I was watching the movie Flash of Genius the other day – Greg Kinnear plays college professor and part-time inventor, Robert Kearns, who invents the intermittent windshield wiper for cars. Long story short, Ford steals his invention, he sues but his lawyers quit because he won’t accept a settlement offer, and he decides to go ahead and represent himself against Ford Motor Company. I am not sure exactly how he gets it accomplished, and he ends up losing his sanity, then his wife and family, and ends up with a garage full of paperwork. But, in the end, he WINS! The jury finds against Ford Motor Company and awards him more than $10 million. And after that, Chrysler settles with him for more than $18 million. True story. Greg Kinnear talks about Flash of Genius

This was a remarkable outcome. The reason that he continued to pursue this complex patent case on his own was because of the principle. For him, it was not about the money. The reason he did not accept fairly large settlement offers was because they did not come with an admission of “guilt” or “responsibility” from Ford (one of the biggest reasons for settlement offers is the confidentiality and no admission of guilt).

Representing yourself in court is not a wise course of action. The system is simply not designed for the non-lawyer. You have every right to do it, even in criminal court, but it’s never pretty. We have all seen video of criminals acting as their own lawyer (remember the Long Island train shooter, Colin Ferguson?). Judges don’t like it, the lawyers on the other side will try every nasty trick in the book to trip you up, and in front of a jury it can get pretty dicy when you have to put yourself up on the stand and question yourself, and register objections against the other side while they are questioning you.

In a serious criminal case, if you are given permission to be your own attorney, you are usually appointed “stand-by counsel.” This is a lawyer that is prepared to step in and take over if you are really in a jam, but they are usually not that happy about the job they have been given…they most certainly spend a lot of time sitting on their hands so they don’t jump up in court while the self-represented bumbles along.

If you represent yourself in a civil case, as did Robert Kearns against Ford, it will cost you a fortune and it could be next to impossible to keep up with the avalanche of paper that the other side is going to send your way. It turns out that lawyers are a necessary evil when there is a disagreement that can only be resolved in a courtroom. They know the secret handshake and they are not sharing.

As always, I urge you to be an active participant in your litigation. Don’t be a passive bystander. It is nice to hand over some of the stress of litigation to an attorney, but keep your eye on what is going on. Stay informed. Don’t let the fees get out of hand. Insist on status reports and monthly billing statements. Set limits on expenses and require pre-approval on large amounts.

Don’t drown in a shower of stupidity – show your flash of genius – you can’t sue yourself for malpractice!