Self-Represented Litigant Statistics: How Many People Go to Court Without a Lawyer
Direct Answer
In U.S. state civil courts, at least one party is self-represented in 76% of cases, usually the defendant, and both sides have a lawyer in only 24% (National Center for State Courts, 2015).[1] Family law is similar at 72%.[2] In federal court, 89,971 civil cases were filed pro se in fiscal year 2025, about 29.6% of all civil filings, and half of all new federal appeals came from pro se litigants.[3][4]
Every figure links to the primary document it came from. Updated September 11, 2026.
Key Self-Represented Litigant Statistics
The headline figures, each with its source and year. Bracketed numbers link to the numbered source list at the bottom of the page.
76%
of civil cases in state courts had at least one self-represented party. In the words of the National Center for State Courts, this was "one of the most striking findings in the dataset," and the self-represented party was usually the defendant.[1]
76%
of state civil cases had at least one self-represented party, usually the defendant (NCSC, 2015).[1]
24%
of state civil cases had lawyers on both sides; defendants had a lawyer in only 26% of cases (NCSC, 2015).[1]
72%
of family law (domestic relations) cases involved at least one self-represented party (NCSC Family Justice Initiative, 2018).[2]
89,971
federal civil cases were filed pro se in FY2025, 29.6% of all 303,563 civil filings (U.S. Courts, Table C-13, 2025; share calculated).[3]
50%
of new federal appeals in FY2025 were filed by pro se litigants: 20,878 cases (U.S. Courts, Judicial Business 2025).[4]
4% vs 84%
average tenant vs landlord representation in eviction cases across the local studies compiled by NCCRC (2026).[11]
92%
of the substantial civil legal problems of low-income Americans got no or not enough legal help (LSC Justice Gap, 2022).[7]
73% vs 23%
default judgment rate for Utah debt defendants without vs with an attorney, cases filed in 2019 (Utah Bar Foundation, 2022).[12]
How Many People Represent Themselves in Court?
There is no single national count of self-represented litigants. State courts do not record representation status the same way, and federal courts count cases, not people. The reliable picture comes from a handful of large studies and official tables, summarized below. Read across the rows and the pattern is consistent: in the high-volume civil dockets where ordinary people end up, such as debt, eviction and family cases, the person without a lawyer is the norm, not the exception.
| Court or case type | What is measured | Figure | Year | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| State civil courts (10 urban counties) | Cases with at least one self-represented party | 76% | 2012 to 2013 data, pub. 2015 | [1] |
| State family courts (11 urban courts) | Cases with at least one self-represented party | 72% | 2016 to 2017 data, pub. 2018 | [2] |
| Federal district courts, all civil | Civil cases filed pro se | 29.6% (89,971) | FY2025 | [3] |
| Federal district courts, prisoner petitions | Prisoner petitions filed pro se | 89.6% (48,183) | FY2025 | [3] |
| Federal district courts, nonprisoner civil | Nonprisoner civil cases filed pro se | 16.7% (41,788) | FY2025 | [3] |
| Federal courts of appeals | New appeals filed by pro se litigants | 50% (20,878) | FY2025 | [4] |
| Eviction courts (multi-jurisdiction compilation) | Tenants with a lawyer | 4% (landlords 84%) | Compiled 2026 | [11] |
| New York City Housing Court | Tenants appearing in eviction cases with full legal representation | 44% | FY2025 Q4 | [9] |
| Utah District Court debt claims | Defendants with any court-recorded attorney | 3.7% | Filed 2019, pub. 2022 | [12] |
Federal percentages are Legal Tank calculations from the published FY2025 Table C-13 totals. The eviction figure is an average across local studies compiled by the National Coalition for a Civil Right to Counsel, not a national census.
Self-Represented Litigants in State Civil Courts
State courts handle the vast majority of civil cases in the United States, and the most detailed measurement of who has a lawyer there is the NCSC Landscape of Civil Litigation study: every civil case disposed over one year in 152 courts across 10 urban counties, more than 900,000 cases.
- At least one party was self-represented in 76% of state civil cases, usually the defendant (NCSC, 2015).[1]
- Plaintiffs had a lawyer in 92% of cases, defendants in only 26%, and both sides in only 24% (NCSC, 2015).[1]
- Tort cases were the only case type in which a majority (64%) had attorneys on both sides (NCSC, 2015).[1]
- Defendants had a lawyer in just 7% of the 108,150 cases that ended in a default judgment (NCSC, 2015, Table 11).[1]
- Both parties had lawyers in only 24% of bench trials, down from 91% in the 1992 Civil Justice Survey of State Courts (NCSC, 2015).[1]
- California court self-help centers, together with family law facilitators, serve over 1.2 million people annually, and the state's online Self-Help Guide receives more than 7 million visits each year (Judicial Council of California, 2023).[13]
Who Has a Lawyer in State Civil Cases (NCSC Table 11, percentage of cases)
| Category | Cases (N) | Plaintiff has lawyer | Defendant has lawyer | Both have lawyers |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| OverallAll cases | 649,811 | 92% | 26% | 24% |
| Court typeGeneral jurisdiction | 200,789 | 96% | 46% | 45% |
| Court typeLimited jurisdiction | 201,194 | 86% | 22% | 17% |
| Court typeSingle tier | 247,828 | 91% | 19% | 11% |
| Case typeTort | 60,358 | 96% | 67% | 64% |
| Case typeReal property | 4,970 | 95% | 45% | 39% |
| Case typeOther civil | 38,010 | 78% | 36% | 25% |
| Case typeContract | 453,115 | 95% | 23% | 20% |
| Case typeSmall claims | 98,176 | 76% | 13% | 13% |
| DispositionSettlement | 64,435 | 92% | 40% | 37% |
| DispositionDismissal | 231,730 | 92% | 33% | 31% |
| DispositionDefault judgment | 108,150 | 91% | 7% | 5% |
Source: NCSC, The Landscape of Civil Litigation in State Courts (2015), Table 11, a selection of its rows. N is the number of cases in courts that reported representation status for both parties. Cases disposed July 1, 2012 to June 30, 2013.[1]
Pro Se Statistics in Federal Courts
Federal courts publish pro se counts every year in Judicial Business of the United States Courts. Table C-13 splits civil filings into prisoner petitions (habeas corpus, prison conditions and similar cases) and all other, nonprisoner civil cases.
- In FY2025, 89,971 of 303,563 federal civil cases were filed pro se, about 29.6% (U.S. Courts, Table C-13, 2025; share calculated by Legal Tank).[3]
- 89.6% of federal prisoner petitions were filed pro se in FY2025 (48,183 of 53,781), compared with 16.7% of nonprisoner civil cases (41,788 of 249,782) (U.S. Courts, 2025; shares calculated).[3]
- Pro se litigants filed 50% of new federal appeals in FY2025, 20,878 cases, up 9% from the prior year (U.S. Courts, Judicial Business 2025).[4]
- 88% of the 8,430 prisoner petitions filed in the federal courts of appeals in FY2025 were pro se (U.S. Courts, 2025).[4]
- From 2000 to 2019, 27% of all federal civil cases had at least one pro se plaintiff or defendant, and prisoner petitions made up 69% of the civil pro se caseload (U.S. Courts, 2021).[5]
Federal Pro Se Civil Filings by Fiscal Year, FY2015 to FY2025
| Fiscal year | Total civil filings | Pro se filings | Pro se share (calculated) | Prisoner pro se | Nonprisoner pro se |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FY2015 | 279,036 | 73,745 | 26.4% | 48,628 | 25,117 |
| FY2016 | 291,851 | 85,992 | 29.5% | 61,324 | 24,668 |
| FY2017 | 267,769 | 78,023 | 29.1% | 52,690 | 25,333 |
| FY2018 | 282,936 | 75,442 | 26.7% | 49,294 | 26,148 |
| FY2019 | 297,877 | 76,100 | 25.5% | 50,254 | 25,846 |
| FY2020* | 470,581 | 267,373 | 56.8% | 49,701 | 217,672 |
| FY2021* | 344,567 | 145,970 | 42.4% | 43,365 | 102,605 |
| FY2022 | 274,771 | 74,314 | 27.0% | 42,799 | 31,515 |
| FY2023 | 339,731 | 85,517 | 25.2% | 46,109 | 39,408 |
| FY2024* | 290,896 | 99,647 | 34.3% | 44,972 | 54,675 |
| FY2025 | 303,563 | 89,971 | 29.6% | 48,183 | 41,788 |
Source: U.S. Courts, Table C-13 for each fiscal year (12 months ending September 30).[3] *FY2020, FY2021 and FY2024 are distorted by one district. Table C-13 shows 197,118 pro se filings in the Northern District of Florida in FY2020, 82,301 in FY2021 and 23,870 in FY2024, against 1,118 in FY2025, and Judicial Business attributes that district's surge to 3M Combat Arms earplug multidistrict litigation cases filed directly there.[6] Excluding those years, the pro se share has stayed between roughly one quarter and 30% of federal civil filings.
Pro Se Share of New Federal Appeals
| Fiscal year | Pro se appeals | Share of new filings |
|---|---|---|
| FY2020 | 23,546 | 49% |
| FY2024 | 19,101 | 48% |
| FY2025 | 20,878 | 50% |
Source: U.S. Courts, Judicial Business 2020, 2024 and 2025, U.S. Courts of Appeals narratives.[4] If you are handling an appeal on your own, see our guide to pro se appeal help and brief drafting.
Pro Se Litigants in Family Law
Divorce, custody and support cases are where self-representation is most common and most studied. The NCSC Family Justice Initiative examined 147,436 domestic relations cases disposed over one year in eleven large urban courts.
- 72% of domestic relations cases had a self-represented petitioner, respondent, or both, ranging from 33% to 86% by court (NCSC Family Justice Initiative, 2018).[2]
- The largest single group was cases in which both parties were self-represented: 34.0%. Both sides had lawyers in only 19.8% (NCSC, 2018).[2]
- Petitioners were represented in 42% of cases and respondents in 33% (NCSC, 2018).[2]
- In the IAALS study of 128 self-represented family court litigants, just over 90% said financial issues were influential, if not determinative, in going without a lawyer (IAALS, 2016).[8]
Representation in Family Cases (NCSC Figure 15, percentage of all cases)
| Respondent | Petitioner represented | Petitioner self-represented |
|---|---|---|
| Respondent represented | 19.8% | 3.4% |
| Respondent self-represented | 13.9% | 34.0% |
| Respondent status unknown | 8.4% | 20.5% |
Source: NCSC Family Justice Initiative (2018), Figure 15. Cases disposed July 1, 2016 to June 30, 2017.[2] For family filings, see our divorce document preparation, parenting plan guide and child support calculator.
Self-Representation in Eviction and Debt Collection Cases
Eviction and debt cases are the clearest example of asymmetric representation: a landlord or creditor with a lawyer on one side, an individual without one on the other.
- Across the local eviction studies compiled by the National Coalition for a Civil Right to Counsel, tenants had a lawyer in 4% of cases on average, landlords in 84% (NCCRC, 2026).[11]
- In New York City Housing Court, only 1% of tenants were represented by attorneys in calendar year 2013, before the city's right to counsel program (NYC Office of Civil Justice, 2016).[9]
- By the fourth quarter of FY2025, 44% of New York City tenants who appeared in court in eviction cases had full legal representation (NYC Office of Civil Justice, 2025).[9]
- In Utah District Court debt claims filed in 2019, only 3.7% of defendants had any court-recorded attorney representation (Utah Bar Foundation, 2022).[12]
Tenant Representation in New York City Housing Court Over Time
| Period | Tenants represented | What the report measured |
|---|---|---|
| Calendar year 2013 | 1% | Tenants in NYC Housing Court represented by attorneys (OCJ 2016 report) |
| 2016 | 27% | Tenants in court facing an eviction case represented by a lawyer (OCJ 2016 report) |
| FY2021 | 71% | Peak rate, during the eviction moratorium when Housing Court volume was sharply reduced |
| FY2022 | 63% | Housing Court reopened with a pandemic-era backlog |
| FY2024 Q4 | 42% | Tenants facing eviction with full legal representation, inside or outside the city program |
| FY2025 Q4 | 44% | Respondents who appeared in court with full legal representation |
Source: NYC Office of Civil Justice annual reports (2016, FY24, FY25).[9] New York City adopted the first tenant right to counsel law in 2017. Tenants facing an eviction case can review our guide to a motion to stay a writ of possession.
Why People Represent Themselves: The Justice Gap
Most self-representation is driven by cost. The Legal Services Corporation's 2022 Justice Gap study, based on a nationally representative survey of about 5,000 adults and an intake census of LSC-funded legal aid programs, measures how often low-income Americans go without legal help. LSC counts about 50 million Americans with household incomes below 125% of the poverty threshold.[7]
- Low-income Americans do not get any or enough legal help for 92% of their substantial civil legal problems (LSC, 2022).[7]
- 74% of low-income households experienced at least one civil legal problem in the past year (LSC, 2022).[7]
- Even for problems with a substantial impact, low-income Americans sought legal help only 25% of the time (LSC, 2022).[7]
- 46% of those who did not seek help cited cost, and 53% of low-income Americans doubt they could find a lawyer they could afford (LSC, 2022).[7]
- LSC-funded legal aid organizations must turn away 1 in 2 (49%) requests they receive because of limited resources (LSC, 2022).[7]
- Those organizations cannot provide any or enough help for an estimated 1.4 million civil legal problems a year, 71% of the problems brought to them (LSC, 2022).[7]
Outcomes: Represented vs Self-Represented Parties
No court system publishes a national win rate for self-represented litigants. The studies below compare outcomes by representation status within one jurisdiction or dataset. They show strong associations, but people who hire lawyers may also differ in their cases and resources, so the gaps should not be read as the exact effect of having a lawyer.
| Utah case type (filed 2019) | Default judgment, defendant without attorney | Default judgment, defendant with attorney |
|---|---|---|
| District Court debt claims | 73% | 23% |
| Small claims | 30% | 6% |
| Evictions | 41% | 16% |
Source: Utah Bar Foundation, Report on Debt Collection and Utah's Courts (2022), Figure 5.[12]
- Family cases with at least one self-represented party were dismissed 22.7% of the time, versus 10.9% for cases with no self-represented party, and reached a judgment 74.8% versus 83.4% of the time (NCSC Family Justice Initiative, 2018).[2]
- In New York City, 89% of households represented by an attorney in eviction cases in 2024 remained stably housed (NYC Comptroller, 2025).[10]
- In state civil courts, defendants had a lawyer in only 7% of cases that ended in default judgment, compared with 40% of cases that settled (NCSC, 2015, Table 11).[1]
A default happens when a defendant does not respond on time. If you have been served, our court deadline calculator and answer to complaint generator help you track the response date and prepare a responsive filing.
Self-Represented Litigant Trends Over Time
- In 1992, attorneys represented both sides in 95% of civil cases disposed in state general jurisdiction courts; defendant representation in those courts later fell from 97% to 46% (NCSC, 2015, comparing the 1992 Civil Justice Survey with 2012 to 2013 data).[1]
- Both parties had lawyers in 97% of jury trials and 91% of bench trials in 1992, but in only 87% of jury trials and 24% of bench trials in the Landscape data (NCSC, 2015).[1]
- Federal pro se civil filings were relatively stable from 2000 to 2019 except for a 20% increase in 2016, driven by prisoner petitions after Welch v. United States (U.S. Courts, 2021).[5]
- Leaving aside the mass-tort years, the federal pro se share moved between 25.2% and 29.6% of civil filings from FY2015 to FY2025 (Table C-13; calculated). FY2025 was 29.6%.[3]
- Pro se appeals have held near half of all new federal appellate filings: 49% in FY2020, 48% in FY2024 and 50% in FY2025 (U.S. Courts).[4]
- NYC tenant representation rose from 1% in 2013 to a peak of 71% in FY2021, then settled at 44% in FY2025 Q4 as eviction filings returned (NYC Office of Civil Justice).[9]
Free Tools and Guides for Self-Represented Litigants
If you are one of the people behind these numbers, start with your court's self-help center and these free resources.
Methodology and Sources
Every figure on this page was checked against the primary document that published it, retrieved on September 11, 2026. We used a statistic only when we could read the exact number in the original report, data table or court opinion. Figures repeated by news articles or blogs without a primary source we could locate were left out.
Verbatim vs calculated. Percentages from NCSC, LSC, IAALS, the NYC Office of Civil Justice, the NYC Comptroller, the Utah Bar Foundation and the U.S. Courts narratives are reported exactly as published. The federal pro se shares (for example 29.6% for FY2025) are Legal Tank calculations, dividing the pro se count by the total in the published Table C-13, rounded to one decimal place. The NCCRC eviction figures are the averages NCCRC reports across the local studies it compiles.
Limits. State court figures come from large urban courts and may not reflect rural courts. Studies measure representation at different points (at filing, at any time, or at disposition), and federal tables count cases rather than people. Outcome comparisons are associations, not controlled experiments.
[1]National Center for State Courts, The Landscape of Civil Litigation in State Courts (2015). Source document
All civil cases disposed July 1, 2012 to June 30, 2013 in 152 courts across 10 urban counties, over 900,000 cases. Figures quoted verbatim from pages iv, 28, 31 and Table 11 (page 32).
[2]National Center for State Courts, Family Justice Initiative, The Landscape of Domestic Relations Cases in State Courts (2018). Source document
147,436 domestic relations cases disposed July 1, 2016 to June 30, 2017 in eleven large urban courts. Figures quoted verbatim from the executive summary, page 20 (Figure 15) and footnotes 53 and 64.
[3]Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts, Table C-13: U.S. District Courts, Civil Pro Se and Non-Pro Se Filings, by District (Judicial Business, FY2015 to FY2025) (2025). Source document
National totals read from each year's published table (12-month periods ending September 30). Percentages on this page are Legal Tank calculations from those totals.
[4]Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts, Judicial Business 2025: U.S. Courts of Appeals (with Judicial Business 2020 and 2024) (2025). Source document
Pro se appeal shares quoted verbatim from each year's narrative.
[5]Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts, Just the Facts: Trends in Pro Se Civil Litigation from 2000 to 2019 (2021). Source document
Twenty-year federal district court averages, quoted verbatim.
[6]Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts, Judicial Business 2020, 2021 and 2024: U.S. District Courts (2020 to 2024). Source document
Explains the 3M Combat Arms earplug multidistrict litigation filed directly in the Northern District of Florida, which inflates FY2020, FY2021 and FY2024 pro se counts.
[7]Legal Services Corporation (survey by NORC at the University of Chicago), The Justice Gap: The Unmet Civil Legal Needs of Low-income Americans (2022). Source document
Nationally representative survey of about 5,000 adults plus LSC's 2021 Intake Census. Figures quoted verbatim from the full report and executive summary.
[8]Institute for the Advancement of the American Legal System (IAALS), Cases Without Counsel: Research on Experiences of Self-Representation in U.S. Family Court (2016). Source document
Interviews with 128 self-represented family court litigants in four jurisdictions and 49 court professionals.
[9]NYC Office of Civil Justice, Annual Reports FY25, FY24 and 2016 (2016 to 2025). Source document
Representation rates for tenants appearing in New York City Housing Court eviction cases, quoted verbatim. FY24: https://www.nyc.gov/assets/hra/downloads/pdf/services/civiljustice/OCJ_Annual_Report_2024.pdf. 2016: https://www.nyc.gov/assets/hra/downloads/pdf/services/civiljustice/OCJ_Annual_Report_2016.pdf.
[10]Office of the New York City Comptroller, Evictions Up, Representation Down: How New York City is Undermining the Right to Counsel (2025). Source document
Housing stability outcome for represented households in 2024, quoted verbatim.
[11]National Coalition for a Civil Right to Counsel, Eviction representation statistics for landlords and tenants absent special intervention (2026 (last modified March 2026)). Source document
A compilation of local eviction studies from several dozen jurisdictions, using pre-right-to-counsel figures where a city later adopted one. The 4% and 84% figures are the averages NCCRC reports for its compilation.
[12]Utah Bar Foundation, Report on Debt Collection and Utah's Courts (2022). Source document
Utah court data for cases filed in 2019, quoted verbatim.
[13]Judicial Council of California, Fact Sheet: Programs for Self-Represented Litigants (December 2023) and Branch Facts (2023). Source document
Self-help center reach quoted verbatim. Self-Help Guide traffic from https://newsroom.courts.ca.gov/branch-facts/programs-self-represented-litigants.
[14]U.S. Code and U.S. Supreme Court (via Cornell Legal Information Institute), 28 U.S.C. 1654; Faretta v. California, 422 U.S. 806 (1975); Indiana v. Edwards, 554 U.S. 164 (2008); Rowland v. California Men's Colony, 506 U.S. 194 (1993) (1975 to 2008). Source document
The legal right to self-representation and its limits. Faretta: https://www.law.cornell.edu/supremecourt/text/422/806. Edwards: https://www.law.cornell.edu/supct/html/07-208.ZS.html. Rowland: https://www.law.cornell.edu/supremecourt/text/506/194.
Cite This Page
You are welcome to cite or link to these statistics. Please cite the original source for any individual figure, and this page for the compilation.
Suggested citation
Legal Tank. (2026, September 11). Self-Represented Litigant Statistics: How Many People Go to Court Without a Lawyer. https://legaltank.org/self-represented-litigant-statistics
Title: Self-Represented Litigant Statistics. Publisher: Legal Tank. URL: https://legaltank.org/self-represented-litigant-statistics. Last updated: September 11, 2026.
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