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These dual declarations from 2015 will be implemented in 2016, while dozens more initiatives (including the National Center for Access to Justice’s (NCAJ’s) own Justice Index, www . justiceindex .org) will also help to guide the civil legal aid movement forward at the national level and advance it in the states . Three strong currents of activity are pushing reform forward: the judiciary is working to expand support for self-represented litigants; civil legal aid programs and the organized bar are expanding the services they provide, including by securing new sources of legal aid funding from federal, state and local government; and “the global legal empowerment movement”, aligned with efforts to expand the roles of nonlawyers in providing civil legal assistance, is deploying community based paralegals (and other categories of assistants) in peer advocacy roles . To take stock of progress in 2015, to anticipate and guide progress in 2016, and to offer links to key resources that we believe reformers will find useful, we offer this outline of leading civil legal aid reform initiatives in the United States .
I. expanding Civil Legal Aid
1. Court-Based Civil Legal Aid Movement and the Self-Represented Litigation Network
– Recognizing “the promise of equal justice is not realized,” Chief Justices and Chief Court Administrators in the state courts are providing leadership to achieve the “aspirational goal of 100 percent access to effective assistance for essential civil legal needs,” http://www .ncsc .org/~/ media/Microsites/Files/access/5%20Meaningful%20Access%20to%20Justice%20for%20All_ final .ashx . The Self-Represented Litigation Network (SRLN), www .srln .org, and the National Center for State Courts (NSCS) through its Center on Court Access to Justice for All, www .ncsc . org/atj (and its many other projects, see, e.g., Court Statistics Project, http://www .courtstatistics . org), are carrying out research and reform initiatives . SRLN estimates that “three out of five people in civil cases go to court without a lawyer .” http://www .srln .org . NCAJ’s Justice Index, www .justiceindex .org, promotes adoption of best practices for self-represented litigants, people with limited English proficiency, and people with disabilities . Models for expanding access to justice in the states (some of which are tracked in the Justice Index) include:
n designating an official responsible for innovation to assist self-represented litigants . n providing “self-help centers” in courthouses .
n authorizing proactive roles for judges and court clerks .
n authorizing “unbundled legal services .”
n developing automated court forms, so people can produce pleadings with do-it-yourself software . n requiring creditors to attest that claims for recovery of debt are factually based, timely, and
properly served before cases go forward . https://www .nycourts .gov/rules/ccr/ .
n requiring state agencies to adopt best practices for administrative justice . http://www .mass . gov/anf/best-practices-to-enhance-state-administrative-justice .html .
2. Legal Aid-Based Civil Legal Aid Movement, Including the Legal Services Corporation (LSC), National Legal Aid & Defender Association (NLADA), American Bar Association (ABA) and Support for Free Legal Assistance and Representation – Civil legal aid providers take both traditional and novel forms, and continue to evolve:
n Growth in LSC and Non-LSC Legal Aid Programs – LSC remains the primary source of funding for civil legal aid programs located across the country, www .lsc .gov, and pursues new initiatives to strengthen service, measure outcomes, http://clo .lsc .gov/home/, encourage
Impact: Collected Essays on Expanding Access to Justice