Latest Report, Legal Services of N.J.: Widening Civil Justice Gap as Poverty Rises and Funding Falls
Legal Services E-lert
Bibliographic Info:
Source: Legal Services of New Jersey, Press Release
Date: April 25, 2011
Legal Services of New Jersey writes in a press release: “At least 400,000 poverty-stricken New Jerseyans saddled annually with daunting legal problems essentially are not getting their day in court or a fair shot at it – even when seemingly favorable outcomes of their legal issues are likely, according to a new report made public today by Legal Services of New Jersey. Such people are caught in the legal world’s black hole, better known as the civil justice gap. And the gap doesn’t just pertain to the hundreds of thousands of poor people unable to afford lawyers, but also the multiple numbers of legal issues affecting most of the individuals caught in the gap. Estimates are that those issues now border on a million and counting, encompassing such pressing matters as domestic violence, evictions, child guardianship, mortgage foreclosures, over-the-top pressure tactics by landlords and merchants, wage violations by scheming employers, and a deluge of disputes over applications for medical help and other public benefits. . . .And now the latest Legal Services report, ‘The Civil Justice Gap,’ reveals that the gap in the past couple of years of economic turmoil has taken on a disquieting, double-barreled twist: With more middle- income people sustaining financial losses and falling into the ranks of the impoverished, the number of low-income people who need help with civil legal problems has increased. At the same time, the opportunity for the poor to get free help from funding-squeezed Legal Services and others has narrowed. Essentially, the need for legal assistance and the avenue for getting that help are moving in opposite and conflicting directions.”
The report will be available on April 26, 2011 at www.lsnj.org/PDFs/The_Civil_Justice_Gap_2011.pdf