If you are handling your own case without an attorney, you are pro se. You may also hear the term self-represented litigant. It means the person whose name is on the case — the person with something to win, lose, protect, prove, answer, collect, defend, or explain — is also the person representing themselves.
That may already be you.
Maybe you were served with papers. Maybe an agency sent you a notice. Or someone owes you money, you need to answer a lawsuit, you're going through a divorce, fighting a debt, dealing with a landlord, challenging a government decision, heading to small claims court — or just trying to understand what a judge expects from you.
And there is no lawyer standing between you and the problem.
You are pro se.
In federal court, the right of an individual to conduct their own case is expressly recognized by federal law. 28 U.S.C. § 1654 provides that parties may "plead and conduct their own cases personally or by counsel."
Courts across the United States maintain forms, handbooks, intake offices, rules, and other resources specifically for people representing themselves. You do not stop being a legitimate participant in the legal system because you do not have a lawyer.
When you represent yourself, you are generally responsible for understanding and following the rules that apply to your matter. That can include:
The judge does not become your lawyer. The clerk can often provide procedural information, but generally cannot tell you what legal decisions to make. The other side's attorney does not represent you. You are responsible for your side of the case.
And that is where being pro se gets overwhelming. You know what happened. You can tell your story. What buries people is everything around the story — the paperwork, the procedure, the dates, the rules, the evidence, the research, the sheer volume of things that have to be organized, prepared, and done on time.
For generations, hiring a lawyer was one of the primary ways a person gained access to the manpower surrounding a legal case. Someone to read the documents. Someone to organize the file, do the research, remember the dates, prepare the drafts, keep track of what happened, and help you get ready for whatever comes next.
When you represent yourself, much of that work lands on you.
CourtBoss was built around a simple idea: What if a self-represented person could have help doing the work while remaining completely in control of their own case?
That is CourtBoss.
CourtBoss calls its AI assistant your Second. Your Second organizes the case, makes sense of what's in front of you, does the research, keeps the record, and prepares work for your review — so your attention stays on the decisions only you can make.
You are the party of record. You represent yourself. CourtBoss is the tool beside you.
One is the way the system expects: alone, buried in paper, hoping you didn't miss something. The other is the way you were never offered — until now.
A shoebox of unopened mail. A deadline you're not sure about. A form that asks questions you don't understand, a story you can't get onto paper, and a 2am Google search that made everything scarier.
Every letter read and explained the day it arrives. A case record that remembers everything with its source attached. Drafts built from your own words, waiting for your signature. And when you walk into that building, you walk in as the most organized party in the room — including the other side.
Here's the part nobody tells you: pro se cases are rarely lost on the facts. They're lost on the paperwork — the missed deadline, the wrong form, the story that never made it into the record in a form the court could use. Your Second exists to take that entire category of loss off the table. The facts were always yours. Now the preparation is too.
This is what standing beside you actually looks like.
Photograph any notice, summons, or scary letter. Your Second tells you what it is, what it wants, what clock it starts — and how worried to be. Usually: less than you think.
Every date carries its source and its status. A deadline that can't be safely calculated is never shown as certain — your Second tells you what's missing instead.
You tell the story at the kitchen table. Your Second turns it into the response, the declaration, the form — built from your facts, with anything missing flagged for you. Then it waits in Ready For You for your review and your signature. Nothing moves without you.
Every path laid out with what it requires and what it risks. Your Second informs. You decide. That's the whole arrangement.
Before a hearing, your Second preps your three-minute story, your exhibits, and the questions you'll face — then plays the other side and grills you, as many rounds as you want, at any hour. Most people walk into court having never once practiced. You won't be most people.
Every action, timestamped and permanent. If anyone ever claims you didn't respond, didn't file, didn't act — your record answers for you.
Your whole case — documents, sourced facts, deadlines, drafts, the log — exportable anytime. Bring in a lawyer later and hand them the best-organized file they've ever received on day one. Close your case and it's saved free, forever. It's your record. You're the boss of it.
The right was always yours.
Now the manpower is too.
If you're reading those and thinking that's me — then there is a name for what you're doing. You're pro se. And you don't have to approach it empty-handed.
CREATE YOUR ACCOUNT · MEET YOUR SECOND · OPEN YOUR CASE