My Damn Self

because no one is coming to save us

Guides

What a lawyer needs from you first

A first meeting with a lawyer is short. The more of it that is already organized, the more of that time goes to your questions.

Bring

  • Every court paper. Orders, petitions, notices, case numbers and hearing dates.
  • A timeline. What happened, in date order, one line each. Short beats complete.
  • The evidence, numbered. Each item with its date and where it came from.
  • The people. Who is involved, by the part they play, and who saw what.
  • What is missing. Say where the record is thin. A lawyer would rather know now.
  • Your questions, written down before you walk in.

Keep the originals

Bring copies and keep the originals, and the phone they came from, safe with you.

If you can’t pay for a lawyer

LawHelp.org helps you “find free legal help and information about your legal rights from nonprofit legal aid providers in your state.”1 The Hotline also suggests a legal advocate: “Speaking with a legal advocate in your state might better prepare you for your unique situation.”2

I built a tool for this part

My Damn Self does the sorting. Put in your screenshots, texts, photos and recordings, and get back one dated, numbered packet for the police, your lawyer, or the court. Your evidence is read on your own device and never leaves it.

The Lawyer prep packet leads with who, when and where, then your exhibits numbered in date order, each with its date, where it came from and its fingerprint, the chronology, and where the record is thin.

Start with my evidence

Sources

  1. From: LawHelp.org, “home page”, www.lawhelp.org (read 30 Sep 2026).
  2. From: The National Domestic Violence Hotline, “Building Your Case: How to Document Abuse”, www.thehotline.org/resources/building-your-case-how-to-document-abuse (read 30 Sep 2026).

Quoted word for word from the page named. This is education, not legal advice. It organizes; it does not decide.