Is a plaintiff who voluntarily represents herself in a personal injury case entitled to consideration as well as a lawyer?

voluntarily represents himself 'is not, for that reason, entitled to any more (or less) consideration than a lawyer. Thus, any alleged ignorance of legal matters or failure to properly represent himself can hardly constitute "mistake, inadvertence, surprise or excusable neglect" as those terms are used in section 473.' [Citation.] Rather, 'when a litigant accepts the risks of proceeding without counsel, he or she is stuck with the outcome, and has no greater opportunity to cast off an unfavorable judgment than he or she would if represented by counsel.' [Citation.]" (Hopkins & Carley v. Gens, supra, 200 Cal.App.4th at p. 1413.)