AYLA recently completed production on its series of tutorial videos meant to educate members of the public on how to pick juries without a lawyer in justice of the peace and municipal courts. See the YouTube playlist here.
These videos were made possible by a grant from the Texas Bar Foundation and with the help of Judge Sylvia Holmes, Justice of the Peace, Precinct 3.
“The purpose of this project is to expand access to justice for unrepresented litigants,” said Christopher Bates, president of the Justices of the Peace and Constables Association of Texas (JPCA).
“Justice courts are routinely utilized by non-attorneys to seek redress in civil matters up to $20,000, class C criminal citations, and for all evictions regardless of amount.”
The series is available on Travis County’s YouTube page. Each video focuses on how to pick a jury for a different common legal matter–car wrecks, instances of negligence, eviction, violations of personal property, and breach of contract.
Now that the videos have been produced, Texas’ 1,200+ justice courts and hundreds of municipal courts will help spread the word about the videos to the general public. The Texas Justice Court Training Center at Texas State University and JPCA will also help distribute the videos to the public.
AYLA sincerely thanks director, camera operator, and editor Austin McElroy; camera operator Scott Elbrecht; D’Z Keys for providing music; Judge Sylvia Holmes; Travis County; and the Texas Bar Foundation for its generous grant.
Since its inception in 1965, the Texas Bar Foundation has awarded more than $26 million in grants to law-related programs. Supported by members of the State Bar of Texas, the Texas Bar Foundation is the nation’s largest charitably-funded bar foundation.