Last week in class, following our visit to the courthouse on eviction day, we were split up in to groups and asked to diagram the day in the life of various characters in the courthouse. These characters included the court staff, including Paul, the lawyers, including Dan, and the plaintiffs and defendants, who were, in our case, the tenants and landlords.
All three stories were different, which was expected, and they each had their own moments of conflict. The landlords and tenants, being in the same group, had essentially identical days. They spend much of the day in the same rooms and on the same benches. This seemed strange to me. Imagine two quarterbacks on opposing teams spending the day together before a big game; needless to say it may get a bit awkward.
The landlords and tenants wait in roll-call together, and they wait for their case to be called together. The rooms prior to entering mediation, which they also occupy simultaneously, are also very small. Walking around the courthouse, you would have no idea who was who. One could assume any two people sitting next to each other outside the court room, but not speaking, may be undergoing a summary process together and against each other. I think that some degree of separation could do a lot of good for both parties with regard to their mental state throughout the day.
The lawyer-for-a-day program consists of members of the BAR who volunteer a day out of the year to help people with their housing cases free of charge. They typically spend the day at a table helping people as they ask questions, but they are also capable of sitting in on a case if they see fit. There are two tables clearly labeled "tenants" and "landlords" directly adjacent to each other. I think of all of the possible areas where a separation could occur between the two parties, this is an easy fix. The two tables could simply be split up in separate areas; maybe two ends of a hall.
I'm not sure exactly how to fix these issues, but I do think that something can be done and the results would be noticeably beneficial. People are not in the most positive mental state upon being summoned for court or upon summoning someone to court. Any way to make the process more comfortable should be considered.