A new set of rules from the Illinois Supreme Court are aimed at making it easier for people to use the court system. IPR’s Brian Mackey has more:
The economic collapse a few years ago put more and more homeowners through the foreclosure process.
Attorney Jeff Colman says that's affected tens of thousands of people in Cook County alone.
"The estimates are that about 50 percent of the people who are threatened with the loss of their homes cannot afford legal counsel, do not go to court, and they lose their homes."
Colman is the chairman of the Illinois Supreme Court's Commission on Access to Justice. At the commissioners' recommendation, the high court recently changed its rules to help ensure people who can't afford lawyers can still use the judicial system.
Among the changes are a plan to get more translators in civil cases, and a notice to judges that they can help people understand how to get access to the courts without compromising their impartiality.