Spent a morning at the county courthouse and flipped my opinion on filing fees

I drove down to the Midland County courthouse last Tuesday to drop off a simple eviction filing for a friend. Watched five different people struggle with the fee schedule at the front desk. One lady was short $18 and had to leave. Court clerk told her she could apply for a fee waiver but nobody told her about it beforehand. I've always thought paralegals and freelance legal helpers should charge flat rates for court filings. But seeing how confused everyone was, I changed my mind. Gonna offer a free 15-minute call to walk people through the fee waiver process. Has anyone else adjusted their services after hanging around a courthouse for an hour?

2 comments

2 Comments

hernandez.gavin14d ago

Dude, YES. I had the exact same thing happen at my county courthouse last month. Watched this older guy get turned away because he was $12 short on a child support modification filing. The clerk just pointed at a form he had to fill out but didn't explain ANY of it. I ended up helping three people in line with the waiver paperwork. It's WAY more confusing than anyone thinks until you're standing there watching it happen.

ivan46214d ago

Start paying attention to how every system you interact with is designed for people who already know it. Grocery store self checkouts that beep at you for breathing wrong, DMV websites that bury the appointment link under three different dropdowns, even the way utility companies write their bills like they don't want you to understand the fees. It's like they assume everyone's got a lawyer or a cousin who already did all this before. You only notice how broken it is when you're the one standing there confused with a bunch of papers in your hand.