Access to Justice: "inadequate to Meet the Needs"
| Publication year | 2010 |
| Pages | 11 |
Kansas Bar Foundation
Access to Justice: "Inadequate to Meet the Needs"
By James D. Oliver, Foulston Siefkin LLP, Overland Park, Kansas Bar Foundation president, joliver@foulston.com
You know someone is trying to get serious when they start rolling out the "WHEREAS" clauses. The Conference of Chief Justices and the Conference of State Court Administrators did so this past July, when they adopted a resolution stating:
WHEREAS, equal justice is fundamental to the American system of government under law, and
WHEREAS, the inability to afford legal counsel in effect denies access to justice to individuals in need of representation, and ..
WHEREAS, in every state and territory, current levels of civil legal assistance are inadequate to meet the civil legal needs of individuals who cannot afford counsel .
Former Chief Justice Robert Davis had recognized the problem in Kansas and called attention to it more than three years ago. "In early 2007, [Justice Davis] met with members of the Judicial Council Family Law Committee to express his and the Court's growing concern about the increased number of self-represented litigants appearing in the state's courts. In particular, Chief Justice Davis noted that district court clerk's offices and judges were encountering a high number of pro se litigants in many areas, including family law, landlord-tenant, and other civil matters. The Court wanted to resolve pro se litigant issues, for the benefit of the courts, the public, and the practicing bar."[1] Recalling Davis' passion for access to justice for all led me to the subject for this column.
The problem obviously has not been solved, but has become worse as a result of the economic downturn. People have lost jobs and income. With government deficits, federal and state funding for legal services will be difficult to maintain. With interest rates at all-time lows, funding from IOLTA income has crashed. With our state courts resorting to furloughs to meet their budgets; the clerks' offices, court staffs, and judges obviously do not have the time to struggle with the extra burden of doing justice with the more numerous pro se cases that result when litigants cannot get legal counsel.
Marilyn Harp, executive director of Kansas Legal Services Inc. (KLS), shared with me that KLS is presently able to accept representation of...
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