Judy Perry Martinez, president of the American Bar Association (ABA), has issued an unusually frank plea calling upon the legal profession to support reform of America’s backward legal system to better serve the public.
“We need new ideas,” said Martinez. “We are one-fifth into the 21st century, yet we continue to rely on 20th-century processes, procedures and regulations. We need to retain 20th-century values but advance them using 21st-century approaches that can increase access to justice.”
Martinez’ comments are contained in a letter appearing in the February-March 2020 issue of the ABA’s monthly magazine, The ABA Journal.
Martinez expressed frustration with resistance in the legal profession to state-level efforts to innovate in the provision of legal services.
It may be no coincidence that the California Judicial Council last fall rejected proposals to permit “educated technicians” without law degrees to offer limited legal services and to allow non-attorneys to have an ownership stake in law firms.
Martinez said the aim of reform is not to eliminate lawyers but to “help lawyers lead changes that are sweeping all economic sectors of society.” She said states should serve in the role the late U.S. Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis described as “laboratories of democracy.”
D-Minus
Martinez was particularly critical of the lack of access to civil justice in the United States.
She cited the World Justice Project’s ranking of the U.S. in the bottom tier with respect to access to and affordability of civil justice. She said the U.S. is tied for 99th place out of 126 countries.
Additionally, Martinez said research by the Legal Services Corp. found that low-income Americans received inadequate or no professional legal help for 86% of their civil legal problems, including child custody, debt collection, eviction and foreclosure.
She did not spare the criminal justice system. In many states, Martinez says, “overwhelming caseloads and inadequate resources for public defenders severely hamper the Sixth Amendment right to counsel for indigent criminal defendants.
Protectionism?
Martinez indirectly raised the issue of protectionism. She notes lawyers have the “privilege” of regulating their own profession. With privilege, she says, comes responsibility to ensure that the rules and regulations of the legal profession serve the public good.
“The ultimate purpose of regulation is not to protect the livelihoods of lawyers but to advance the administration of justice,” said Martinez. “Some would suggest that if we don’t have justice or public protection as our goal, we potentially put our self-regulation at risk.”
The ultimate purpose of regulation is not to protect the livelihoods of lawyers but to advance the administration of justice.”Martinez acknowledged that “change is difficult …. But given the dire circumstances that the public faces when trying to protect their basic rights, doing nothing poses an even greater risk to our system of justice and the rule of law.”
Last fall, Forbes wrote about the ABA’s 11th annual “Celebrate Pro Bono” week, in which it urged lawyers to volunteer to represent victims of domestic violence, sexual assault and stalking. These victims, mostly women, regularly go to court without an attorney to seek civil restraining orders to protect themselves and their children, and to fight for child custody, child support and to stay in their homes.
In her letter, Martinez writes: “Though lawyers donate countless hours to help, pro bono cannot fully address the unmet legal needs in our country.”
Another area where poor people increasingly face injustice involves eviction due to rising rents and low wages, a problem that is particularly devastating to families with children. The National Coalition for a Civil Right to Counsel reports that five cities, most recently Philadelphia, have adopted measures to provide a right to counsel for tenants facing eviction.
Forbes also wrote about the plight of employment discrimination victims who cannot afford to hire an attorney and are required to follow obtuse rules that are unintelligible to the vast majority of non-lawyers and many lawyers.
Martinez’ letter ran under the headline: “We must not squander the future of legal services”
Full Article & Source:
American Bar Assn. President Criticizes U.S. Legal System As Backward, Resistant to Change
No comments:
Post a Comment