was against a major medical conglomerate, and it was truly a David vs. Goliath battle, which we knew it would be going in. We wanted to learn the legal process on our own, and not pay a lawyer to bleed us dry. Both of us have had bad experiences with unscrupulous attorneys in the past, and were not about to roll the dice again, in what was a very important case.
As we found out early on in the process, the law itself is beautifully simple and straightforward. It's the procedural aspect that is a bureaucratic nightmare; an incredible maze of endless complicated procedures, paperwork, and deadlines, and designed to be that way on purpose to deter people from accessing the legal system without paying an arm and a leg to attorneys.
Nevertheless, we persisted resolutely with the lawsuit, which turned into a nearly full-time job for both of us for the following year. We educated ourselves on the applicable California and Federal laws, and on more than you could ever hope to know about legal procedure.
Enter the Alameda County Law Library. This is where you will find what you need to work on a legal case, in the many volumes of legal literature, but more so in the digital materials. For us, Trellis provided the majority of information we needed in the form of related case law, and how to prepare various briefs. I was very disappointed to learn recently that Trellis has ended remote access, and this law library ended their subscription to Trellis. Trellis was, by far, the most invaluable legal info. resource for us, and it's disheartening that it will no longer be available to pro-se (self-represented) litigants, in what is already a system heavily stacked against them.
All the employees at the law library we encountered were nice. However, the assistance they can and do offer is very limited. As any pro-se litigant will be reminded repeatedly, both verbally and by signs at the front desk, "We cannot offer any legal advice!". Yes, we get it. We personally never asked for any type of advice on legal strategy, only on procedure, forms, etc., but even then, we were basically on our own. Perhaps they're afraid of big-wig lawyers coming after them if they help pro-se litigants. As I mentioned, the system is very much designed to intimidate the pro-se litigant, so huge respect to anyone who takes on the enormous challenge of self-representation.
Even with its limitations, though, the law library proved to be a valuable resource for us. If you become a member, you will be on their email list, and you want to pay attention to their emails, there is a lot of good info there about events and resources that may help you. One time, we were informed we could schedule a brief phone call with an attorney who could answer procedural questions, and we jumped on the opportunity. The call was helpful. The library also hosts Zoom classes conducted by attorneys, on various legal topics, such as estate planning, debt, renter protections, etc. The classes offer MCLE credits for attorneys, but are also open to non-attorneys like us just looking to learn as much as we can. We've taken several classes now and found them to be very good. Even though our lawsuit has since ended, we still keep an eye on their emails for upcoming classes that may be of interest.
I am grateful the Alameda County Law Library is there, and open to all who wish to join. There is a wealth of information there; but you will need to do all the investigative work yourself, with the library staff pointing you in the right direction.
If you decide to do what we did, and fight a major lawsuit on your own, you will need two things before you begin: a set of brass ones, and a law library membership. Good luck, and message me if you want more info. read more
