re: Could most legal cases be solved without a lawyer?

I took someone to small claims court once after consulting with a couple of attorneys. It didn't make financial sense to hire an attorney and litigate at a higher level because the defendent was judgment proof, but I still wanted to force the defendent to answer for her actions.

The irony was, the defendent herself showed up with an attorney doing her a favor while taking on one of her big-money frivolous lawsuits. I was even able to successfully argue for evidence to be entered over the attorney's objections. The suit wound up being dismissed, and later research showed that I did myself more harm than good in the long run; however, it still wound up being an interesting experience.