Access to Justice

by Rhode, Deborah L.

• ISBN13: 9780195306484
• ISBN10: 0195306481
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2005-12-08
• Publisher: Oxford University Press

Summary

"Equal Justice Under Law" is one of America's most proudly proclaimed and widely violated legal principles. But it comes nowhere close to describing the legal system in practice. Millions of Americans lack any access to justice, let alone equal access. Worse, the increasing centrality of law in American life and its growing complexity has made access to legal assistance critical for all citizens. Yet according to most estimates about four-fifths of the legal needs of the poor, and two- to three-fifths of the needs of middle-income individuals remain unmet. This book reveals the inequities of legal assistance in America, from the lack of access to educational services and health benefits to gross injustices in the criminal defense system. It proposes a specific agenda for change, offering tangible reforms for coordinating comprehensive systems for the delivery of legal services, maximizing individual's opportunities to represent themselves, and making effective legal services more affordable for all Americans who need them.

Author Biography

Deborah L. Rhode is Ernest W. McFarland Professor of Law and Director of the Stanford Center on Ethics at Stanford University. She has served as president of the Association of American Law Schools, Chair of the American Bar Association's Commission on Women in the Profession, and senior counsel for the House Judiciary Committee on impeachment issues. She has received the Keck Foundation Award for Distinguished Scholarship on Legal Ethics by the American Bar Foundation as well as the Pro Bono Publico Award from the American Bar Association. This is her twelfth book.

Table of Contents

Equal Justice Under Law: The Gap between Principle and Practice	3	(21)
Defining the Goal: Access for Whom? For What? How Much? And Who Should Decide?	5	(2)
The Increasing Role of Law and the Rationale for Legal Assistance	7	(4)
The Inadequacy of Legal Assistance	11	(5)
Self-Representation and Nonlawyer Assistance	16	(3)
The Limitations of Lawyers' Pro Bono Service An Agenda for Reform	19	(5)
Litigation and Its Discontents: Too Much Law for Those Who Can Afford It, Too Little for Everyone Else	24	(23)
Legal Hypochondria: Argument by Anecdote	26	(5)
Redefining the Problem: Inefficiency, Inconsistency, and Inequity	31	(7)
Reassessing Causes; Rethinking Solutions	38	(9)
Historical Perspectives: Legal Rights and Social Wrongs	47	(32)
Early Understandings of Access to Justice	47	(2)
The Evolution of a Right to Counsel in Criminal Proceedings	49	(9)
Civil Legal Services for the (Deserving) Poor	58	(6)
From Clients to Causes: Pro Bono and Public Interest Representation	64	(5)
Restraints on Competition: Advertising, Solicitation, Minimum Fees, and Group Legal Services	69	(5)
Nonlawyer Services	74	(3)
The Historical Legacy	77	(2)
Access to What? Law without Lawyers and New Models of Legal Assistance	79	(24)
Law without Lawyers	81	(6)
Policing the Professional Monopoly	87	(4)
One Stop Shopping: Multidisciplinary Practice	91	(5)
Making Lawyers' Services More Accessible	96	(7)
Locked In and Locked Out: The Legal Needs of Low-Income Communities	103	(19)
The Challenges of Triage: Which Needs to Meet and Who Should Decide	105	(3)
Critics from the Right; Critics from the Left	108	(4)
Expanding the Scope of Legal Assistance: More Funds, Fewer Restrictions	112	(5)
Ensuring an Effective System	117	(5)
Presumed Guilty: Class Injustice in Criminal Justice	122	(23)
Institutionalized Injustice: Defense Counsel for the Poor	123	(8)
Inadequate Responses to Inadequate Representation	131	(6)
When the Difference Is Death	137	(5)
Making Rights a Reality	142	(3)
Pro Bono in Principle and in Practice	145	(40)
The Rationale for Pro Bono Responsibilities	146	(6)
The Extent of Pro Bono Responsibilities: Rules and Realities	152	(4)
The Evolution of Law School Pro Bono Programs	156	(4)
Workplace Influences on Pro Bono Service: An Empirical Analysis	160	(13)
Law School Pro Bono Programs: An Empirical Analysis	173	(5)
An Agenda for Reform: Connecting Principles to Practice	178	(7)
A Roadmap for Reform	185	(10)
Government Funding and Bar Pro Bono Contributions	186	(3)
Structural Changes in Dispute Resolution and the Delivery of Legal Services	189	(2)
Accountability	191	(2)
The Politics of Progress	193	(2)
Notes	195	(46)
Index	241