Abstract
Litigants are the central party in an adversarial system and yet litigants in person (LiPs) receive the message that they are outsiders in the court process. Drawing on doctoral research that involved interviews with LiPs, court staff, lawyers and judges, as well reviewing litigation documents and observing LiPs in court, this paper explores the range of subtle and not so subtle ways LiPs are told they are outsiders. It then looks at explanations of why judges, lawyers and court staff offer only a limited welcome to LiPs. The paper concludes with a discussion of the implications of LiPs outsider status for the reform programs being developed in many jurisdictions to accommodate the rising number of LiPs.