In most cases it is not wise to handle your own legal matters. Is it legal? Yes, handling your own legal matter is completely legal. In fact, “in pro per” is a common term in legalese that means someone is representing themselves in their own legal matters. However, depending on the size of the lawsuit and whether it is a criminal or civil case, it can be quite disastrous if someone doesn’t have the knowledge to “represent” themselves. If you are the defendant in a legal case you can increase your chances of losing your freedom and basic liberties by going to jail, and in a civil court you could easily lose a lot of money.
For one, law documents are complicated. There is a reason why lawyers need to go to school for multiple years and study for extremely hard tests to pass their bar in order to legally practice law in a particular state. When you represent yourself, it is usually up to you to file all the documents to make the case legitimate. In a civil case there can be multiple documents to file with the court if you are the plaintiff. If you are the defendant you will need to be aware of all the terms and agreements so that you know what your rights are in a civil court. If you don’t you could be going completely blind against a plaintiff who could have a very knowledgeable and adept lawyer by their side.