Inside the
Bar
Committee studies unmet civil legal needs;
focuses on increasing access to justice for all in
Wisconsin
Recently, the State Bar's new Access to Justice Study Committee began
efforts to assess the unmet civil legal needs of Wisconsin residents
and, particularly, the needs of those with little income.
The committee, appointed by State Bar President D. Michael Guerin,
was charged to rigorously assess the civil legal needs of Wisconsin
residents and to evaluate and recommend long-term solutions where
improvement is necessary. The committee also is expected to identify
those persons or communities with unmet legal needs, the nature of the
legal needs, how those needs are distributed statewide, the reasons why
the needs are not being met, ways the needs could be met, and the major
social impact on our communities by allowing these legal needs to go
unaddressed.
Access to Justice Study Committee
Judge Richard Sankovitz,
Milwaukee County Circuit Court, chair
Rachel Schneider, Quarles & Brady, Milwaukee,
vice chair
Betsy Abramson, Elder Law Consultant, Madison
Howard Bichler, Saint Croix Chippewa Indians of
Wisconsin, Webster
James Brennan, Legal Aid Society of Milwaukee
Hon. Ramona Gonzalez, La Crosse County Circuit
Court
Jo Deen Lowe, Forest County Potawatomi Community,
Crandon
L. William Staudenmaier, Cooke & Franke,
Milwaukee
Kelli Sue Thompson, State Public Defenders Office,
Madison
Guerin appointed the committee at the urging of the State Bar Board
of Governors and the supreme court after the court granted the Wisconsin
Trust Account Foundation petition for a $50 assessment on attorneys to
supplement declining funding from other sources for legal services to
the poor.
"Survey after survey of judges, lawyers, and others has shown that
the burgeoning numbers of unrepresented litigants in our civil and
family courts jeopardizes the quality and efficiency of justice for
everyone in the system," says Committee Chair Milwaukee County Circuit
Court Judge Richard Sankovitz. "The plight of the unrepresented is at
the top of the list of issues we need to solve to fulfill our mission as
courts."
Many factors contribute to this increase in pro se litigation,
running from cutbacks in public funding for legal services to the
indigent to the desire of litigants who can afford counsel to
nevertheless represent themselves. "While we have some data on the kinds
of legal needs that are not being met, we need a comprehensive picture
of the scope and impact of the problem," Sankovitz says.
The committee, which expects to release its final report by Dec. 31,
2006, will consider various research options, and learn from experts who
have supervised or conducted this type of research. Although the
research plan is not final, it will likely include a random telephone
survey of Wisconsin residents, some degree of field research with
populations who cannot be adequately reached by telephone, and an
investigation of the social cost of the lack of access to justice. The
goal is to present the State Bar and policy makers in each branch of
government with accurate and credible information on the scope of the
problem.
"Although the committee's work is expected to begin with a legal
needs survey, it does not necessarily end there," says Sankovitz. "Once
the need is documented, the committee's focus will turn to solutions. In
Washington state, a comprehensive study of the type we are undertaking
led a bipartisan group of judges, legislators, lawyers, and legal
service providers to devise a plan that resulted in a 70 percent
increase in public funding for civil legal services. Wisconsin's need
may be that great or even greater."
State Bar Pro Bono Coordinator Jeffery Brown will provide support for
the committee's work, and U.W.-Madison Political Science Department
Professor Herbert Kritzer will act as an advisor.
Inside the
Bar
