Legal Service Corporation in the United States

The Legal Service Corporation is a federally funded nonprofit corporation that promotes equal access to justice (Ronald W. Staudt & Andrew P. Medeiros, Access to Justice and Technology Clinics: A 4% Solution, 88 Chi-Kent L. Rev. 695, 707 (2013))

Access to Justice

By Joseph D. Lawson

Access to an attorney is cost-prohibitive for many Americans.

The Legal Service Corporation reported that its affiliate legal aid organizations “turn away a million eligible prospective clients every year because they lack the capacity and the lawyers to serve [low-income litigants] legal needs” (Ronald W. Staudt & Andrew P. Medeiros, Access to Justice and Technology Clinics: A 4% Solution, 88 Chi-Kent L. Rev. 695, 696 (2013)) When considering the unmet legal needs of middle-income Americans, the economics of access to justice look even bleaker. Ronald Staudt and Andrew Medeiros note that there are “millions of modest-income people who are not eligible for legal aid [and] cannot afford the fees charged by lawyers.” (Ronald W. Staudt & Andrew P. Medeiros, Access to Justice and Technology Clinics: A 4% Solution, 88 Chi-Kent L. Rev. 695, 696 (2013))

With only one legal aid attorney for every 6,861 low-income Americans,(Deborah K. Hackerson, Access to Justice Starts in the Library: The Importance of Competent Research Skills and Free/Low-Cost Research Resources, 62 Me. L. Rev. 473, 475 (2010)) as much as 80% of the civil legal needs for those in the bottom income brackets go unmet (Ronald W. Staudt & Andrew P. Medeiros, Access to Justice and Technology Clinics: A 4% Solution, 88 Chi-Kent L. Rev. 695, 696 (2013)).

Ann Juergens suggested that middle-income litigants’ needs “are largely left for the market to fill” where a glut of unemployed attorneys “should translate into lower costs and more legal needs being met” (Ann Juergens, Valuing Small Firm and Solo Law Practice: Models for Expanding Service to Middle-Income Clients, 39 Wm. Mitchell L. Rev. 81, 83–84 (2012)). Several commentators have pointed out, however, that despite the presence of both high supply and high demand, there are still unemployed attorneys and unmet legal needs. (Ann Juergens, Valuing Small Firm and Solo Law Practice: Models for Expanding Service to Middle-Income Clients, 39 Wm. Mitchell L. Rev. 81, 83–84 (2012) See also Genevieve Blake Tung, Academic Law Libraries and the Crisis in Legal Education, 105 Law Libr. J. 275, 277, 2013 Law Libr. J. 14 ¶¶ 2–3).

Ann Juergens said that smaller practices are uniquely positioned to assist individuals of modest means because these firms generally charge the lowest rates, are widely distributed geographically, and are consistently the largest segment of attorneys (Ann Juergens, Valuing Small Firm and Solo Law Practice: Models for Expanding Service to Middle-Income Clients, 39 Wm. Mitchell L. Rev. 81, 85–87 (2012)). Solo and small firm practitioners also tend to practice more—and therefore, have more expertise—in areas with which low- and middle-income clients need assistance (Luz E. Herrera, Training Lawyer-Entrepreneurs, 89 Denv. U. L. Rev. 887, 906 (2013)).