Yellowknife (Oct 20/03) - Aimee Clark, a single mother of five from Fort Smith, remembers standing in Supreme Court last May wondering if she was in over her head.

Legal documents were piled on the table in front of her. A veteran defence lawyer sat across the aisle, listening intently to every word she said.

And a Supreme Court justice peered down at her from his austere, metallic perch.

"I was really nervous," said Clark. "But I decided that what I was doing was too important to give up on."

After years of battling the deadbeat father of her three-year-old son for child support and getting what she describes as "no help" from the legal system, Clark decided to take matters into her own hands. Acting as her own lawyer, Clark filed a civil suit in Supreme Court and after several appearances before a justice, she finally secured more the $6,000 in back child support payments.

"It was a long a gruelling process that... basically amounted to a part-time job," said Clark.

Clark, who has no formal legal education, relied on the Internet and a small claims court procedural manual to write her motions and pleadings.

"It was really a challenge because some of the things in the small claims court manual don't translate to the Supreme Court," said Clark.

"It was hard to understand the process. I would read the acts and ask myself 'What did that just say?'"

Despite the challenges, Clark got a court order instructing a bailiff to seize two cars belonging to the father of her son in February.

But when the man's lawyer contested the seizure, Clark was forced to make a May appearance in Supreme Court in Yellowknife.

"That was a bit intimidating," she said. "I was in court, arguing against a lawyer who knew the process inside and out."

The judge ended up adjourning the matter, but by July the father of her son finally agreed to pay more than $5,500 in back support. In September, Clark was granted $3,000 in costs for her efforts.

Despite the fact that she was successful, Clark said the experience wasn't necessarily a positive one.

"I learned a lot about the system and how unfair it is towards parents seeking support," said Clark, who only decided to act as her own lawyer after waiting six months for help from Legal Aid.

"The entire system is in crisis. If a man doesn't want to pay child support, there is no mechanism in place to make him."

The trials and tribulations that Clark endured

are not exceptional said Arlene Hache, director of the Centre for Northern Families."The system is stacked against women seeking support. We see women -- and sometimes men -- waiting years for support payments."

Eventually, many of the women just give up said Hache.

"Very few are able to do what Aimee did."