Access to Justice Commission gets nod from Wisconsin Supreme Court

By Alex De Grand, Legal Writer, State Bar of Wisconsin

May 13, 2009 – The Wisconsin Supreme Court voted on May 13 to approve a new Supreme Court Rule directing the creation of a new Wisconsin Access to Justice Commission.

Justices indicated a series of amendments to the directive. A rule is expected following those changes.

An Access to Justice Commission will be charged with developing and encouraging means of expanding access to the civil justice system for unrepresented low-income Wisconsin residents. The State Bar of Wisconsin had petitioned the court last summer for the commission as a key recommendation of the State Bar’s report documenting a serious lack of civil legal services and proposing solutions.

State Bar President Diane Diel was in attendance to see the court embrace the petition that she had championed throughout the term of her presidency along with Past President Tom Basting. “I am very glad for all of the people of Wisconsin who are in great need of improved civil legal services,” Diel said of the court’s vote.

How the commission will operate

The Access to Justice Commission will be formed as a non-stock, non-profit corporation within Section 501 (c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. Justices remarked that this commission is similar to the Wisconsin Trust Account Foundation (WisTAF), a charitable corporation created by Supreme Court Rule Chapter 13 to administer Wisconsin lawyers’ contributions toward funding of civil legal services for the poor.

Financial and staffing support for the commission will be provided by the State Bar, which has set aside up to $300,000 for at least the first three years of the commission’s operation. In the six months before expiration of the three-year term of the commission, the supreme court will evaluate the commission’s progress and determine the need for its continued existence.

A board of directors comprising 17 members will be designated by the supreme court, the State Bar Board of Governors, the state’s law schools, WisTAF, the Legislature, and the governor.

Of the court’s five allocated designees, the justices agreed to name three non-lawyer members. Justice Patience Roggensack suggested that designee’s with fundraising experience would be an asset to the commission.

The justices also stipulated that two of their designees should be affiliated with a Wisconsin organization that provides legal services to low-income persons and that is funded by the Legal Services Corporation. Two designees would be from a legal aid group that does not receive funding from the Legal Services Corporation.

Importance of the court’s role

Given the extensive commitment of State Bar resources, Justice David Prosser expressed concern over the court’s formal involvement. Justice Annette Kingsland Ziegler replied that the judiciary’s involvement is only natural on an issue as important as access to the courts given the judge’s “frontline” role.

She noted that efforts to expand civil legal services have appeared all over the state, but without coordination. Kingsland Ziegler said that the feedback to a proposed commission has been “almost all positive,” giving no reason for the courts to step away. “If it works, it works; if it doesn’t, well, we tried,” she said.

Identified need

In its study of unmet need for legal services among low-income Wisconsin residents, the State Bar found that more than a half million people confront an average of two serious civil legal problems every year. These problems encompass every aspect of a person’s life, including housing, family, children’s schooling, wills and estates, employment, consumer and public benefits. The need for legal services is especially acute among the state’s poorest families, the disabled, and rural households, according to the report.

Almost two thirds of those who proceed without legal representation in court or at an administrative hearing face opposing parties who have retained counsel, the study found. In its petition, the State Bar noted that its findings of unrepresented litigants are corroborated by the overall increase of pro se parties threatening to swamp the court system.

Role of the commission

The State Bar told the court in its petition that the Access to Justice Commission will work with low-income families, legal service providers, courts, the law schools, the Legislature, the governor, and all other stakeholders to achieve ABA principles for delivery of civil legal aid.

Additionally, the State Bar proposed the commission will:

• Develop and encourage implementation of initiatives to expand access to the civil justice system for unrepresented low-income Wisconsin residents.
  
• Support the efforts of WisTAF, the Equal Justice Fund, and others to develop and implement strategies that will increase funding and other support for access to justice in civil matters.
  
• Work to expand the resources of financial support for legal services to low-income families so that they will not depend on the limited support generated by IOLTA funds, mandatory assessments, and the like.
  
• Work to maximize the wise and efficient use of available resources, including development of local, regional and/or statewide systems that encourage the coordination of resources and communication among providers.
  
• Work to reduce barriers to the justice system by addressing existing and proposed court rules, procedures and policies that affect access to civil justice for low-income Wisconsin residents.
  
• Review and periodically report on the overall effectiveness of Wisconsin’s civil legal services system for low-income residents against an objective set of standards and criteria.

Over twenty other states have created similar Access to Justice commissions.