The National Center for Access to Justice at Fordham Law was mentioned in a Law360 article about pro bono legal services.
When individuals in the United States face civil legal issues, they do not have a constitutional right to legal counsel and therefore must secure paid counsel, qualify for free legal aid assistance or proceed pro se. It is therefore no surprise that a justice gap exists in the United States for low-income and modest-means Americans attempting to navigate the civil legal system. Studies consistently show that roughly 80 percent of the civil legal needs of low-income Americans go unmet. That percentage increases greatly when evaluating the unmet legal needs of the working poor who do not qualify for legal aid assistance, but nevertheless cannot afford an attorney. As a result, absent a complete system overhaul or a significant infusion of funding to support legal aid organizations — realities that appear unlikely within the current political climate — pro bono legal services by the private bar will continue to be a key component of the access to justice equation.
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Through the Supporting Justice Survey, the Standing Committee not only aimed to quantify the amount of pro bono legal services contributed by attorneys in the United States, but also to identify factors that encourage and discourage pro bono service. Working directly through state entities to distribute the survey to all attorneys licensed within the 24 participating states, the Standing Committee garnered responses from over 47,000 attorneys (a 7.3 percent response rate). Through a series of questions examining motivations underlying pro bono engagement, attorneys overwhelming responded that their willingness to engage in pro bono stems from a desire to help people, reduce societal inequity, and fulfill the profession’s ethical obligations.
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After evaluating the results from the Supporting Justice Survey, it became clear that more analysis was required to understand how jurisdictions could build a solid infrastructure to be responsive to this feedback and encourage the private bar to engage in pro bono. So, in collaboration with the Standing Committee and in consultation with the National Center for Access to Justice at Fordham University School of Law (the creators of The Justice Index), I embarked on a journey to examine the best statewide practices to further expand pro bono resources throughout the country.