California Bar Journal
Few who need legal help get it
December, 2002
California lags far behind comparable states in funding legal
services for the poor, a situation so dire that only 28 percent of
the civil legal needs of the state's poor and lowerincome residents
are being addressed.
That figures translates into 2 million people without the
ability to access the justice system, according to a new study by
the California Commission on Access to Justice, which also found
that despite increased spending, the gap between need and services
remains substantial.
"As a practical matter, in most cases there can be no access to
justice without access to legal assistance," said Jack Londen, past
commission chair and a partner with Morrison & Foerster in San
Francisco.
"Whether we like it or not, sometimes landlords illegally evict
tenants, children with disabilities are denied proper care,
veterans don't get services guaranteed to them, and elderly people
need legal assistance to escape the abuse of a caregiver."
California has the highest number of people in poverty in the
nation - 6.4 million, including nearly one in five children. Half
the nation's increase in poverty in the 1990s, when the number of
poor jumped 30 percent, occurred in California, and nearly 25
percent of the nation's poverty increase occurred in Los Angeles
County alone.
Even those with jobs are suffering: 26 percent of California
workers earn poverty level wages. The commission's report, "The
Path to Equal Justice: A Five-Year Status Report on Access to
Justice in California," examined how the legal needs of the state's
poor have changed in the last five years as well as both the
shortcomings of the justice system and the improvements during that
period.
Despite increases in state funding to meet the legal needs of
the poor, low interest rates (which have reduced the IOLTA fund),
high unemployment and the present economic downturn have threatened
any gains.
States like Minnesota and New Jersey spend three times more than
California to meet the poor's legal needs, Connecticut and
Massachusetts spend more than twice as much, and countries like
England, Canada, Australia, Scotland and New Zealand spend anywhere
from two to 14 times more proportionately than California, despite
the fact that California has the world's sixth largest economy.
The report says the state would need to triple its combined
public and private investment in legal services to adequately meet
the legal needs of low-income Californians.
The 1996 welfare reform legisla tion, in particular, brought
dramatic changes to the lives of those living in poverty, for while
fewer people now receive welfare benefits, those who left welfare
to work are still poor. And the legal issues they face "have become
more numerous and complex," the report said.
"Parents who found only low-paying jobs without health benefits
did not improve the well-being of their children. Women who entered
the workforce in low-skilled positions with no opportunity to
acquire marketable skills lack realistic long-term options.
Obstacles to employment such as lack of child care and
transportation, domestic violence and job discrimination raise a
host of new legal issues."
Those issues revolve around an extensive universe of problems,
including housing, education, domestic violence, immigration,
employment, grandparent guardianships, bankruptcy and consumer
debt, veterans' issues, elder abuse and home equity fraud, the
report said.
To meet all those needs, there is only one legal aid lawyer for
every 10,000 poor Californians. Despite this bleak picture, the
state's civil justice community has taken significant steps to
close the gap between need and services in the past five years:
The legislature and the governor established the Equal Access
Fund, which has provided $10 million annually since 1999 for more
than 100 local legal services programs.
Access to the courts has been enhanced through a variety of
self-help options, including online assistance in every county, a
system of family law facilitators, increased funding for
alternative dispute resolution and simplified forms and
procedures.
The Judicial Council is addressing language barriers by
increasing the availability of qualified interpreters and
translating forms and instructions into Spanish, Vietnam-ese,
Korean and Chinese.
Legal services programs have been strengthened by offering a
wide range of services, including self-help clinics and hotlines
and working relationships with social services agencies to meet all
of a client's needs.
Still, when more than 70 percent of the poor's legal needs are
not being met, much remains to be done, the report points out. It
recommends adding to the access fund, increasing both the number of
pro bono hours and financial contributions from attorneys, improved
assistance for unrepresented litigants and access to an attorney
for those who require one, and development of a statewide plan to
distribute legal services more evenly throughout the state to
insure that the rural population also is served.
"I know my fe llow judges want to do justice and not inflict
injustice," observed Justice Earl Johnson of the California Court
of Appeal, who chaired the committee that researched and wrote the
report.
"More than anyone, they know it can be nearly impossible to do
the former and avoid the latter in a one-sided contest where only
one litigant has a lawyer."
"Our whole society is harmed when access and fairness are
denied," said Londen. "Clearly, California can - and must - do
better."
