Strong Advocate for Civil Right to Counsel, Robert Rothman, to Head ABA’s Litigation Section, Making Right to Counsel Signature Effort of Section
Legal Services E-lert
Bibliographic Info:
Author: Meredith Hobbs
Source: Daily Report
Date: September 11, 2008
Daily Report states: "Robert L. Rothman has set an ambitious agenda for his year chairing the American Bar Association's litigation section - the national bar's largest section, with more than 70,000 members and a 21-person staff . . . . The main project he's taken on is providing publicly funded lawyers to those who can't afford one in civil proceedings where people's basic needs are at stake . . . . Rothman said a 2006 ABA resolution that advocated expanding counsel to indigent defendants in critical civil matters was what spurred him to make that the signature effort of his term. ‘I want to bring the litigation section into a very important discussion that is going on,' said Rothman. ‘I think there is a critical mass and momentum building on this subject among lawyers judges, public officials and academics.' There is a growing movement in the legal community, including state and city bar associations and academia, to expand legal aid for low-income persons in civil cases that affect their shelter, sustenance, safety, health and family . . . . ‘People should have a right to counsel in cases that affect basic human needs, like safety, child custody and housing,' said Rothman. ‘The impact on someone's life if they are suddenly made homeless is as drastic as if they are thrown in jail for 30 days for a misdemeanor. We're not talking about a property line dispute with a neighbor. We're talking about basic human needs . . . '"