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Columbia Law School

Civil Rights and Discrimination

Justice gap

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Access To Justice: Ensuring Meaningful Access To Counsel In Civil Cases, Human Rights Clinic Jan 2014

Access To Justice: Ensuring Meaningful Access To Counsel In Civil Cases, Human Rights Clinic

Human Rights Institute

In order to meet its human rights obligations, the federal government must work toward the establishment of the right to counsel for indigent litigants in civil cases, especially where basic human needs are at stake. Direct steps the federal government should take include: supporting research into the impact of providing counsel in civil cases; fully funding the Legal Services Corporation and lifting restrictions that prevent legal services lawyers from providing necessary services; intensifying the Acc,ess to Justice Initiative's activities with respect to civil legal services and providing it with the necessary leadership and resources; and filing supportive amicus briefs when …


Access To Justice: Ensuring Meaningful Access To Counsel In Civil Cases, Human Rights Clinic Aug 2013

Access To Justice: Ensuring Meaningful Access To Counsel In Civil Cases, Human Rights Clinic

Human Rights Institute

Legal representation is fundamental to safeguarding fair, equal, and meaningful ac- cess to the legal system. Yet, in the United States, millions of people who are poor or low-income are unable to obtain legal representation when facing a crisis such as eviction, foreclosure, domestic violence, workplace discrimination, termination of subsistence income or medical assistance, and loss of child custody. Indeed, only a small fraction of the legal problems experienced by low-income and poor people living in the United States – less than one in five – are addressed with the assistance of legal representation. A categorical right to counsel in …