Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Barnes' new job will improve justice for poor
BY MAURICIO VIVERO Friday, January 10, 2003
On Monday, departing Gov. Roy Barnes will spend his first day as
a private citizen by starting his new job as a full-time, pro-bono
(unpaid) lawyer at the Atlanta Legal Aid Society.
The decision by Barnes, the most improbable casualty of Election
Day 2002, to go to work for legal aid was almost as unexpected as
his November defeat. As a legal services attorney, Barnes will help
women escape domestic violence, Mauricio Vivero
is vice president
seniors fight predatory lending scams and parents obtain child
support for their kids. of Legal
In doing so, he will take his place on the front line of the
U.S. legal community's Services Corporation, the
uphill and underpublicized struggle to achieve equal access to
justice for millions of Washington-Americans too poor to afford
legal representation. based nonprofit
corporation
chartered by
The inaccessibility of the U.S. civil justice system is hardly a
new development, but it Congress in
took Barnes' decision to put the national media spotlight on our
country's ongoing 1974 to promote equal access to
access-to-justice crisis. civil justice.
The 2000 U.S. census reports that more than 43 million Americans
qualify for free federally funded legal assistance, yet fewer than
20 percent of eligible clients (annual income: $11,075 or less) are
able to obtain legal help when they need it, according to the
American Bar Association. In Georgia, there is just one legal aid
lawyer for every 10,500 eligible poor people.
Barnes understood this problem long before he became governor.
While in private practice, he handled many pro-bono cases and was a
frequent volunteer in the Cobb County office of the federally
funded Atlanta Legal Aid Society. Most memorably, he secured a $115
million judgment in 1993 against Fleet Finance for victimizing
18,000 homeowners -- many of them senior citizens -- with its
widespread predatory lending mortgage practices.
His long-standing commitment to the underserved is certainly
admirable, but it should not be viewed as a rare and laudable act
of civic virtue. To be admitted to practice law, every attorney
must take a professional oath to promote justice -- and every
state's ethical rules include language indicating lawyers'
responsibility to be guardians of fair play for those living in
poverty.
In Georgia, many law firms, corporations and private attorneys
are working pro bono to serve the neediest clients. Yet only 23
percent of the state's 23,598 active lawyers reported meeting the
Georgia State Bar's goal of 50 hours of pro-bono service in
2002.
The need for volunteers is most severe outside the five-county
Atlanta metropolitan area, where 70 percent of the state's poor
people are served by only 24 percent of the state's lawyers.
National pro-bono participation is even worse. Only 23 percent
of the roughly 1 million attorneys in America volunteer even one
hour of pro-bono service annually, according to the ABA.
Shamefully, over the last decade, the average revenue of the
country's most successful law firms has increased by more than 50
percent while pro- bono hours have dropped by one-third.
Barnes knows these statistics help explain the unflattering
public image of the legal profession. Speaking to University of
Georgia School of Law graduates at their 2000 commencement, he
said, "The cold, hard reality is that far too many people face the
possibility of an unjust outcome because they must navigate an
often complicated legal system without the benefit of competent
counsel. Why? Because competent lawyers in the corporate practice
don't want to get involved. They don't have the time. They have too
many hours to bill."
Sometimes, it seems, we forget that "justice for all" is part of
our national creed. I, for one, will not forget President Bush's
poignant reminder in the aftermath of Sept. 11: "We're in a fight
for our principles," he told us, "and our first responsibility is
to live by them."
Our democracy will suffer greatly if so many of our nation's
poor continue to be priced out of the justice system. Lawyers in
Georgia and across the country must follow Barnes' lead -- or
millions of people will continue to arrive at the courthouse door
to find they cannot afford the price of admission.
Mauricio Vivero is vice president of Legal Services Corporation,
the Washington-based nonprofit corporation chartered by Congress in
1974 to promote equal access to civil justice.
