State Bar panel readies recommendations for filling
justice gap
By Laura Ernde
Staff Writer
Exploring a licensing program for legal technicians is among
the likely recommendations of a State Bar task force that has been studying
solutions to the justice gap – the gap between the need for civil legal
assistance for low- and moderate-income Californians and the resources
available to meet that need.
The Civil
Justice Strategies Task Force met last month to discuss ideas for its final
report, which is expected to be finalized next month and then go to the Board
of Trustees.
Hernán Vera, a member of the board as well as the task
force, said he is optimistic that a limited license certification program –
particularly for family law and unlawful detainer/eviction cases – could help assist
those who can’t afford to hire a lawyer. A previous board working
group has also endorsed the concept.
But Vera said many questions remain, including whether the
bar could devise educational requirements for limited license technicians that
would adequately protect the public without being so costly that a technician
would charge the same amount as an attorney to represent a client. Any new legal
licensing program would need to be approved by the California Supreme Court and
would likely require legislative changes as well.
The task force may also recommend simplifying court processes to make the system easier to navigate. Its report may highlight what’s
already working, along with ideas for expanding on those efforts. Some examples
include self-help programs for litigants, legal
incubators and the practice of unbundling legal services to make them more
affordable.
In addition, the report may make recommendations for
tackling the problem of ballooning student debt. Task force research showed
that California lawyers are entering the profession owing an average of
$134,000 for their undergraduate and graduate education.
Miriam Krinsky, a member of the task force as well as the
board, said there are indications that financial pressures are deterring young
lawyers from serving people of modest means.
Krinsky said she would like to see the board create a
working group to implement a number of recommendations, which could include asking
the law schools to educate prospective lawyers about the issue, creating a
clearinghouse of information on debt consolidation and studying whether high
debt loads are causing young lawyers to get in trouble with the discipline
system.
“This needs to be the start, rather than the end of
discussions on this issue,” she said.
The task force’s final meeting is set for Nov. 13 at the
bar’s Los Angeles office, 845 S. Figueroa St. Task Force Chairman Luis J.
Rodriguez, immediate past president of the State Bar, said following that
meeting he will pull together the various recommendations for the final report.
Once the task force finalizes the report, it will be up to
the Board of Trustees to determine what to do next, he said.