Not really. It depends if you’re willing to understand the legal framework and process, and adequately research case law… and have some money and time. The more you learn the easier it is to predict what legal arguments or defenses the other side will make before they even make them.

Criminal cases are obviously different but most prosecutors are already understaffed, so if you don’t roll over for them and do the things an actual descent attorney would do, then a public defender isn’t automatically better. A public defender will almost always try to get you to to take the very first plea offer. Rarely do you even get one that actually fights for their clients, especially when there is an injustice.

But you must commit the time and it is exhausting mentally. I’d almost always rather pay for an attorney, but there have been times when the attorneys said no, and I knew the attorneys were wrong. In both instances I won major cases by myself and even had opposing counsel try to recruit me at their firm afterwards saying they’d pay for me to get a law degree.