Can a defendant be legally represented by someone who does not posses a law degree or Bar certification if...?

Question

the would be counsel is not charging the defendant for their service AND the potential counsel knows the rules of conduct and procedures in a court of law as well as procedures for examination and cross examination of witnesses and presentation of evidence?

Answer 1

No.

The only person who can represent someone else in court is a lawyer.

Richard

Answer 2

No.  The defendant can represent him or herself.  Otherwise only a lawyer can represent someone in court.

Answer 3

no, and you do not want them to represent you.  It would be practicing law without a license.  Unless this person is a disbarred attorney, I would expect that such a person has only minimal experience actually conducting examinations of witnesses and have a cursory knowledge of the rules of evidence.  Furthermore, they would need to know the law substantively in order to choose the proper jury instructions and know exactly what needed to be proven.  It takes a deep understanding of the rules of evidence, which is far different from knowledge of the rules, in order to be successful in both getting things into evidence and keeping them out of evidence.  Furthermore, it takes a great deal of experience in knowing how to do direct examination and cross-examination effectively.