New Book: Legal Services Funding Cuts “Widen Divide” Between Government and Low Income Communities
Legal Services E-lert
Bibliographic Info:
Author: Corey Shdaimah
Source: American Constitution Society Blog, “We Are Losing More Than Just Legal Representation: Legal Services Bridge a Social Divide”
Date: July 21, 2011
Corey Shdaimah writes for the ACS blog: “…Legal services for low-income clients are no luxury; they are often necessary to ensure basic survival. Funding cuts such as these always come at a time when such services are most needed. If we can shore up corporations and financial institutions, why can’t we shore up people, communities, and their faith in our legal system? In the U.S., access to justice without lawyers is largely a hollow promise. In Negotiating Justice: Progressive Lawyering, Low-income Clients, and the Quest for Social Change, I interviewed 30 clients and 11 lawyers from a legal services program that I call Northeast Legal Services (NELS), who told me how clients use legal services and why they are important. Martha (a pseudonym) lives with two adult children; one suffers from schizophrenia and the other is autistic. Embarrassed at her difficulties paying rent, she sought help only when facing eviction. At NELS she learned that the housing agency had been overcharging her for years. She became a named plaintiff on a class action lawsuit. Legal services helped her family remain housed -- a result of material benefit to them, as well as to taxpayers who might otherwise shoulder the cost of whatever ill effects would befall them without shelter. In cases like these, legal services providers also serve as watchdogs, exposing unfair practices and ensuring proper use of public funds. . . . Legal services programs sit on that divide; legal services lawyers, most of whom graduated elite law schools, choose to work directly with communities in need. Providing day-to-day legal services requires interactions between lawyers and clients. For clients, this means not feeling entirely abandoned by government agencies and society at large. When we think about legal services, we often assume that lawyers ‘transform’ clients’ lives by helping them meet their legal and material needs. Less recognized is the way that legal services transform attorneys and systems. Lawyers are moved and motivated by clients’ humor, strength, and struggles. They learn from clients how to focus their advocacy effectively and hold others accountable. . . . Cutting assistance is not just about money, but about increasing the distance between policymakers and those in need.”