The Rise of Pro Se §1983 Litigation: Why These Cases Are So Difficult

Abraham Lincoln is often credited with the saying that “he who represents himself has a fool for a client.” If you regularly defend municipalities in §1983 cases, you’ve likely noticed a sharp increase in pro se litigation over the past few years — and many of those self-represented plaintiffs are proving Lincoln’s point.

A major factor driving this trend is the widespread availability of AI tools. While AI itself is not the problem, many pro se litigants are misusing it to generate complaints and motions that would have been far more difficult — and often impossible — to produce just a few years ago.

The resulting pleadings are often long, rambling, and filled with a confusing mix of legal-sounding language and pure gibberish. They frequently qualify as classic “shotgun pleadings” — lumping every conceivable claim against every conceivable defendant with little organization or factual support.

But the challenges go well beyond poor drafting. Many of these pro se plaintiffs are emotionally charged, deeply angry, and sometimes outright hostile. In some cases, they are genuinely frightening. Defense counsel and municipal clients often face legitimate safety concerns about these individuals showing up at city hall, police stations, or even counsel’s office.

Compounding the difficulty is how courts typically respond. Federal judges often give pro se pleadings “less stringent standards” than those drafted by lawyers. While this rule stems from a desire for fairness, in practice it frequently creates an uneven playing field. Deadlines are extended, vague allegations are tolerated, and cases that should be resolved early on the pleadings sometimes drag on for years.

The result is a uniquely draining type of litigation for municipalities and their counsel — one that consumes significant time and resources while creating real emotional and practical burdens for city staff and law enforcement.

This is the first in a series of posts exploring these challenges in more depth and offering practical strategies I’ve learned from years of litigating against pro se plaintiffs in civil rights cases.