Access to Justice I Will Assist: Understanding Civil Legal Needs & Bridging the Justice Gap in Sc

• Citation: Vol. 36-6
• Year: 2025

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Access to Justice "I Will Assist:" Understanding Civil Legal Needs & Bridging the Justice Gap In SC

Vol. 36 Issue 6 Pg. 24

South Carolina Lawyer

May, 2025

I Will Assist

Understanding Civil Legal Needs & Bridging the Justice Gap In SC

BY HANNAH HONEYCUTT, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, SC ACCESS TO JUSTICE COMMISSION AND OLIVIA S. JONES, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, SC BAR FOUNDATION

In 2021, the SC Access to Justice Commission, the SC Bar, and the NMRS Center on Professionalism at USC School of Law commissioned South Carolina's first-ever Statewide Civil Legal Needs Assessment. The resulting report is both comprehensive and granular, giving us a deeper understanding of the legal needs of low- and moderate-income South Carolinians and how they access (or can't access) our system of justice. Each installment of this column will focus on a key takeaway from the assessment's Executive Summary, in hopes that you will come away better informed about legal needs in South Carolina and what you can do to help.

Key Finding #8: Reforms that would expand the roles of paralegals and other non-lawyers haven't gained consensus among lawyers.

While pro bono work is an important tool for closing the justice gap (see key finding #7), advocates across the country are increasingly acknowledging that it might not be a complete solution. There may simply not be enough lawyers—legal aid or private practitioners—to go around. By one estimate, every lawyer in the United States would have to dedicate 900 hours of yearly pro bono work to give every household currently not receiving services some measure of legal help. (See the ABA's 2016 Report on the Future of Legal Services in the United States).

Some states have started thinking beyond lawyers for ways to address unmet legal needs. Even in South Carolina, we already leverage non-attorneys to help with certain issues. For example, CPAs who provide compensated representation before agencies and the Probate Court, and police officers who prosecute cases in magistrate and municipal court (see In re Unauthorized Prac. of L. Rules Proposed by S.C. Bar, 309 S.C. 304, 307); and non-lawyers who are permitted to represent businesses in magistrates court (Rule 21, SCRMC). Our federal court system allows non-lawyers to represent claimants for social security and VA benefits (20 CFR § 404.1705 and 38 CFR § 14.629(b), respectively), and has allowed "accredited representatives" who work for a DOJ-recognized non-profit organization to represent clients in immigration court for over 60 years (8 C.F.R. § 1292).

While the Legal Needs Assessment found lukewarm support among South Carolina attorneys and key informants for expanding the role of non-lawyers to address the justice gap, it also found that that support might be improved with a better understanding of the options available—while only 57% of respondents to the study's practitioner survey indicated that they would be somewhat likely or very likely to support such initiatives, 70% of respondents said that they were not at all familiar with these initiatives in other states.

One such initiative worth exploring further is the community justice worker model pioneered by the Alaska Legal Services Corporation (ALSC) in 2019. For that program, ALSC took inspiration from the tribal community health aid model and applied for special dispensation from the Alaska Supreme Court to train local community members to recognize legal issues and provide limited assistance in the areas of debt collection defense, domestic violence protective order advocacy, Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA) enforcement, preparation of wills, and SNAP benefits claims. As of 2024, ALSC has recruited over 500 community justice workers who have provided services to hundreds of individuals who would not otherwise have received help.

In February of last year, the South Carolina Supreme Court approved a pilot program similar to the community justice worker model. Under that program, the NAACP will train non-lawyer advocates to provide basic, limited, free legal assistance under the supervision of a lawyer in eviction cases—one of the highest-need areas identified in the Legal Needs Assessment. Over the next three years, the NAACP will provide regular updates to the Court so that it can analyze its efficacy and impact.

There are many potential solutions for closing the access to justice gap in South Carolina and here's how you can help:

Educate: Tell someone about the issues. Send them a copy of the SCATJ Commission's 2023 Legal Needs Assessment or 2021 Justice Gap Report. Talk to your local leaders about the need for civil legal aid.

Volunteer: Take the time to volunteer; contract with legal aid providers around the state; take a case for a low rate or even pro bono.

Donate: Make a donation to one of our legal aid provider partners or to the SC Bar Foundation, which makes grants to fund civil legal aid in South Carolina. Next time: Where you live affects access to legal services.

Don't want to wait? Read the Assessment and explore the data at scaccesstojustice.org/legal-needs.