Legal aid in the United States
[7] The majority in Betts reasoned that individual states assigning counsel to indigent defendants was not required unless there are special circumstances like being illiterate or mentally challenged.
[14] The growth of legal aid services during this time highlighted an increasing understanding that access to justice is closely linked to larger social issues such as poverty.
The landmark Supreme Court decision Gideon v. Wainwright guaranteed the right to counsel in criminal matters, but left the issue of civil aid unresolved.
[16] The movement towards extending Gideon to civil matters continues to gain momentum, even as states such as New York and California lead the way in establishing more substantive legal aid systems.
Public interest practice emerged from the goal of promoting access to equal justice for the poor and this was inspired from the legal services disparity amongst European immigrants.
[18] Such firms may impose income and resource ceilings as well as restrictions on the types of cases they will take, due to the sheer volume of potential clients and the general lack of funding for such work.
"[21] Most typical legal aid work involves counseling, informal negotiation, and appearances in administrative hearings, as opposed to formal litigation in the courts.
In an interview in which Shriver was asked which program from the War on Poverty he most preferred, he replied that "I am proudest of Legal Services because I recognized that it had the greatest potential for changing the system under which people's lives were being exploited.
Its focus was to dismantle barriers faced by those unable to afford legal protections on grounds of discrimination based upon race, gender, and/or class.
Using a unique combination of understanding poverty-causing factors while pursuing economic justice, this work aimed to transform the social world that constructed and produced poverty conditions.
In 1969, LSC which at the time was called the Legal Services Program (LSP) brought Shapiro v. Thompson to the Supreme Court as a 'welfare test case'[27] with the direct support of Edward Sparer.
Legal aid organizations that take LSC money tend to have more staff and services and can help more clients, but must also conform to strict government regulations that require careful timekeeping and prohibit lobbying and class actions.
[29] In addition to lobbying and class actions, LSC organizations cannot purse abortion related litigation and cannot advance certain state or federal welfare challenges.
[29] Many legal aid organizations refuse to take LSC money, and can continue to file class actions and directly lobby legislatures on behalf of the poor.
The report states that "in 2017, low-income Americans approached LSC-funded legal aid organizations for support with an estimated 1.7 million problems.
In the absence of a major decision from the Supreme Court affirming the right to civil counsel, as came to pass with criminal matters through Gideon v. Wainwright, States have been left to their own devices to fulfill the high demand for legal services.
The bill was originally introduced in 2014 by New York City Council Members Mark D. Levine and Vanessa Gibson before being expanded into its current form.
In their 1993 Model Rule 6.1, the American Bar Association emphasized the importance of attorneys providing a minimum of fifty hours of free legal assistance to low-income litigants annually.
Even where mandatory pro bono exists, however, funding for legal aid remains severely insufficient to provide assistance to a majority of those in need.
[44] With the lack of financial leverage that clients have over their counsel, lawyers have historically held more paternalistic attitudes to pro bono work, as opposed to a more collaborative approach.
[44] Critics argue that interactions between lawyers and clients should be dictated by the guidelines laid out in the American Bar Association's Code of Professional Responsibility.
[46] The American Bar Association's Code of Professional Responsibility[47] does not include guidelines for immigration lawyers to address the trauma that their clients experience.
[49][50] The creation of community-based legal aid organizations typically form in response to people facing disenfranchisement or lack of services, when they are unable to pay for a lawyer.
The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), and American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), are two of the most recognized legal aid service providers within the U.S., but would come about later, founded in 1909 and 1920s respectively.
Legal aid organizations were formed outside the legitimization scope of the state, using law to pursue, challenge, and change existing legislation that worked against the most vulnerable citizens based upon grounds of race, gender, citizenship, and other categories by which the poor were disadvantaged.
[30] In the decade following this study, a considerable body of research began to take shape investigating the positive impact of civil legal aid.
[56] Born out of the work of community collaboration, the Fair Debt Buying Practices Act[57] harks back to the original perspective of legal aid; the attainment of justice and fundamental change to a system from the ground up, creating a meaningful societal transformation of out from under poverty, shifting the culture under which American social spaces operate.
This was achieved through an effort to serve the community, via an open door General Clinic event, leading the EBCLC to become aware of a disproportionately large number of clients all being sued over credit card debt.
[61] Non-legal issues such as stalking, domestic abuse, visa expiration, and language barrier can also affect a client's ability to access legal aid.
[65] Legal Services Alabama Alaska Legal Services Corporation Legal Aid of Southeastern Pennsylvania: Serves Bucks, Montgomery, Chester, and Delaware County[66] Community Legal Services: Serves Philadelphia County[67] Mid-Penn Legal Services: Serves Adam, Bedford, Berks, Blair, Centre, Clearfield, Cumberland, Dauphin, Franklin, Fulton, Huntingdon, Juniata, Lancaster, Lebanon, Mifflin, Perry, Schuylkill, and York Counties[68] Land of Lincoln: Serves Clinton, Fayette, Monroe, Randolph, St. Clair, Washington, Adams, Bond, Brown, Calhoun, Greene, Hancock, Jersey, Macoupin, Madison, Montgomery, Pike, Schuyler, Cass, Christian, Logan, Mason, Menard, Morgan, Sangamon, Scott, Shelby, Champaign, Clark, Coles, Crawford, Cumberland, De Witt, Douglas, Edgar, Effingham, Ford, Jasper, Macon, Moultrie, Piatt, Vermilion, Alexander, Clay, Edwards, Franklin, Gallatin, Hamilton, Hardin, Jackson, Jefferson, Johnson, Lawrence, Marion, Massac, Perry, Pope, Pulaski, Richland, Saline, Union, Wabash, White, and Williamson[69] Prairie State Legal Services: Serves McLean, Livingston, Woodford, Henderson, Knox, McDonough, Warren, Grundy, Will, Iroquois, Kankakee, Bureau, LaSalle, Putnam, Fulton, Marshall, Peoria, Stark, Tazewell, Henry, Lee, Mercer, Rock Island, Whiteside, Boone, Carroll, Jo Daviess, Ogle, Stephenson, Winnebago, Lake, Dekalb, DuPage, Kane, Kendall, and McHenry Counties[70] New York Legal Assistance Group (NYLAG) The Legal Aide Society
