By Jacque Day
Nashville, TN – The Tennessee Supreme Court Tuesday announced that it will hold a statewide summit to find ways to get more free legal services for the public. At the same time, the court is working to make it easier for people to represent themselves in court on simple legal issues, such as debt disputes, name changes and no-contest divorces. People have a right to a state-appointed attorney in a criminal case, but not in a civil one. One in five Tennesseans represented themselves in civil cases in 2003, almost all because they could not afford an attorney. Lawyers and judges believe the numbers are much higher now because of the economy.