Pro se legal representation in the United States

This article has multiple issues. Please help improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page. (Learn how and when to remove these template messages) This article relies excessively on references to primary sources. Please improve this article by adding secondary or tertiary sources. Find sources: "Pro se legal representation in the United States" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (September 2008) (Learn how and when to remove this message) This article needs to be updated. Please help update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information. (August 2010) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

Pro se legal representation (/ˌproʊ ˈsiː/ or /ˌproʊ ˈseɪ/) comes from Latin pro se, meaning "for oneself" or "on behalf of themselves" which, in modern law, means to argue on one's own behalf in a legal proceeding, as a defendant or plaintiff in civil cases, or a defendant in criminal cases, rather than have representation from counsel or an attorney.

This status is sometimes known as in propria persona (abbreviated to "pro per"). In England and Wales the comparable status is that of "litigant in person". In Australia and Canada, the term is self-represented litigant (SRL).