MOBILE CENTER TO GIVE SELF-HELP LAW TRAINING.

Byline: Don Holland Staff Writer

With 2,000 Ventura County residents turning to self-help legal centers every month, court officials will soon hit the road in what is believed to be the nation's first legal-assistance center on wheels.

The 35-foot mobile home, converted into a legal center, will make regularly scheduled visits across the county to provide free help to those maneuvering alone through most any legal matter.

Unofficially dubbed ``Big MAC,'' the Mobile Access Center will be staffed by an attorney and volunteer assistants. They will not give out legal advice but will help clients fill out court papers and prepare for their day in court.

``This will be the first and only center of its kind in the country,'' said Tina Rasnow, an attorney and coordinator of the county's Self-Help Legal Access Center at the Ventura courthouse. ``It will contain a miniature version of what we have here: one computer station, one video terminal, shelves for materials and file cabinets for court forms.''

Visitors will have access to the Internet for legal research and to court computers to check the status of their case. They will be able to watch videos on a wide variety of legal issues. The mobile home seats 10 and will be stocked with information on subjects from traffic and small-claims cases to family law and personal-injury matters.

The staff will also provide referrals to counseling, victims' assistance and other programs.

In propria persona or pro-per cases, in which parties represent themselves instead of hiring a lawyer, can pose a problem because few know how the system works, according to legal experts. Judges and court staff are prohibited by law from giving legal advice. That's where the self-help centers come in.

In recent years, insurance companies have been increasingly reluctant to settle minor personal-injury claims, and the dollar amount might not be enough to justify the expense of a lawyer.

``So we're seeing a lot more pro-pers filing personal-injury cases,'' said Rasnow, who will be among those staffing the mobile center. ``And the pro-pers are winning. They get quite an education in the law. When they do their homework and go to court prepared, they win.''

Ventura County courts opened their first self-help legal center in 1966 for those representing themselves in family-law matters. Last year, a separate center opened at the main courthouse to help in other areas of the law. Last December, a satellite office opened in Oxnard's Colonia district.

``We think there is a real need for us to get out into the community,'' Prushan said. ``We're seeing about 2,000 people a month in our self-help centers, and we think there is still a significant portion of the community that we are not reaching.''

For many elderly or disabled people, it can be an ordeal to travel to the self-help centers. And some victims of domestic violence, especially those in remote corners of the county, find it almost impossible to get away from home even for a few hours. Others are simply uncomfortable going to the courthouse, said Florence Prushan, assistant executive officer of the Ventura County Superior Court.

Officials in Fillmore and Santa Paula have already put in their requests for visits from the mobile center, expected to get on the road in a few weeks. Prushan is hoping for more invitations from communities around the county. Officials may also make the center available at schools and senior-citizens' centers.

The idea dawned on Prushan last year during a seminar for court administrators. A fellow court official from San Diego asked for a copy of her notes. Back at work, Prushan mentioned the idea to the county's courts executive officer, Sheila Gonzalez.

``It instantly kicked in that this was not at all just a pipe dream and that we ought to do it,'' Prushan said. ``Nobody in this country has done anything like this.''

An anonymous donor gave a $40,000 grant for the mobile home. Volunteers and workers already employed in the self-help program will staff it, so operating costs will be minimal, Prushan said. Officials plan to show off the Big MAC during a national conference of court administrators in November.

``In many states, there are small courthouses, so the whole concept of opening up a big self-help center would almost be budgetarily impossible for them,'' Prushan said. ``But there are other ways to do this kind of thing.''